Today the Civic Federation published an update to its primer The Cook County Property Tax Extension Process: A Primer on Levies, Tax Caps, Tax Bills and the Effects of Tax Increment Financing Districts. The update adds additional years of data when available and provides an enhanced explanation of the effect of tax increment financing (TIF) on local governments and taxpayers in Cook County. This blog summarizes the TIF explanation included in the primer. For more detail and background, please…
The June 2011 edition of Government Finance Review features “The Chicago Experience: a P3 Checklist,” co-authored by Civic Federation President Laurence Msall and Program Manager Roland Calia. The article reviews the City of Chicago’s experiences with its three major public-private partnership (P3) asset lease transactions: the Skyway, the downtown parking garages and the parking meters and articulates lessons learned from those transactions for financial managers. Government Finance…
After two consecutive years of losses, the State of Illinois is reporting moderate growth in sales tax revenue for FY2011, which ended on June 30, 2011. Not only did sales tax revenue collected by the State grow but it also beat the projections on which the budget was based. Total General Funds revenues from sales taxes declined from FY2008 through FY2010 by nearly $1 billion, from $7.2 billion to $6.3 billion. However, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA)…
In the Civic Federation’s “Recommendations for a Financially Sustainable City of Chicago” report issued last week, the Federation discussed the importance of a government making data about its operations available for public download. Municipalities often include data about budgets and tax increment financing on their websites, as well as information about traffic congestion, consumer complaints and locations of graffiti. The City of Chicago has a data portal website that has a variety…
The purpose of this report is to provide the City of Chicago’s Mayor and City Council with detailed recommendations on ways to address the City’s serious financial challenges and create a government that is more efficient, less costly and more accountable. On February 14, 2011, the Civic Federation released Financial Challenges for the New Mayor which identifies the most significant fiscal issues facing the City of Chicago. Recommendations for a Financially Sustainable City of Chicago expands…
The purpose of this report is to provide the City of Chicago’s Mayor and City Council with detailed recommendations on ways to address the City’s serious financial challenges. Click here to read the complete report Click here to read the press release This report provides recommendations for creating a government that is more efficient, less costly and more accountable. It contains some recommendations that can be implemented immediately in the current fiscal year and others in FY2012 or…
Alternative service delivery refers to any process that shifts some or all of the functions, risks or responsibilities for delivering a service from the primary government to the private sector or another public entity. When the function is transferred to the private sector it is commonly referred to as privatization. Alternative service delivery can take many forms such as an asset sale or lease, contracting out the management of an asset or service, franchising, vouchers and a variety of…
A critical fiscal process for state and local governments is the planning and funding of capital projects. The literature on best practices for capital budgeting is not as robust as for operating budgets and there is significant variety in the practices of governments. There are a number of factors that add complexity to capital planning, including the multi-year nature of capital projects, the difficulty of accurately estimating project costs and that it is common for the funding of capital…
As explained previously in this blog a key indicator the Civic Federation uses to assess the financial health of local governments is the level of unreserved general fund balance maintained. Such reserves are essential in order for the governments to be able to withstand the inevitable “rainy days” that result from revenue fluctuations and unexpected expenditures. Without a fund balance in place, a government may have to abruptly cut services or raise taxes in response to unfavorable conditions…
Among the many challenges facing City of Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel when he takes office May 16 is the precarious state of the City’s finances. The City has a large and increasing direct debt load that could be a major indicator of financial risk. Long-term debt consists of tax-supported debt issues such as general obligation bonds and notes as well as bond premium and issuance costs. Long-term direct debt is a measure of a government’s ability to maintain its current financial policies…
