A report released today by the Civic Federation uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial trends of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2009 to FY2013. The financial trends for Chicago, New York and Detroit were consistently less favorable on average than the other 10 cities during this time period, which marked the end of the Great Recession and beginning of recovery for most cities. The full 60-page report is available here and 10-page…
Financial Indicators Report, FY2009 to FY2013 Financial Indicators Executive Summary, FY2009 to FY2013 This report uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2009 to FY2013, which marked the end of the Great Recession and beginning of recovery for most cities. The financial trends for Chicago, New York and Detroit were consistently less favorable on average than the other 10 cities during this time…
Over the past few years, the Civic Federation has blogged about financial indicators that can be used to measure the fiscal condition of local governments. The blogs were part of a larger ongoing project to assess the City of Chicago’s finances compared to twelve other major U.S. cities. On Friday, November 8, 2013, the Civic Federation released the product of this ongoing research project: a report that uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance…
This article covers the Civic Federation’s Indicators of Financial Condition report, which uses nine indicators of financial condition to compare Chicago to 12 other U.S. cities. The report covers FY2007 through FY2011 and found Chicago experienced a steeper financial decline than most of the other cities during the time period, with the exception of Boston and Detroit.
This article covers the Civic Federation’s Indicators of Financial Condition report that analyzed 13 major U.S. cities and found that Chicago’s relative financial performance between FY2007 and FY2011 consistently ranked in the bottom half of the cities analyzed. Chicago’s poor performance was characterized by a structural deficit and high debt levels, challenges the city is still facing today.
A report released today by the Civic Federation uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2007 to FY2011. Of the cities analyzed, only Boston and Detroit consistently performed worse than Chicago by these metrics during the five-year period that encompasses the Great Recession and slow recovery. The full 56-page report is available at www.civicfed.org. “Chicago’s relative financial performance…
This report uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2007 to FY2011. In addition to Chicago, the other cities analyzed were Baltimore, Boston, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City (MO), Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Seattle. Of the cities analyzed, only Boston and Detroit consistently performed worse than Chicago by these metrics during the five-year period that…
This blog continues the Civic Federation’s examination of indicators that can be used to measure the financial health of local governments. In order to measure financial condition, it is important to assess the direction and magnitude of changing ratios over time. The Federation is analyzing the five most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) of thirteen large U.S. cities, most of which have also been the subject of analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research…
The financial condition of the State of Illinois’ five retirement systems worsened in FY2012, with the systems’ total unfunded liability growing to $96.8 billion as of June 30, 2012 and the combined funded ratio declining to 39.0%. The FY2012 numbers compare with a total unfunded liability of $83.1 billion and combined funded ratio of 43.3% at the end of FY2011. The following table, based on recent actuarial reports for the retirement systems, shows their financial condition at the end of…
This blog continues the Civic Federation’s examination of indicators that can be used to assess the financial health of local governments. The Federation is working on a project comparing the City of Chicago with a group of thirteen large U.S. cities that have also been the subject of analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative. Previous entries examined the City of Chicago’s fund balance ratio, continuing services ratio, operating deficit ratio and debt service…
