The Civic Federation supported the Chicago Park District's $351 million FY2004 budget because of the District's history of implementing management efficiencies and cost cutting measures and the progress it has made in shifting revenues from property tax to fees.
The Civic Federation supported Chicago’s FY2004 budget of $4.8 billion because: 1) the City has made continued efforts to control personal services costs by reducing personnel over time; 2) The City’s net appropriation has increased an average of 2.6% per year over the last five years, on par with inflation; and 3) The City did not increase its property tax levy.
The Civic Federation supported the CTA’s FY2004 operating budget of $936 million. The fare increase in this budget was justified because: the CTA has made some significant efforts over the past five years to control costs; the budget does not make service cuts; and the CTA is a major economic and social asset to the Chicagoland region.
The Civic Federation supported the City Colleges' FY2004 budget of $295 million because growth in appropriations was contained through personnel reductions and management efficiencies. However, The Civic Federation remains concerned about a lack of transparency in the budget document.
The Civic Federation was disappointed that, rather than cut non-essential or redundant programs, the Chicago Public Schools FY2004 budget of $4.8 billion included a $36 million property tax increase and made only a minimal 30-position reduction in a total headcount of 47,319.
The Civic Federation supported the FY2004 $52.4 billion State budget because it successfully eliminated a $5.4 billion deficit without any broad based tax increases. The Federation reiterated its support for the pension obligation bond issue to reduce the State’s unfunded pension liabilities, but issued a number of cautions as well.
The Civic Federation supported the Chicago Park District’s $338 million FY2003 budget because the budget was balanced by eliminating over 180 positions and reducing contractual service expenses rather than resorting to broad based tax increases.
The Civic Federation opposed the $7.3 million property tax hike proposed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in its FY2003 $758 million budget.
The Civic Federation supported the proposed FY2003 $141 million budget because of the proposed expenditure reductions of nearly $7 million, the elimination of 473 positions, the implementation of management efficiencies including outsourcing of tree planting, and the transfer of a portion of the public safety function to the Sheriff’s Office and municipal police departments.
The Civic Federation commended President Stroger for proposing a $2.9 billion budget that is balanced with no broad based tax increases andcontinues a trend toward reducing reliance on property tax.
