In 2011 the IIFS blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on key fiscal issues in the State of Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on analysis of FY2012 Illinois budget negotiations, analysis of the ongoing Illinois pension crisis and timely research on other fiscal issues impacting the State of Illinois. The following is a selection of the year’s posts. Analysis of FY2012 Illinois Budget Negotiations The IIFS blog opened the year by examining the implications of a…
The Cook County Health and Hospitals System appointed Lester Crown and Dr. Quentin Young to be directors of its newly created not-for-profit corporation, the Cook County Health Foundation. On May 26, 2011 the Health System’s Board of Directors approved the creation of the new foundation to…
Last week marked the end of the budget season for the nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. While each local government’s budget and fiscal health status was evaluated individually, there are…
This week marks the end of the Civic Federation's fiscal year 2012 local government budget analysis season. The nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation include: City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. The most notable finding of the budget season was that six of the eight…
In its Recommendations for a Financially Sustainable City of Chicago, the Civic Federation recommended that the City’s election function be transferred to Cook County. Consolidated election administration is the norm in Illinois. The Federation identified two primary benefits of such a merger: it would be more user-friendly and reduce voter confusion about which lines to stand in for early voting, which machines to use and where to find complete election results for county-wide elections; and…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2012 include public pension reform, requiring the State of Illinois to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, dissolving the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, requiring all counties to hold budget hearings and large counties to produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform, requiring school financial management…
The Civic Federation supports the Cook County FY2012 Executive Budget Recommendation totaling $2.9 billion. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed $2.2 billion General Fund budget is a 4.6%, or $107.4 million, decrease from the FY2011 adopted budget. The budget closes a $315.2 million shortfall with $219 million in spending cuts, $53 million in revenue enhancements and over 1,000 layoffs. The County administration also appears to be on a path towards significant reform of…
Cook County’s fiscal year begins on December 1 and ends on November 30. The Civic Federation believes that all governments should adopt a budget at least one month in advance of the start of the fiscal year. For the County, that would be a November 1 budget adoption. In addition, the public should be provided with ample time to review the budget in advance of the public hearing. In the past, Cook County had fallen into a pattern of delaying the adoption of its annual budget. With the exception…
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…
New rulings by the Illinois Department of Revenue have reignited a debate over whether the State’s non-profit hospitals provide adequate charity care to patients in exchange for their property-tax exemptions. On August 16, 2011 the Department of Revenue denied property tax exemptions to three hospitals and said it was reviewing applications from 15 others seeking exemptions . As is customary for the Revenue Department, the rulings state that the ownership and use of the properties do not…
