The State of Illinois’ fiscal crisis has had a major impact on the State’s employee health insurance plan, delaying payments on employee medical bills paid by the State for roughly seven months and causing the State to delay paying premiums to managed care companies for three and a half months. It is taking an average of 209 days for the State’s self-insured health plan to pay its bills, according to an October 23, 2009 letter from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS…
(CHICAGO) The Civic Federation will announce its support for DuPage County’s $521.2 million proposed FY2010 budget at a public hearing on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 8:00 am. In contrast to many other local governments in northeastern Illinois, DuPage will maintain funding for its core programs despite falling revenues and increasing expenses, while simultaneously reducing its property tax levy by 0.2%. The full 38-page budget review is available at www.civicfed.org. The County is able to…
The Civic Federation supports the $521.2 million FY2010 DuPage County budget proposal because it maintains funding for core programs while providing property tax relief. The County has additionally improved its budget planning process and increased government transparency. Read the press release for the FY2010 DuPage County budget proposal here.
This news segment about Mayor Daley’s plans to close a $500 million City of Chicago budget gap with funds from the City’s privatization deals quotes the Civic Federation, which cautions that forecasted revenues for next year may not be enough to make up for the City’s withdrawal of those funds.
This Clout Street blog post discusses the Cook County Forest Preserve District’s decision to pass its operating budget without increasing fees or property taxes. The post mentions the Civic Federation’s initial support of the budget plan.
In this news story, the Civic Federation cautions the City of Chicago against using its cash reserves, funded from the City’s recent asset privatization deals, to fill a budget deficit. The Federation notes that such a move will compromise the City’s ability to respond to future financial stresses and potentially harm the City’s credit rating and ability to borrow in the future.
The State of Illinois’ personal income tax revenue for FY2010 is now expected to be $850 million lower than projected when the budget was approved in July 2009, according to David Vaught, the newly appointed Director of the Government’s Office of Management and Budget. The latest estimate of approximately $9.4 billion is down roughly 8% from the $10.2 billion projection used to develop the budget for FY2010. Personal income tax collections—the State’s largest single revenue source—totaled…
This news story is about the CTA’s proposed fare increase to bridge a $180 million budget gap and its possible effect on the program that allows senior citizens to ride the CTA, Metra, and Pace for free. The Civic Federation points out that former governor Rod Blagojevich instituted the free rides for seniors program despite funding concerns. The Federation says that to help the CTA balance its budget, the Illinois General Assembly should repeal the program immediately.
The surprise expansion of gambling to all corners of Illinois in the form of legalized video poker that was enacted by the General Assembly has not been well received by many residents or local governments. A recent poll conducted by the Chicago Tribune showed that nearly 60% of Illinois residents opposed legalizing video poker and many counties and cities are taking advantage of a provision in the law that allows local jurisdictions to ban video gaming. The law also allows video poker to be…
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that more information is needed to determine whether local school districts that receive federal stimulus money from the State of Illinois are using the funds promptly, as required by federal regulations. The report stems from the GAO’s effort to track uses of funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) in Illinois, 15 other states and the District of Columbia. Together, these governments account…
