2017 BUDGET INITIATIVE

IMPROVING ENFORCEMENT AND DEBT COLLECTION

The Citys Department of Finance will undertake a number of efforts in 2017 to increase
enforcement of current taxes, fines, and fees, and improve collections on outstanding debts.
The combination of measures being implemented is expected to increase revenue by a total
of $16 million in 2017.
Additional Noticing
The earlier and more numerous notices the City sends on outstanding debt, the more likely
the City will receive payment on the outstanding debt. Therefore, the Department of
Finances collection strategy in recent years is focused on more numerous and earlier
notifications to ensure the City does not allow debt to age significantly, making collection
more difficult.
One factor identified in collection of ticket revenue is the quality of information the City
relies on to identify the owners address to send the notice. Legally, the notice is required
to be mailed to the address to which the vehicle is registered. By working with other state
and local agencies to obtain the most up-to-date data, the City will be able to improve its
success rate at getting additional notices to vehicle owners.
In 2017, DOF will begin sending 2 additional notices prior to referral of the debt to a
collection firm either by email, for those who sign up for the email program, or by post
card. One notice will be sent prior to the doubling of the fine, and one before referral to
the collection firm.
Business and Permit Debt Checks
The City requires all entities doing business with the City to be free of City debt. This
requirement includes those applying for business licenses and permits. In 2016 the City
piloted programs to perform a debt check on building permits applications for projects
over $150,000 in value, and for several types of business licenses which require
inspections. After the successful implementation of these pilots, in 2017 the City will
expand these debt checks to include all building permits requiring architectural drawings,
CDOT permits, and all licenses issued by the Department of Building Affairs and Consumer
Protection.
Eliminate Out-of-Date Tax Exemption
There is currently a minimum threshold of $2 for 24 hours, $10 for weekly, and $40 for
monthly parking below which the parking garage tax does not apply. The City seeks to
eliminate this exemption for the majority of parking garages, while leaving the exemption
in place for government owned and operated lots, specifically the CTA, Park District, and
other government buildings.

Tax Discovery Project

Some areas of taxation pose greater challenges for collection than others. In 2017, the City
will expand efforts to identify those businesses that are expected to pay certain taxes, such
as transaction tax, amusement tax, and use tax, but who either have not reported or who
may be under reporting the amount owed. The Citys goal is to bring these entities into
compliance voluntarily through outreach without penalty. This method of increasing
compliance has been shown to be less invasive and less expensive than the audit process.
Ground Transportation Tax for Suburban Taxis
Taxicab, limo, and bus companies located in the suburbs do business in the city, frequently
making trips to OHare and Midway. However, they frequently and significantly
underreport the Citys ground transportation tax, putting them on unequal footing with
those companies located in the City. The City seeks to change this by requiring taxis from
the suburbs to pay a daily ground transportation tax of $3.50 on their first trip to either
airport on a given day. This would add the $3.50 ground transportation tax to the $4 MPEA
surcharge these companies are already paying via a city app.
Parking Enforcement
To improve compliance with the citys parking laws and restrictions on weekends, the City
is implementing a new weekend parking enforcement program. This program will utilize
City Parking Enforcement Aides to complement contractor teams already providing
weekend enforcement.
With improved data analytics, the City will be able to more effectively deploy Parking
Enforcement Aides. The City currently has an RFP to purchase data analytics software that
will incorporate enforcement needs, GPS, and current enforcement results into a data
model. The City will then be better able to factor this information in when allocating
resources for parking enforcement.