In a report released today, the Civic Federation announced its support for the City of Chicago’s proposed $6.5 billion FY2013 budget which reduces the City’s reliance on one-time revenue sources while restructuring City government through better managing personnel expenditures. The full 108-page analysis is available at www.civicfed.org. The proposal holds the City’s property tax levy nearly flat and does not include any new tax or fee increases. The budget also proposes to eliminate the…
The Civic Federation supports the City of Chicago’s FY2013 proposed $6.5 billion budget which reduces the City’s reliance on one-time revenue sources while restructuring City government through better managing personnel expenditures. The proposal also holds the property tax level nearly flat and does not include any new tax or fee increases. Actions taken to close a $298 million budget gap…
A national report on state budget issues released this week details the ongoing operating budget problems in Illinois and highlights the State’s dire need to invest in its neglected infrastructure. According to the State Budget Crisis Task Force report on Illinois, State and local governments could need to invest more than $300 billion over the next 30 years to maintain depleted roads, bridges, mass transit, water systems and other public infrastructure throughout the state. The task force…
Last week, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability published a blog on the State of Illinois’ Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) and why the State will be distributing $182 million less to local governments in FY2013. This blog builds on that one to show the impact of the drop in PPRT revenues on the City of Chicago’s FY2013 budget. The PPRT is a revenue source for local governments that was created by the General Assembly in 1979 to replace a tax on the…
Last week, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) issued an amended FY2013 budget plan based on the new contract agreement between the District and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). The revised budget includes an additional $103 million in spending which CPS plans to fund through cost-reductions in operations and one-time revenue sources. The Civic Federation maintains its opposition to the CPS FY2013 budget and urges the Board of Education to reject the amended budget in favor of a financially…
The fact that the State of Illinois is no longer behind on paying business income tax refunds is good news for taxpayers and the State budget. But due to an obscure provision of State law, the elimination of the refund backlog also means that the State will distribute an estimated $182 million less in Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) to local governments in FY2013 than in FY2012. As discussed here, no approved income tax refunds are currently owed and the Illinois Department of Revenue…
Although discussion about the State of Illinois’ annual budget primarily focuses on the operating expenditures the State also appropriates significant funding each year for capital investments. The State approved a $22.7 billion capital budget for FY2013 that is not part of the $33.0 billion General Funds budget enacted for operations. Since FY2005, the State’s capital budget and operating budget have been recommended as separate documents by the Governor and considered in separate budget bills…
This analysis of the State of Illinois’ Fiscal Year 2013 budget estimates that projected savings could reduce the State’s existing backlog of $8.9 billion in unpaid bills by roughly $1.3 billion, but warned that the reduction may be difficult to achieve. The budget reflects significant steps to rein in the costs of Medicaid but fails to address the unsustainable costs of the State’s pension systems. The State’s Fiscal Year 2013 began on July 1, 2012 and ends on June 30, 2013. Click here to read…
An analysis released today by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation estimated the State’s FY2013 budget could reduce the existing backlog of unpaid bills by roughly $1.3 billion, but warned that the reduction may be difficult to achieve. The State’s $33.0 billion operating budget reflects significant steps to rein in the costs of Medicaid but fails to address the unsustainable costs of the State’s pension systems. The full 58-page analysis is available at www…
This editorial discusses Moody’s Investor Service’s most recent downgrade CPS in the wake of a new labor contract for teachers and rising pension costs. The Civic Federation says CPS cannot afford to wait for leadership from the Illinois General Assembly and should immediately work to identify sustainable pension reforms.
