iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

We found county reductions knocked ~$2B off the taxable value of ORD-area data centers. 2 main drivers: 💸 Incentives pushed by mayors who feared the DCs would otherwise go elsewhere 💸 Appeals from DC companies arguing the buildings should be taxed like like plain ol' warehouses

illinoisanswers.org

Data Centers Near O’Hare Win Nearly $100M in Local Tax Breaks, Leaving Suburban Homeowners to Cover the Gap

Northwest suburban data centers had nearly $2 billion knocked off their taxable property values, an analysis shows.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

We've been working on this dive into Chicago's tree planting record for the better part of a year. Worth your time today!

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Casey Toner @ctoner.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

@maggiedough.bsky.social and I sat down with more than a dozen compulsive gamblers in recovery about let them speak at length about their own lives. It is at turns sad, frightening, infuriating, occasionally funny and painfully human 🧵 illinoisanswers.org/2026/06/24/w...

illinoisanswers.org

What Compulsive Gamblers Know

The hopes, dreams and tragedies of people who can't stop betting

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

New from me: an under-the-radar bill pending in Springfield would beef up rules designed to push wealthy Illinois suburbs to allow more affordable housing. Here's what HB5198 would do, and where it stands: (1/7)

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Damn. Definitely never heard the head of a sister agency speak this way about a sitting mayor: (Context from Justin at @crainschicago.bsky.social www.chicagobusiness.com/politics-pol...)

A screenshot of an email that says:

Statement from CHA Operating Chairman Matthew Brewer regarding Mayor Johnson’s comments on the appointment of CEO Keith Pettigrew:

We followed the law, we followed the process, and seven of ten Commissioners approved the appointment of CEO Keith Pettigrew in an open meeting. The Mayor may disagree with the outcome, but rewriting the facts doesn’t change them and mischaracterizing the law does not change the actual law.

The CEO search process began in November 2024 and consisted of an outside firm conducting a search to identify the best talent in Chicago and across the nation. CHA Board members, resident leadership, and the Mayor’s office agreed to this process from the outset and even interviewed Mr. Pettigrew. Now, the Mayor is attempting to unilaterally disregard the process and put politics and cronies over the best interests of our CHA residents, and they deserve better.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

New: Chicago officials have for years resisted calls to mandate proactive apartment safety inspections, even as renters keep dying in preventable fires. The City Council just passed an ordinance directing departments to study the idea in earnest. illinoisanswers.org/2026/03/18/p...

illinoisanswers.org

Proactive building inspections one step closer to reality in Chicago — but questions of funding and logistics remain

Chicago took a step toward beefing up its safety oversight of apartment buildings on Wednesday following years of criticism that the city’s patchwork of reactive building inspections has cost the […]

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

New from me: budget hawks have called on @chicagosmayor.bsky.social to cut ARPA-funded programs before considering any new taxes. But it's been hard to nail down the exact price tag of federal programs the mayor wants to keep. After six weeks of reporting, we found the number: about $33M.

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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Northwestern and Columbia being famous for journalism and bending over for Trump seems a little too on the nose these days

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Must-read @skpineda.bsky.social on how a U-turn in federal housing policy is about to make it much harder for Chicago and other cities to fight homelessness:

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

So not only does the massive transit package passed last night fill the funding gap, it *boosts* ops funding by roughly the size of the gap, eliminates parking minimums within a half mile of rail stations, and gives the new regional transit board sweeping powers to do public development

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Tune into @wbez.org at 9 a.m. to hear me do my best to recap the whirlwind veto session that landed a $1.5 billion transit package on the governor's desk: www.wbez.org I'm not in Springfield, but I did get a full night of sleep last night!

wbez.org

WBEZ Chicago - WBEZ Chicago

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Watch the live House committee debate, with Rep. Delgado answering questions about the bill: ilga.gov/House/AudioV... Read our story on the history and limitations of the RTA sales tax, which is being proposed for an increase: illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/28/l...

ilga.gov

Official government website of the Illinois General Assembly

Welcome to the Official government website of the Illinois General Assembly

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Crystal Paul @cplhouse.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

A loophole lets counties spend millions in transit taxes not on transit...but on jails & courts Now, to save Chicago transit from cuts, lawmakers want to use those funds. The idea met a fierce backlash. 📝 @gracehauck.bsky.social & @alexnitkin.bsky.social illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/28/l...

