(The full text of this article is available only to the publication’s subscribers.) This article is an overview of the Civic Federation's analyses of the FY2012 budgets for the nine local governments it studies, as summarized in two recent posts on the Civic Federation blog: Local Government Budget Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Analysis Summary Part I and Part II. The posts identify three common fiscal problems among the governments: declining health of pension funds, inadequate fund balances and…
This article discusses the State of Illinois’ upcoming issuances of general obligation bonds to fund its ongoing public works program. Plans include bond sales of between $500 million and $750 million on January 11 and additional bond sales up to $750 million in March following the release of Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed FY2013 budget. The article cites the Civic Federation’s projection that Illinois’ total general operating deficit, including accumulated deficit from prior years, will…
In the past two years, nine states have passed laws to reduce automatic annual increases in pension benefits for current retirees. The latest example is Rhode Island, which in November 2011 enacted legislation to suspend annual pension increases until the state’s retirement systems are more adequately funded. The table below, based primarily on data from the National Conference of State Legislatures summarizes new laws related to annual pension increases. The reductions in automatic annual…
The focus of this article is an announcement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration that it exceeded its budget-trimming goal by cutting $8 million more than the $75 million that was targeted in May. The Civic Federation said the announcement represented a significant step forward, but cautioned that the city is still in a financial crisis with a structural deficit and severely under-funded pensions.
On December 16, 2011, the Governor signed half of a tax incentive package that was sent to him earlier in the week by the legislature. The package of tax incentives had failed to advance earlier in the veto session. After splitting a bill that passed the Senate but failed in the House into two separate measures, the House approved both sets of incentives on December 12, 2011. The Senate followed suit the next day and the bills were sent to Governor Pat Quinn on Thursday, December 15, 2011…
Last week marked the end of the budget season for the nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. While each local government’s budget and fiscal health status was evaluated individually, there are…
This week marks the end of the Civic Federation's fiscal year 2012 local government budget analysis season. The nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation include: City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. The most notable finding of the budget season was that six of the eight…
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Park District FY2012 Budget of $407.5 million because it holds the property tax levy flat for the seventh year in a row and emphasizes cost containment and revenue diversification. The Federation supports the District’s development of a fund balance policy and its efforts to eliminate the structural deficit through a multi-year plan. While we support the budget, the Civic Federation has concerns about the declining health of the District’s pension fund…
Spending Plan Holds the Line on Property Taxes, Begins to Reduce Structural Deficit The Civic Federation supports the proposed FY2012 Chicago Park District budget of $407.5 million because it freezes the property tax levy for the seventh year in a row and emphasizes cost containment and revenue diversification. The Federation remains concerned about the declining health of the Park District pension fund. The full 47-page analysis is available on the Civic Federation website at civicfed.org. The…
The Civic Federation offers conditional support for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s (MWRD) FY2012 Tentative Budget of $1.0 billion. The Federation is concerned that the budget proposes the maximum increase to the property tax levy and does not comply with the District’s own fund balance policy. The proposed reforms to pension funding that have the support of the Retirement Fund Board and the Board of Commissioners are a strong step toward improving the financial health of the…
