This editorial discusses financial improvements made by the Chicago Transit Authority in the past few years that have led to a more fiscally stable agency. It cites the Civic Federation’s FY2015 CTA Budget Analysis which supports the budget, but retains some concerns about the current pension funding plan and whether the budget relies too heavily on expected payments from the cash-strapped State of Illinois.
Report applauds level of public input in planning, warns of declining pension health In a report released today, the Civic Federation supports the $187.4 million budget proposed by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. The balanced budget holds the property tax levy relatively flat and minimizes the use of one-time resources. The Federation also commends the District for increasing the level of public input in its planning process. The full 61-page report is available here. “This…
Proposal reflects past work to secure pensions, modernize labor practices In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation supports the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) proposed FY2015 operating budget of nearly $1.4 billion. The budget represents an improved level of fiscal stability made possible by the CTA’s efforts in past years to secure its pension fund and modernize its labor practices. The full 48-page analysis is available here. “We’ve seen a significant fiscal turn-around for…
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) proposed FY2015 budget of nearly $1.4 billion. The budget represents an improved level of fiscal stability made possible by the CTA’s efforts in past years to secure its pension fund and modernize its labor practices. The agency is working under a more sustainable labor agreement, no longer relies heavily on one-time revenue sources and has balanced its budget for the past three years without increasing base fare rates. While…
Full Report Discusses Recent Progress, Fiscal Uncertainty Ahead In a report released today, the Civic Federation supports Cook County’s proposed FY2015 operating budget of $3.7 billion and praises the work of Board President Preckwinkle and her administration to reform County operations. The full 95-page report is available here. “Under the leadership of President Preckwinkle and her team, Cook County is continuing to become a more accountable and efficient steward of public resources,” said…
The Civic Federation supports Cook County’s proposed FY2015 operating budget of $3.7 billion for holding the property tax levy relatively flat and not including any new fines or fees. Instead, a $168.9 million shortfall is closed through a combination of revenue increases, expenditure reductions and management efficiencies. Under the leadership of President Preckwinkle and her team, Cook County is continuing to become a more accountable and efficient steward of public resources. Despite…
The provisions of Public Act 98-0622 will not go into effect until January 1, 2015, but the changes to Chicago Park District employee and retiree pension benefit levels contained in the legislation have already reduced the fund’s unfunded liability by $109.4 million or 18.5% and increased the funded ratio by five percentage points to 45.5%. Those changes, described in more detail in this blog post, include a reduced automatic annual increase for current employees and retirees, staggered years…
The State of Illinois will need to increase contributions to its pension funds by $682.0 million in the next budget year, according to preliminary amounts released by the State’s five retirement systems. Total pension contributions required by State law are estimated at $7.5 billion in the year that ends on June 30, 2016, up from $6.9 billion in FY2015. The steep increase is mainly due to decisions earlier this year by the three largest funds to reduce their assumed investment rates of…
This article discusses the Civic Federation’s analysis of the FY2015 City of Chicago budget. The Civic Federation supports the budget for its structural changes and actions toward long-term stability, but is deeply concerned about how the City will manage rising pension costs and debt services payments in future years.
The total unfunded liabilities for the State and local public employee pensions that Chicago residents fund reached $19,579 per capita for fiscal year 2012. That is up from $6,175 per capita in FY2003. Like comparing unfunded liability to payroll, calculating the unfunded liability per capita offers a sense of scale for unfunded liabilities. The UAAL per capita for the four City of Chicago pension funds was $1,890 in FY2003. The total for all ten local pension funds (the others are the…
