* Capitol City Now…

A sales tax on services could be a good source of revenue, according to a “policy spotlight” put out by the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

Study co-author David Merriman, a professor of public policy at the university’s Chicago campus, looks at the sales tax numbers in other states.

“Illinois has a more narrow sales tax base than other states,” Merriman said. “Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin all have a broader sales tax base than Illinois, and the amount of revenue that they would raise if we just taxed the services that those other states tax would range from about $200 million to $1 billion – quite substantial revenues.”

Gov. JB Pritzker has said he is not in favor of taxing, for example, haircuts and dry cleaning. Previous attempts to implement such sales taxes in Illinois have fizzled.

* From the report…

Our analysis of FY2024 fiscal data from the IOC shows the state of Illinois in a relatively strong fiscal condition compared to the past two decades although still in a potentially precarious position given the uncertainty in the economy and potential federal changes. Our numbers show that Illinois ran a small “all funds” surplus in FY2024. However, since 1998 spending continues to grow slightly faster than revenues. Furthermore, Federal Medicaid revenue has become Illinois’ 2nd largest revenue source but could be at significant risk with a new presidential administration. Sales tax revenues are growing much more slowly than total revenues or spending.

While the FY2024 state fiscal condition was relatively good local governments face very significant challenges and may need state assistance. The state will be hard pressed to support local governments if, as seems possible, changes in federal policies make it more difficult for the state to maintain current levels of services. One potential policy that could aid local governments without requiring additional state support would e to broaden the sales tax base.

We summarize available evidence about the implications of such a policy change for tax revenues of the state and its local governments: bringing more services into the sales tax base has the potential to increase sales tax revenues in the short run and to better align the state’s tax base with the overall economy in the future.

* Injustice Watch…

With only four Cook County Circuit Court seats open for countywide election in the March 2026 primary, Cook County Democratic Party committee people met last week to evaluate 29 judicial candidates seeking their endorsements at the IBEW union hall in Bronzeville.

Party chair and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she couldn’t recall an election cycle with fewer countywide judicial vacancies. […]

Many of the candidates who appeared Thursday have sought the party’s endorsement before — including perennial judicial hopefuls Deidre Baumann and Steve Demitro as well as Chicago city attorney Steve McKenzie, public defender Kevin Ochalla, private practitioner Ashonta Rice, and Cook County labor relations attorney Torrick Ward. With the event running well behind schedule, party bosses did not pepper the round robin of candidates with the usual questions about their commitments not to run against slated candidates and their willingness to contribute $45,000 to the party campaign pot.

The dearth of countywide judicial vacancies this year presents a financial challenge to the party’s campaign activities in an election cycle that will include the governor’s race and what might be a heated race for U.S. Senate. While judicial races are the least expensive to run, the multitude of candidates is key to the party’s war chest; last cycle, the 16 slated judicial candidates contributed more than half a million dollars to the party.

The Democrats “will have to be very strategic about what we do to support the people on our slate,” Preckwinkle said.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | The Flashy Fugitives: Ex-Loretto Leader And Pal Accused Of Stealing Millions Are Living Large In Dubai: Block Club reviewed public records, videos and photos that paint a picture of their new lives: Suhail has opened a luxury plastic surgery clinic in a posh neighborhood in Dubai and has attended events with politicians and influencers, donning designer watches and jeweled rings. Ahmed is making increasingly overt appeals to President Donald Trump in what appears to be a bid for clemency. In the United States, they left behind tens of millions of dollars, pricey properties, expensive cars — and unpaid bills.

* Crain’s | Sterling Bay looks to sell development site next to Lincoln Yards: After trying for years to jump-start the development and secure a new financial partner after two primary backers sought to sell their stakes in the project, Sterling Bay handed over the northern part of the site to its lender, Little Rock, Ark.,-based Bank OZK, in March. The developer still controls the southern portion of the proposed megaproject site in partnership with J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

* Sun-Times | Federal gun ban upheld in George Floyd rioting-related case involving noncitizen in Chicago: Federal officials didn’t violate the constitution when they enforced a gun ban against an immigrant without legal status from Mexico, the U.S. appeals court in Chicago decided earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman had dismissed an indictment against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores last year when she found the law he was charged with violated the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. But the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Coleman’s ruling on July 16 and sent the case back to her for reconsideration.

* Sun-Times | The final act of Chicago’s Damen Silos, star of movies, hip-hop videos and architectural photography: When the amateur architectural photographer Deborah Mercer learned that the Damen Silos would soon be demolished, she decided to go capture them while she still could. “Went to pay my respects to the Damen Silos, soon to be demolished due to the owner’s lack of imagination,” Mercer wrote on BlueSky, a social media platform where she frequently posts her photos of historic Chicago buildings. For some in the city’s cultural community, the demolition of the historic grain silos represents a visual gut-punch. The structures — icons of urban decay as they sat empty for nearly five decades — have been a popular backdrop for filmmakers, musicians and skyline photographers and served as a canvas for many graffiti artists who ignored the “No Trespassing” signs. The silos even appeared in the 2014 movie Transformers: Age of Extinction.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Residents air fears, frustrations at congressman’s town hall; ‘Abuses we’re seeing … are significant and appalling’: Most calls to the office of U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, concern what he terms the “big bad bill,” otherwise known as the “big beautiful bill” signed by President Donald Trump on July 4. But questions at Schneider’s most recent town hall, like those from Andi Kenney of Deerfield and Dr. Sarah Kelly, also focused on healthcare or fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Kelly said she was concerned about cuts to funding for low-income medical students creating exorbitant student debt, and Kenney wanted to know how to curb the alleged abuses of ICE personnel and the treatment of the people they arrest.

