The Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report is a follow up report to the Civic Federation’s October 2010 Cook County Modernization Report. The new publication assesses the progress the County has made toward implementing the recommendations contained in the October report during the first 100 days of Board President Preckwinkle’s administration. As previously discussed in this blog, the County has made very significant progress, but is far from being able to be declared stable…
The Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report continues the work of our Cook County Modernization Project. This report includes detailed information on the status of all 36 recommendations from the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report (published in October 2010), as well as a dashboard rating system for recommendations that were to be implemented within the first 100 days under the leadership of Board President Preckwinkle. Cook County has made…
This 100-Day Accountability Report [link] gives a progress update on recommendations to reform Cook County that the Civic Federation made in its Cook County Modernization Report. The 100-Day Report provides an overview of key events in the transition to the new administration of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, summarizes key findings from the Modernization Report, provides an update on the County’s budget since publication of the original report and includes detailed information…
Today marks the 100th day since Toni Preckwinkle took office as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. During that time, the County has begun to implement a variety of reforms including many of the recommendations from the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report. The administration released a 100-day report card this morning, which highlights what the administration considers to be its key accomplishments. The Civic Federation began its Cook County Modernization…
The Cook County Board recently passed the County’s FY2011 budget. The budget included large reductions to most County agencies and reflects difficult choices made by the County leadership. The budget also began implementation of some of the recommendations from the Cook County Modernization Report. However, the FY2011 budget is just the start of the heavy lifting that will be necessary to address the fiscal and operational challenges confronting the County. The FY2011 budget will be a…
On Saturday February 26th, the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the FY2011 Annual Appropriations Ordinance. In the Civic Federation’s analysis of the Executive Budget Recommendation, the Federation supported Board President Preckwinkle’s budget plan and commended the administration for its efforts to reform governmental operations. The amended budget as approved by the Board made some changes from the President’s Recommendation, including the following: Sales Tax Rollback…
Today the Civic Federation released its analysis of Cook County’s FY2011 Executive Budget Recommendation. The Federation supports Cook County’s $3.0 billion proposed budget plan as it reflects a significant effort by the new County administration to usher in an era of significant reform of governmental operations. The Federation commends Board President Preckwinkle and her team for their commitment to adopt a plan to fully roll back the sales tax increase by 2013 as part of the FY2011 budget…
The Civic Federation supports Cook County’s $3.0 billion FY2011 Executive Budget Recommendation as it reflects a significant effort to reduce expenditures. The new County administration also appears to be on a path toward significant reform of governmental operations, as recommended by the Civic Federation in the Cook County Modernization report, which can be read here. The Civic Federation believes that the County still faces significant challenges. Although the recommended budget includes…
This report analyzes basic financial data on ten major local government employee pension funds in Cook County. It is intended to provide lawmakers, pension trustees, pension fund members and taxpayers with the information they need to make informed decisions regarding public employee retirement benefits. The report reviews fiscal year 2009 actuarial valuation reports and financial statements of the retirement plans for the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, Cook…
The staff and President of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County filed a FY2011 proposed budget for review by the District’s governing board on October 6, 2010, almost three months before the start of the new fiscal year on January 1, 2011. Despite the staff’s timely preparation of a budget, the Board declined to review the proposal in October. Instead, a new budget was presented more than three weeks after the start of the new fiscal year on January 26, 2011 in order to reflect the…
