The following posts were among the most highly read on the Civic Federation blog in 2013 and represent some of the most closely followed local government issues this year: City Council’s Proposed Independent Budget Office, A Civic Federation Recommendation January 2, 2013 This blog details a proposal introduced in the Chicago City Council on December 12, 2012 to create an Office of Independent Budget Analysis responsible for vetting all financial legislation before the Council. The Civic…
The following posts were among the most highly read on the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability’s blog in 2013 and represent some of the most closely followed Illinois fiscal issues this year: Analysis of Pension Reform Proposal Shows Significant State Savings January 3, 2013 This blog examines a pension reform proposal introduced in the Illinois General Assembly late in 2012 by a bipartisan group of legislators. Actuarial reports showed that the proposal could immediately reduce…
Last week the Civic Federation marked the end of the FY2014 budget season with a blog that summarized the proposed budgets for the eight local governments the Federation monitors. These governments include the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the City of Chicago, Cook County, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and the Chicago Park District. This blog…
The pension plan enacted by the State of Illinois on December 5, 2013 may preserve more of the benefit increases for current employees than is widely assumed, due to a provision of the new law that ties benefit growth to inflation. As discussed here, the new benefit increase is based on years of service and a multiplier that starts at $1,000 for a retiree not covered by Social Security ($800 for a retiree covered by Social Security). The multiplier rises each year by the increase in the…
This article discusses a judge’s ruling allowing the City of Detroit to enter bankruptcy. The judge additionally ruled that pension benefits for employees and retirees could be cut as a part of Detroit’s eventual reorganization plan. Pension reform legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly on December 3 is expected to be eventually considered by the Illinois Supreme Court. The Civic Federation said the reforms will start to stabilize the State’s pension systems.
The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s tentative budget of $1.2 billion for its responsible pension practices and transparent long-term planning. The District is prudently basing its pension contribution this year on the actuarial needs of the fund, rather than blindly following statutory requirements. The District’s responsible pension fund stewardship is guided by its continued reliance on publicly-available long-term financial plans. The District also…
In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s (MWRD) FY2014 Tentative Budget of $1.2 billion for its responsible pension practices and transparent long-term planning. The full 50-page report is available at www.civicfed.org. “The District is prudently basing its pension contribution this year on the actuarial needs of the fund, rather than blindly following statutory requirements,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic…
After decades of dire warnings and several years of legislative negotiations, the Illinois General Assembly on December 3, 2013 passed comprehensive pension reform legislation and Governor Pat Quinn signed it into law on December 5. The legislation is designed to scale back the State’s massive pension obligations while preserving its retirement systems. Supporters estimate that the plan will result in an immediate reduction of more than $20 billion, or approximately 20%, in the State’s total…
In this segment Civic Federation President Laurence Msall joined panelists to discuss details of pension reform legislation Senate Bill 1, the day before its debate and subsequent passage in the Illinois General Assembly. The Civic Federation supports the bill as a solution that spreads the pain of reform among all stakeholders while protecting the lowest-income employees.
This article looks at the City of Chicago’s underfunded pension system following the Illinois General Assembly’s December 3 action on pension reform for the State funds. The Civic Federation said without pension reform, City of Chicago property taxes would need to more than double to accommodate steep increases in the City’s required contributions to its Police, Fire, Municipal and Laborers’ pension funds.
