This article discussed Chicago Public Schools' $324 million surplus for fiscal year 2018, its first budget surplus in three years. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said that the surplus is a positive sign and a result of the work CPS and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have done to secure additional aid from the State of Illinois. However, Mr. Msall cautioned that one year does not necessarily translate into a trend and CPS still has significant work to do on its finances.
The Illinois General Assembly passed a budget for fiscal year 2019 on May 31, 2018 and Governor Rauner signed it into law on June 4, 2018. The Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability has since then continued to analyze the enacted State of Illinois budget, releasing periodic updates via the IIFS blog. All of the enacted budget content is gathered on this page for readers’ convenience. Illinois Passes Budget on Time; Fiscal Challenges Remain Originally published June 8, 2018…
(CHICAGO) In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced its support for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s tentative FY2019 budget of $1.09 billion. The full analysis is available here. As detailed in the report, the District continues to follow a number of financial best practices. These include developing a strong capital improvement plan, publishing a five-year financial forecast, maintaining high general operating reserves, using working cash funds rather than…
Click here to read the full report. The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s (MWRD) proposed FY2019 Tentative Budget of $1.09 billion. The District continues a proactive plan to fund the MWRD Retirement Fund annually at a level that is projected to reach 100% funding by 2050. The District also follows a number of other best financial practices including a strong capital improvement plan, a five-year financial forecast,…
Expresses serious concerns about the future of the District’s pension fund (CHICAGO) In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced its support for the Chicago Park District’s proposed FY2019 operating budget of $464.0 million. The full analysis is available here. As detailed in the report, the Civic Federation is encouraged that the District is developing a financially responsible approach to its finances that includes keeping the property tax levy relatively flat, prudently…
Click here to read the full report. The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Park District’s FY2019 proposed budget of $464.0 million because it continues to reduce reliance on prior year fund balance, implement savings and efficiencies and reduce the size of its workforce. Additionally, despite the Circuit Court of Cook County overturning the remaining pension reform provisions of Public Act 98-0622 in early 2018, the District will provide voluntary supplemental contributions to its…
When the State of Illinois enacted its budget for the current fiscal year in June 2018, it had a narrow surplus on paper of about $14 million. But a new report from the Governor’s Office estimates that the State’s actual financial result for FY2019 will be a budget deficit of more than $1 billion—a gap that could widen to $2.8 billion the following year without policy changes. The projected outcome in FY2019 is not a surprise, given concerns expressed last spring that the budget was based on…
Organization also raises concerns about future revenue shortfalls (CHICAGO) In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced its support for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s full proposed FY2019 Executive Budget Recommendation of $204.8 million. The full analysis is available here. As detailed in the report, the District has worked to control costs in recent years by eliminating personnel positions and outsourcing non-critical activities. The District has…
Click here to read the full report. Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s full proposed FY2019 Executive Budget Recommendation of $204.8 million as a reasonable one-year plan. As detailed in the report, the District has worked to control costs in recent years by eliminating personnel positions and outsourcing non-critical activities. The District has additionally focused on increasing earned revenue, such as fees and permits. However, the…
Organization also expresses concerns about ridership declines and lack of state funding (CHICAGO) In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced its support of the Chicago Transit Authority’s proposed FY2019 operating budget of $1.6 billion. Despite continued shortfalls in state funding, the proposed budget does not include any fare increases or service cuts. The full analysis is available here. While supporting the proposed budget as a reasonable one-year plan, the Federation…
