On this segment, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall discussed the consequences of a triple credit rating downgrade the City of Chicago received from Moody’s Investors July 18. The downgrade will make it more expensive for the City to borrow, leaving less money for essential services for Chicago residents.
This article discusses Chicago Public Schools’ plan to use $700 million in reserve funds in order to fill a $1 billion deficit in FY2014. The Civic Federation opposed the FY2013 CPS budget for draining reserve funds, and said the use of one-time reserves is an unsustainable approach to budgeting.
As explained in a previous Civic Federation blog, in Cook County’s FY2014 Preliminary Budget Estimates report, released on June 27, 2013, the County projects an initial budget deficit of $152.1 million for FY2014. The deficit primarily reflects increased personnel and employee health benefit costs, increased supply and vendor costs in the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, and reduced revenues due to the repeal of the 2008 sales tax increase and diversion of property tax revenue to pay…
An increase in the cigarette tax increase designed to provide additional funding for the Illinois Medicaid program generated more revenues than expected despite a drop in sales and hoarding of tax stamps prior to the effective date of the tax increase. As discussed here, the $1-per-pack increase was enacted as part of an overhaul of the Medicaid program that sought to eliminate a funding gap of $2.7 billion in FY2013. The State estimated that the increase would bring in an additional $350…
(The full content of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article covers the Civic Federation’s analysis of the City Colleges FY2014 tentative budget. The Federation supports the budget for holding the property tax levy flat, reducing unrestricted operating expenses and planning for the phased-in shift of employee pension costs that has been proposed but not yet enacted by the Illinois General Assembly.
Charged with finding a solution to the State of Illinois’ pension crisis, a legislative conference committee is considering a reform framework proposed by public university presidents. The central feature of the university proposal is a compounded automatic annual benefit increase set at half of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Current Illinois retirees and employees hired before January 1, 2011 receive compounded increases of 3%. If inflation averages 2.75% over the…
This article summarizes the Civic Federation’s support for the City Colleges FY2014 tentative budget. The budget holds the property tax levy flat, reduces unrestricted operating expenses and prudently plans for the phased-in shift of employee pension costs that has been proposed but not yet enacted by the Illinois General Assembly.
The Civic Federation supports the City Colleges tentative FY2014 budget totaling $657.0 million for continuing the District’s exemplary work to improve its financial and operational health. The FY2014 proposed budget holds the property tax levy flat for the fourth consecutive year and reduces the unrestricted operating portion of the budget, the portion over which the District has the most control, by 6.9% or $21.1 million. Now in the middle stages of its multi-year Reinvention reorganization…
Proposed budget holds property tax levy flat and prepares for State’s uncertain fiscal outlook (CHICAGO) In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation supports the City Colleges of Chicago’s proposed FY2014 budget of $657.0 million which continues the District’s exemplary work to improve its financial and operational health. The full 44-page report is available at www.civicfed.org. “Under the leadership of Chancellor Cheryl Hyman and her team, City Colleges has consistently shown…
Amidst a flurry of reports on the State of Illinois’ inability to solve its ongoing pension crisis and worst bond rating of all 50 states, a new study claims that the State’s $96.8 billion unfunded pension liability poses no risk of default to bondholders. The report, published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, compares Illinois’ current financial woes to the last state to default on its bonds, which was Arkansas in 1933. As an example of a highly-rated state, the report…