* NBC Chicago | ‘Huge disservice’: Busy Orland Park DMV location to close, Illinois Secretary of State says: A statement from Giannoulias’ office late Monday slammed the Orland Township Trustees’ decision, calling it a “huge disservice to residents,” and said it was made without providing proper notice to or consulting with Secretary of State staff or board members. […] Shortly after Giannoulias’ statement, Orland Township Trustee Ken Duffy posted a contentious response, saying the location was “not” one of Illinois’ busiest DMVs and that the board’s “issues with the DMV” were previously communicated to Giannoualias’ office. “Sorry that your staff did not provide you with that information,” Duffy’s post said. … Coleman twice refused to dismiss the case against Carbajal-Flores but ended up throwing it out because of the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in a gun-rights case called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. … Andrew Willinger, a Duke University law professor, said Carbajal-Flores’ case is “a pretty good illustration of how with Bruen you quickly do just get into the historical weeds.”

* Crain’s | Kaegi snub spotlights property tax headaches — and a looming political battle: In a move that could have big implications for local property taxpayers, the county’s Democratic Party last week formally endorsed Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes in an effort to unseat Kaegi in the 2026 primary election. The slating by the party’s 80 committee members frames two-term incumbent Kaegi as an outsider trying to retain his seat next year. Whether the backing ultimately makes a difference to Cook County voters remains to be seen. But the party’s decision to back a challenger sends a loud message about taxpayers’ frustration with the way property taxes have been calculated over the last several years.

* WBEZ | How Chicago-area malls are adapting for a new era: A “reader’s choice” report from USA Today says two Chicagoland malls — Oakbrook Center and The Fashion Outlets of Chicago — are among the best in the nation. Reset looks at what makes these and other Chicago-area shopping centers great and discusses how local malls are changing to draw visitors at a time when malls nationwide have been in decline.

* Daily Southtown | Health care provider Aunt Martha’s commits to continue serving patients who lose Medicaid: Raul Garza, president and CEO of Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness, which has 22 health centers including five in the south suburbs, doesn’t know exactly how many of the more than 50,000 patients Aunt Martha’s serves will lose Medicaid coverage due to President Trump’s massive spending and tax cut law. But at Aunt Martha’s, where 65% to 70% of patients are on Medicaid, the federally qualified health center has no plans to drop patients who lose Medicaid coverage.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Clerical error caused appearance of missing money at Paris school: State’s Attorney: In June, WCIA reported that an Edgar County school district thought they lost more than $700,000 over six years. The Paris School District said they received less money from the county then they’d requested from 2018 until 2024. Now, after an investigation, the Edgar County State’s Attorney said there was never any missing money to begin with. He said the false alarm was all due to a clerical error.

* WGLT | Looming cuts to SNAP threaten food insecurity resources in McLean County: Eligibility requirements to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] — wrapped into the GOP megabill signed into law on July 4 — means about 360,000 Illinoisans could lose food assistance benefits, according to a statewide analysis. More than 20,000 McLean County residents receive SNAP. SNAP recipients must now work or volunteer 80 hours per month unless they have dependents age 14 or younger, are medically certified as physically or mentally unfit for employment or are pregnant. The law expands work requirements to all non-disabled adults, including those age 55-64, who were previously exempt.

* BND | Metro-east funeral home owner, village trustee indicted on income tax fraud: A member of the St. Jacob board of trustees, who is also the owner and director of Richeson Funeral Home in Troy, has been indicted on charges of income tax fraud. Guideon Richeson, 68, was indicted on July 17 on 11 counts related to the alleged fraud and failure to keep books, according to Madison County court documents. Richeson declined to comment on the charges. Court records state Richeson failed to submit tax return paperwork since the 2020 tax year. He also failed to provide books and records from 2017 to 2020.

* WGLT | Heartland Community College board elects alum to fill trustee vacancy: The Board of Trustees at Heartland Community College has named an HCC alumnus to fill a recent vacancy. Senesta “Angell” Howard of Bloomington was voted as a trustee at Tuesday night’s board meeting. She will be officially seated on Aug. 19. Howard’s seat previously belonged to Cecelia Long, whose term was set to expire in 2029. Long had been on the board since 2021 and was reelected for a six-year term in 2023. She resigned in June with plans to pursue personal and professional opportunities outside the district.

*** National ***

* NYT | Trump Told Park Workers to Report Displays That ‘Disparage’ Americans. Here’s What They Flagged.: At Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina, the Trump administration is set to review, and possibly remove or alter, signs about how climate change is causing sea levels to rise. At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, the administration will soon decide whether to take down exhibits on the brutality of slavery. And at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in Florida, Trump officials are scrutinizing language about the imprisonment of Native Americans inside the Spanish stone fortress.