The Governor’s office recently published its first official document that included details of the revenues and expenditures approved by the General Assembly for FY2010 fiscal year. The Official Statement accompanying the sale of $1.25 billion in short term debt on August 20, 2009 includes new information on the State’s fiscal condition. It should eventually be available along with the other bond issuance documentation on the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget website. Until then it is…
Governor Pat Quinn has decided that the State of Illinois will shut down its troubled Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park and move residents to other quarters by April 2010. The decision, announced on August 28, 2009, came four months after the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on April 28 backed a recommendation by the Illinois Department of Human Services that Howe be closed. The decision also came after a consultant hired by the Governor…
In this segment on the City Room news program, Civic Federation Vice-President Lise Valentine is interviewed about the Federation’s support of the Chicago Public Schools FY2010 operating budget. Ms. Valentine also points out that CPS must gain control of its ballooning pension system.
Starting today, increases in the taxation rates on soft drinks, personal grooming and hygiene products, and candy will take effect to help pay for improvements to Illinois’ infrastructure. The tax base of these three categories of merchandise will change from the low food and medicine rate of 1% to the higher general merchandise rate of 6.25%. Many municipalities add an extra tax to the base State rate. Please click here to find your local tax rate. The State sales tax on liquor will also…
CHICAGO -- Citing reasonable measures taken by Chicago Public Schools to balance its $6.9 billion budget, the Civic Federation announced its support of the District’s FY2010 spending plan today. The District has cut personnel and proposed drawing down reserves and a modest increase to the CPS property tax levy to close a $473 million budget deficit, the largest since 1995. Visit civicfed.org to download the full 67-page report and read a staff blog post about the budget. Early in the budget…
The Civic Federation supports the $6.9 billion Chicago Public Schools FY2010 proposed budget. The District employed reasonable measures to balance its budget in light of a $473 million deficit, including cuts to personnel and a proposed drawing down of reserves. The Federation also supports the District’s modest 1.5% increase to its property tax levy. Going forward, the Federation has concerns about the District’s growing annual pension liabilities, which is a principle driver of its…
Today the Civic Federation released its analysis of Chicago Public Schools’ proposed FY2010 budget. On page 61 of the analysis we discuss the District’s dramatically escalating annual pension contribution costs. The District’s statutorily-required pension contribution was $177.8 million in FY2009. In FY2010 it will jump to $307.5 million, a one-year increase of $129.7 million or 72.9%. But this is just the beginning. The outlying years paint a grim picture for the District’s finances. In…
Since 2004, the City of Chicago has transacted three major long term asset leases worth over $3.5 billion. The Chicago Skyway (2004) – A 99-year lease with Cintra-Macquarie with a transaction value of $1.83 billion. Downtown Parking Garages (2006) – A 99-year lease with Morgan Stanley. This transaction was also with the Chicago Park District. The total value of the transaction is $563 million. Chicago Parking Meters (2009) – A 99-year lease with Morgan Stanley with a transaction…
In this segment of the Chicago Tonight news program, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall and three Chicago aldermen discuss the City of Chicago’s decision to implement non-essential public employee furlough days in order to close the City’s budget gap.
Earlier this spring the Civic Federation opposed the $26 billion capital plan proposed by Governor Quinn because it was unaffordable over time and was not based on a capital improvement plan (CIP). The massive spending proposal was heavily debt funded, borrowing $10.6 billion for new projects (HB 312) and (HB 313). The Governor also planned to refinance the State’s existing $11.8 billion of capital purpose bonds scheduled to expire over the next 10 to 15 years in order to take advantage of…