illinoisanswers.org

A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster

Suburban counties last year spent $83M in RTA sales taxes on jails and courts; they'll fight to keep the money as the state scrapes for cash.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

As transit funding hangs in the balance in veto session this week, @gracehauck.bsky.social and I have a pair of stories looking at the stakes for a part of the state that's gotten relatively little attention: the collar counties. t.co/oswatwJcdQ

t.co

https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/28/legal-loophole-scrambled-state-efforts-to-plug-transit-agencies-funding/

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

IL State Rep. Hoan Huynh says CBP agents surrounded his car and drew a gun on him on the Northwest Side of Chicago this morning

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Johnson's budget address touts the city's effort to seize and resell properties from derelict landlord Suzie B. Wilson. ICYMI, @ctoner and @mina_bloom_ found the city has fallen far behind its goals here: illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/15/h...

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Johnson Admin is proposing an unprecedented $1B surplus from TIF districts. About 52% of that will go to CPS and 24% will go to the City, per property tax allocations. City TIFs generated $1.36B in 2023.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

.@chicagosmayor.bsky.social is proposing to use the revived business head tax (coined the Community Safety Surcharge) to bankroll a new Community Safety Fund. Lot of these programs were started, expanded and/or sustained through ARPA— looks like this is how the admin is looking to keep them going

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

New from me: Chicago's budget has approximately doubled in the past decade. So why can't the city just cut runaway spending instead of raising taxes? Turns out, lots of reasons: t.co/BS4bP7FzIG

t.co

https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/15/tightening-chicago-budget-faces-hurdles-amid-few-options-for-pain-free-cuts/

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Peter Nickeas @peternickeas.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

105/N. Feds rammed a car that crashed into another, then a foot chase. #chicago

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

The Johnson Administration had fought off ward-based restrictions on ADUs because of a 2023 federal ruling that aldermanic prerogative leads to segregation. Trump’s HUD freed the mayor to wheel & deal with alders. @danielkayhertz.bsky.social on this: illinoisanswers.org/2025/09/25/c...

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Compromise ADU ordinance PASSES City Council in a 46-0 vote, ending a 7-year legislative battle over a modest affordable housing tool already common elsewhere in the country. Story TK

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Inbox: City Council's most vocal supporter and most vocal critic of citywide legalization of ADUs ("granny flats") announce they've reached a compromise. Still waiting on a copy of the new ordinance language to understand what the "limitations and local review" are. cc @stevevance.net

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

New: for the first time in memory, the City Council is going to hold an entire round of PRELIMINARY public budget hearings in September, before the mayor releases a proposal. Check the schedule:

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

The newly beefed-up City Council Office of Financial Analysis quietly dropped its mid-year budget report last week, including a 1st-ever report on city employee vacancies by department. chicago.gov/content/dam/... Should be of interest to anyone advocating cuts over new taxes!

chicago.gov

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Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

In 2016, as Chicago mayor, Emanuel banned city employees from making most trips at the city’s expense to North Carolina, which banned trans people from using the bathroom that aligned with their gender. He also backed an ordinance blocking any Chicago business from imposing similar bans.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

I’ll be talking about the ordinance to allow citywide construction of ADUs, which just advanced out of the City Council Zoning Committee in a 13-7 vote

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Mayor to force a vote next week on legalizing ADUs citywide, Fran Spielman reports. chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20... Letting people build backyard coach houses would represent an "attack by the mayor’s office on the bungalow belt," says Ald. Marty Quinn (13th).

chicago.suntimes.com

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

🧵(1/4) I remember walking into the City Hall press room at age 26 on my first day on the beat and being floored by the sheer force of Craig's kindness and sincerity. Like...veteran journalists are not supposed to act like this! Who did this guy think he was??

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Protect Bridgeport Bicyclists @stevevance.net · 23/06/2025

WBEZ Reset host right now: *WHY does there need to be a community meeting for a homeowner to add a unit??* (they are talking about ADUs, and referred to this statement in @alexnitkin.bsky.social's recent article)

“This will be a blanket approval … it will allow two-flats to become three-flats, three to become four and four to become five,” said then-Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th), who represented the city’s Bridgeport and Chinatown neighborhoods. “If someone wants to change a two-flat to a three-flat, in my ward, we do a community meeting. All of my neighbors — the community comes out and has participation. Not a bureaucrat at City Hall making a decision for my community.”

