This article focuses on Mayor Daley’s plans to fill the City of Chicago’s FY2011 budget gap with surplus TIF funds, proceeds from long-term leases of City assets, and by restructuring the City’s debt. The Civic Federation says it has concerns about the Mayor’s plans and that the City’s budget should include major structural changes to bolster its finances.
In this article about Mayor Daley’s plans to balance the City of Chicago FY2011 budget with a combination of one-time revenues, the Civic Federation says the plan, while politically palatable, is not sustainable. The Federation adds that the City should consider major restructuring of its workforce to prevent future budgetary issues.
This segment on the City Room news program discusses a recent report that found the State of Illinois ranks as the slowest state in the nation in paying its bills to nonprofits. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says the State is acting fiscally irresponsible by paying its bills so late.
The State appears one step closer to implementing new performance measurement requirements that may significantly improve the General Assembly’s annual budget appropriations process. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton announced this week that Senator Dan Kotowski would take a leadership role in the implementation of the “Budgeting for Results” provisions included in Emergency Budget Act of FY2011. The Civic Federation has consistently urged the State to develop a performance…
The State of Illinois is allowed to carry bills from one fiscal year through a specified period of time in the next fiscal year. This period of time—known as the lapse period—has been extended for FY2010 from two months to six months to give the State longer to deal with its mountain of unpaid bills. The State Finance Act (30 ILCS 105/25) allows state agencies to continue to use the previous year’s spending authority to pay for last year’s bills during the first two months of the current…
This article discusses remarks made to the public by Illinois gubernatorial candidates Rich Whitney and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn after a Civic Federation forum.
This article explores City of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s plans to close a $654.7 million budget gap with a mix of tax increment financing and reserve funds, cuts, and debt restructuring. The Civic Federation says drawing down reserves will create future challenges for the City and that the City needs to restructure some of its public services.
This article discusses a delay in the mailing of Cook County property tax bills to around November 22, a month later than 2009’s mailing. The Civic Federation says that because of the delay, local governments may have to borrow money for operating costs – a potentially costly move.
Citing reliance on one-time revenue sources, such as borrowing, to try and close its FY2011 operating shortfall, Moody’s Investors Service announced last week that it was downgrading its outlook on the State of Illinois’ $25 billion of outstanding General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds) from stable to negative. The negative outlook is a warning from the rating agency that if significant steps are not taken to improve the State’s fiscal condition it could face one or more downgrades to its…
The State of Illinois will receive less federal Medicaid funding than it budgeted for in FY2011—but more than had been feared several months ago. After months of debate, Congress in August of 2010 passed and President Obama signed a bill extending enhanced Medicaid payments that were contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The enhanced payments, which began in October of 2008, were scheduled to expire on December 31, 2010. Under HR 1586, they will now end six…
