In this blog post, the Civic Federation analyzes indicators of the fiscal health of the City of Chicago’s four pension funds based on the most recent FY2022 actuarial reports, dated December 31, 2022. The City of Chicago’s pension funds are severely underfunded due to a combination of statutory underfunding, benefit enhancements, investment losses, optimistic assumptions and other long-term problems. In 2016, the City’s four pension funds began transitioning per State law to 40-year…
This blog post examines the Chicago Public Schools’ contributions to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund in the FY2023 budget and the funding status of the Pension Fund based on financial health indicators. Additional descriptive information about teachers’ pension benefits and history can be found in past budget analyses.[1] Members of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund Certified CPS teachers are enrolled in the Public School Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago (known as the…
On June 23, 2022, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a preliminary budget forecast for fiscal year 2023. The fiscal year begins December 1, 2022 and ends November 30, 2023. The report provides end-of-year estimates for the current 2022 fiscal year and a forecast for the upcoming 2023 fiscal year in the County’s operating funds. The operating funds include the General Fund, which accounts for administrative and public safety operations, and the Health Fund, which accounts for…
Short-term or current liabilities are financial obligations that must be satisfied within one year. These include short-term notes, accounts payable, amounts due to other funds, accrued payroll and other current liabilities. Rating agencies, financial analysts and the Civic Federation regularly track trends in short-term liabilities to help evaluate the overall fiscal health of governments. This blog post reviews Cook County short-term liability trends in the Governmental Funds for the five-…
The Civic Federation released its annual analysis of the City of Chicago’s proposed budget this week. Included in the report was a section dedicated to the budgetary impact of the City’s four pension funds and evaluating trends in their funded status. This blog post reproduces that chapter for readers who might not otherwise see it. Pensions in the FY2022 City of Chicago Budget The City of Chicago’s four pension funds are severely underfunded. A combination of statutory underfunding, benefit…
The State of Illinois received some good fiscal news this summer: two rating agencies upgraded the State’s credit ratings and a third revised its outlook to positive. The credit upgrades were the first in in two decades, reversing years of negative news. The State of Illinois currently has approximately $41.9 billion in outstanding general obligation and Build Illinois revenue debt outstanding.[1] On June 29, 2021, the State of Illinois received the first credit upgrade of this year from…
The Illinois Department of Revenue recently announced that the final equalization factor for the Cook County 2019 property assessment year (taxes payable in 2020) is 2.9160. Each year the Illinois Department of Revenue calculates equalization factors for every county in order to achieve uniform property assessment throughout the State. The 2019 final equalization factor of 2.9160 is slightly higher than the final 2018 equalization factor of 2.9109. This does not mean that individual property…
A Commission created to analyze an annual five-year forecast of Cook County revenues held its first meeting in early July. The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance establishing an Independent Revenue Forecasting Commission on October 17, 2018. The Commission is intended to help the Board of Commissioners make informed budgetary decisions by evaluating long-term revenue estimates. The Commission is chaired by the Cook County Chief Financial Officer and consists of three…
This article covers the release of the Civic Federation’s Financial Indicators report, which measures the financial condition of 13 U.S. cities between FY2009 and FY2013. The findings rank Chicago’s financial performance during that time period as low and suggest the need for Chicago to better align its revenue or spending structure with the demands of both current service needs and long-term debt obligations.
This article reviews the Civic Federation’s second Financial Indicators study, which uses indicators of financial condition to measure the financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities over a five-year period. The financial trends for FY2009 through FY2013 show that Chicago’s financial condition was consistently less favorable on average than the majority of cities studied.