“This will be a blanket approval … it will allow two-flats to become three-flats, three to become four and four to become five,” said then-Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th), who represented the city’s Bridgeport and Chinatown neighborhoods. “If someone wants to change a two-flat to a three-flat, in my ward, we do a community meeting. All of my neighbors — the community comes out and has participation. Not a bureaucrat at City Hall making a decision for my community.”

via https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/05/27/granny-flats-are-illegal-to-build-in-most-of-chicago-and-political-gridlock-is-keeping-it-that-way/

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Here's my story, on an affordable housing tool nearly everyone seems to agree is a good idea, but that the Chicago City Council and (so far) state legislators can't manage to push forward: t.co/YDh0XBRHiP (1/6)

t.co

https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/05/27/granny-flats-are-illegal-to-build-in-most-of-chicago-and-political-gridlock-is-keeping-it-that-way/

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

In awe of this important, ambitious project — a collab between @illinoisanswers.bsky.social and @southsideweekly.bsky.social — and proud of the small part I got to play in it: makingitinchicago.illinoisanswers.org Please check it out today.

makingitinchicago.illinoisanswers.org

Detours and Dead Ends on the Path to Opportunity

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

New from me: An obscure, perennially resource-starved oversight office is set to take center stage in the Chicago City Council's effort to wrest more control over the city budget-making process. They face a mighty task. (1/5)

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A.D. Quig @adquig.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Folks neck deep in Chicago politics Twitter might remember screenshots of the city's salary database a few months ago seemed to show a bunch of aldermanic staffers earning more than the mayor. @alexnitkin.bsky.social dug in and found an opaque bonus system: illinoisanswers.org/2025/04/14/c...

illinoisanswers.org

Quiet Use of Bonuses for City Council Aides on the Rise

Alderpeople defend the practice, saying the aides deserve the extra money for their hard work, but critics decry the process as arbitrary.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Letter from Mayor Brandon Johnson this morning outlines a "series of engagements" with City Council to get ahead of an expected $1.12 billion projected budget gap for FY2026. Unclear how many of these "engagements" will be public meetings vs private briefings.

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Jay Young @impactofficer.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

"Illinois is one of only six states that does not provide ready access to archival videos of floor proceedings, according to a 2022 analysis from the National Conference of State Legislatures." - Bryan Zarou of @bettergov.bsky.social www.bettergov.org/2025/03/24/b...

bettergov.org

BGA Policy Calls on House and Senate Leaders to Create Transparent Online Archives for Proceedings

Last month, we sent a letter to the Senate President and Speaker of the House requesting that they update their chambers and join the 44 other states that have free archives online […]

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

A state agency has repeatedly failed its legal charge to track and report child abuse cases, per my colleague, the indomitable public records gremlin Peter Nickeas: illinoisanswers.org/2025/03/18/a...

illinoisanswers.org

Child Welfare Agency Failed Repeatedly to Produce 'Critical' Reports After Child Deaths, Injuries

DCFS is legally required to make the reports public after examining what went wrong but did not in thousands of instances.

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John Chase @johnchase.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Quick🧵updating a story we did last year: Nearly $500M in taxable real estate value was added to Cook County rolls after an investigation by @illinoisanswers.bsky.social & @chicagotribune.com uncovered hundreds of mistakes in property assessments. The corrections come from an audit. 1/5

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Clarification here: Chicago CFO Jill Jaworski said today this only pertains to money for the aldermanic Menu program, which is already at the discretion of individual alders. (This explains the $75M cap — $1.5M for each ward) The rest will go toward the City's overall Capital Improvement Plan.

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Great dive into the city’s ARPA-funded antiviolence efforts, and where it all stands now:

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

NEW: ⁦‪Chicago Dept of Law‬⁩ has been stretching its authority to impede ⁦‪Inspector General investigations, including by selectively jamming up probes close to the mayor, watchdog says in memo calling on City Council to tighten rules via ordinance www.bettergov.org/2025/02/13/a...

bettergov.org

Alleging Obstruction, Chicago’s Inspector General Turns to City Council for Stronger Laws

In a memo sent Friday to the Chicago City Council’s ethics committee, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg laid out a series of what her office characterizes as obstructions by the […]

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Alex Nitkin @alexnitkin.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Periodic reminder that Chicago is one of the only major cities in the country that doesn’t pass an annual capital budget, making it much harder to track spending on city-backed construction & streetscape projects

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