The General Assembly has approved, and Governor Pritzker has signed an approximately $50.9 billion FY2025 capital budget. Unlike the State’s annual General Funds budget, which is intended to cover only the cost of operations for the current fiscal year, capital appropriations are reauthorized over multiple years as planning, engineering and construction of capital investments commence. Since 2005 the capital budget has been proposed in a separate document from the State’s operating budget…
This report lays out several major issues facing the Chicago Mayor and City Council as they prepare to enter the FY2025 budget cycle and beyond, including the City’s structural deficit, pensions, long-term debt, public safety and more.
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FY2025 proposed budget total of $9.9 billion presents a temporary solution to a long-term structural financial problem. The plan as presented manages to close a $505 million budget deficit through a series of strategies, including operational reductions and efficiencies, without resorting to irresponsible fiscal practices like issuing debt to fund operations or depleting reserves. However, this budget remains incomplete, contingent upon outstanding collective…
CPS’ FY2025 proposed budget is incomplete at a time when the District faces enormous fiscal challenges both in the short-term, due to unsettled teacher contracts, and in the long-term given next year’s even-larger fiscal deficit. CPS must urgently work with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan to stabilize its finances.
In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation expressed significant concern about the escalating fiscal challenges facing Chicago Public Schools as it votes to approve its FY2025 proposed budget and works to finalize its teacher contract. CPS is spending the last of its federal COVID relief funding at a time when costs associated with personnel and collective bargaining agreements are increasing. Intensifying the budgetary pressures are both the growing cost of operations and the…
The Chicago Community Trust and the Civic Federation in partnership welcomed a dynamic moderated panel of regional transit experts at the Federation’s July 12 Board of Directors meeting, hosted by The Chicago Community Trust. Panelists included state Sen. Ram Villivalam, state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, Regional Transportation Authority Chair Kirk Dillard and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Executive Director Erin Aleman. Erik Cempel, president of Cempel International Transportation…
Eight months after its formation, the Chicago City Council Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Revenue held its first hearing on June 26. The committee is tasked with identifying revenue streams to fund the City’s large debt burden, along with new and existing City programs and services. As the Subcommittee continues to engage on the subject of revenue options and the City Council as a whole approaches the 2025 budget process, the Civic Federation is elevating for Subcommittee, Council and…
In its analysis of the State of Illinois FY2025 Proposed Budget, the Civic Federation finds the State has reached a more stable financial condition due to higher-than-expected revenue growth and prudent fiscal management. With revenue growth slowing, however, the Federation recommends the State develop a plan to optimize its spending and modernize its tax structure.CHICAGO — The Civic Federation today released its analysis of the State of Illinois FY2025 proposed budget, finding the State…
The State of Illinois has made significant progress on stabilizing its finances, ending each of the past four fiscal years with budget surpluses. Those surpluses were driven by several factors: strong revenue performance via a strong economic recovery from COVID-19 and the State’s enactment of budgets in better structural balance than past practice. The State has also prioritized payment of outstanding debt including COVID-related borrowing, interfund borrowing, the Unemployment Insurance Trust…
On November 15, 2023, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) released the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Policy Report. The report describes updates to the …
