The Civic Federation supports the $425.6 million Chicago Park District budget for continuing the District’s multi-year effort to reduce its structural deficit. The proposal includes a broad-based property tax increase after eight years of relatively flat levies for the District. It also leaves the District well-positioned to implement the comprehensive pension reforms passed by the Illinois General Assembly in November 2013 that are now awaiting the Governor’s review. The District's pension…
(The full text of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article covers the City Council’s November 26 vote to approve the FY2014 City of Chicago Budget. The Civic Federation’s analysis supports the budget as a short-term plan, but warns that the fiscal progress made in recent years will be undone next year when the City faces a $590 million pension contribution increase absent pension reform.
A provision of the General Obligation Bond Act in Illinois requires the State to structure its bonds so that equal amounts of the funds borrowed are repaid in each year of the loan. This structure, called level principal, benefits the State’s long-term debt profile by reducing the overall cost of borrowing and protects future borrowing capacity by ensuring annual debt service payments will decline over the life of the bonds. However, this rule only applies to the bonds issued by the State.…
This editorial discusses an ordinance that would create an Office of Financial Analysis for the City Council to evaluate budget proposals separately from the Mayor’s advisory team. The Civic Federation strongly supports the proposal that would give aldermen access to the independent information and analysis they need to be effective stewards of taxpayer dollars.
The Civic Federation strongly supports the proposal to create an Office of Financial Analysis for the Chicago City Council. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed FY2014 budget includes funding for an Office of Financial Analysis to help vet financial legislation before it is considered by the Chicago City Council. The ordinance that would provide for the creation of such an office has passed the Committee on Budget and Government Operations and goes next to the full Council for consideration. We urge…
Only four months into the State of Illinois’ 2014 fiscal year, which began on July 1, 2013, annual revenue projections have increased by more than $300 million from the initial estimates. Positive first quarter results from the State’s sales tax receipts are being added to other one-time revenues already received this year to provide additional resources for the FY2014 operating budget. According to the October revenue report from the legislature’s financial advisory agency, the Commission on…
The State of Illinois plans to apply for a sweeping federal waiver to overhaul its Medicaid program, according to a draft concept paper issued on November 7, 2013. The waiver proposal, called Path to Transformation, covers all of the State’s Medicaid spending and all of the populations that are currently eligible or may be eligible under the federal Affordable Care Act. It would allow Illinois to test new approaches that do not conform to federal program rules and to receive federal funding to…
This article covers the Chicago Transit Authority’s November 12 budget hearing in advance of the Chicago Transit Board’s November 13 budget vote. The Civic Federation recently released its FY2014 CTA Budget Analysis and testified in support of the budget for achieving balance without relying on fare increases or the use of one-time revenue sources.
Pension Contribution Increase in FY2015 Threatens to Derail Fiscal Progress In a report released today, the Civic Federation announced its support for the City of Chicago’s proposed $7.0 billion budget as a reasonable short-term plan that continues to reduce the City’s structural deficit. However, Chicago’s fiscal and economic stability continue to be jeopardized by the failure to fix the City’s broken pension system. The full 111-page analysis is available at www.civicfed.org. “This budget…
The Civic Federation supports the City of Chicago’s proposed $7.0 billion budget as a reasonable short-term plan that closes approximately two-thirds of a $338.7 million budget gap with structural changes that will continue to reduce the City’s ongoing deficit. To help balance the FY2014 budget, the City proposed an increase in the City’s cigarette tax rate, a reduction in the partial exemption from the amusement tax for cable companies and targeted rate increases for fines and permits.…
