The Civic Federation supports the MWRD's FY2009 Budget because it minimizes the burden on taxpayers and demonstrates reasonable financial planning. The Civic Federation recommends that the District pursue numerous pension reforms in order to improve the declining fiscal health of the pension fund.
The Civic Federation supports the FY2009 City of Chicago budget of $5.97 billion because it does not rely on raising property tax and begins the painful yet necessary step of reducing payroll by 2,618 full-time equivalent positions to balance the budget. The Federation warns that steps must be taken to reduce the mounting liabilities of the City's pension funds.
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Park District’s FY2009 budget because it is a fiscally responsible plan and demonstrates a commendable emphasis on cost containment and avoids a property tax increase for the fifth consecutive year. This has been accomplished utilizing reasonable increases in user fees and charges, personnel reductions, departmental consolidations and a three day District shutdown.
The Civic Federation supports the CTA’s FY2009 budget of $1.3 billion as a responsible short-term plan to provide critical mass transit services to the Chicagoland population. The CTA’s proposed fare increases of 25 to 50 cents per ride, combined with personnel reductions, are a reasonable means of offsetting the mounting costs of the free ride programs mandated by Governor Blagojevich, decreased real estate transfer tax revenues and skyrocketing energy and fuel costs. The Federation is…
The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District's proposed $193.6 million budget because the District will freeze its property tax levy this year and maintains a prudent fund balance. However, the Federation warns that the District will face fiscal pressure in the future due to rising personnel costs and should implement performance measurements to assess the effectiveness of its current staff before adding more positions.
The Civic Federation offers qualified support for the DuPage County $505 million FY2009 budget proposal. Although DuPage County has proposed a reasonable spending plan that freezes property tax, our support is qualified because the budget fails to provide sufficient transparency and to demonstrate that the County Board is effectively planning for its future financial challenges.
The Civic Federation supports the the Chicago Public Schools recommended 6.2 billion dollar FY2009 budget because it shows restraint by freezing property tax rather than reflexively raising them to the maximum amount allowed under the state property tax cap law. However, the Federation urges CPS to follow through on pledges to produce a comprehensive capital improvement plan (CIP).
The Civic Federation does not support the City Colleges' proposed FY2009 budget because it is unsustainable and relies almost exclusively on revenue enhancements, such as a maximum property tax increase, rather than focusing on ways to reduce costs. The Federation commends the District for beginning to implement important planning procedures, but urges it to use these tools to control spending and make targeted cuts in non-essential programming.
The Civic Federation opposes the unaffordable program expansions and long-term borrowing proposed in the FY2009 State budget recommendation, but supports the proposed 3% cut from non-priority agencies and other efforts to streamline and modernize state government. The Federation again strongly urges the General Assembly to implement pension benefit reforms.
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2008 include public pension reform, tax increment financing disclosure, creation of a separate board of commissioners for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, school financial management accountability reforms, property tax assessment appeal reforms, timely county audits, and retiree health care trust fund authorization.
