As Governor Pat Quinn searches for unaffordable programs to cut from the state budget, the fate of the troubled Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park deserves close attention. Howe, a state-run facility for the developmentally disabled, was decertified by federal authorities in 2007 after reports of substandard care and safety violations, including deaths of residents in unexplained circumstances. As a result, it no longer receives federal funding under the Medicaid program. Since…
Today the Civic Federation released its analysis of the FY2010 City Colleges Tentative Annual Operating Budget, supporting the District’s $492.1 million spending plan. The Federation believes the District is proposing a prudent budget, increasing appropriations by 0.9% over adjusted FY2009 budgeted appropriations, freezing the property tax levy for the next two years and proposing an alternate funding plan for core academic programs in light of uncertain funding from the State of Illinois…
The Civic Federation will announce its support for the proposed $492.1 million FY2010 City Colleges of Chicago budget at public hearing today. The Federation’s 39-page analysis found that the proposed budget compensates for uncertain State funding and will hold the City Colleges property tax levy flat for the next two years. Visit civicfed.org to download the report and read staff blog posts about the budget. “The Civic Federation believes the City Colleges’ responsible FY2010 budget sets a…
The Civic Federation supports the $492.1 million City Colleges of Chicago FY2010 budget because it is a prudent spending plan that both holds the District’s property tax levy flat over the next two years and compensates for uncertainties in State funding by proposing alternative plans to support core academic programs. The Federation is concerned that City Colleges is predicting revenue shortfalls through FY2013 and has not articulated a clear and detailed plan to address the funding…
On June 30, 2009 the Chicago City Council passed a resolution asking the Civic Federation to conduct a review of the financial projections made by Chicago 2016 for the City’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Specifically, the resolution asked the Federation to deliver a report and recommendations to the City Council on Chicago’s financing of the 2016 games and any financial impact on taxpayers. On July 14, 2009, the Civic Federation accepted the City Council’s request and agreed to…
Over the years, Illinois’ poorly funded retirement systems have put an enormous strain on the State’s budget. At times, the State has chosen to simply avoid the burden by making smaller contributions to the pension funds than required under a 1995 pension funding law. As part of the $54 billion FY2010 operating budget passed on July 15, 2009, the General Assembly and Governor chose to make the full pension payment of $4.5 billion required by law. However, the method the State has chosen…
This article describes the City of Chicago’s plans to close an operating budget deficit of about $300 million with worker furloughs and funds received as part of the privatization of the city’s assets. The Civic Federation is quoted staying that while cuts to the city’s payroll are desperately needed, spending funds received from privatizations on operating costs is inefficient.
In this column, Steve Huntley explores the deadlock in Springfield over the State of Illinois budget. He cites the Civic Federation’s analysis of Governor Quinn’s proposed budget, which advocated state employee pension and health care benefit reforms and budget cuts before any kind of tax increase.
The Chicago City Council recently passed a resolution requesting that the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid’s finances undergo analysis by the Civic Federation. The resolution is a response to Mayor Daley’s announcement that he would sign an unlimited financial guarantee of the Olympic Games.
In this news segment about a proposed increase to the Illinois income tax, the Civic Federation expresses concerns that too much of the focus in Springfield is on raising taxes, rather than fixing the state’s current fiscal problems. The Federation notes that it could support a small increase in the income tax, provided that state pensions are properly funded.
