This article about the State of Illinois’ possible plans to borrow to make its required pension contribution cites a Civic Federation blog post “New Pension Borrowing Could Stress State Budget Through 2019.”
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2011 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, reinstating means-tested transit discounts for seniors, requiring large counties to hold budget hearings and produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform,…
When the General Assembly reconvenes next week for its annual veto session, it is expected to continue deliberating whether to borrow in FY2011 to make its required pension payment. If approved, the borrowing plan would lighten the load on the already stressed General Funds of the State but would lead to dramatically higher debt service payments for almost a decade. This would be the second year in a row that the State issued pension related debt rather than make its required payment to the…
In this news segment, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall explains why the Civic Federation opposes the City of Chicago’s FY2011 budget. Mr. Msall explains that the City needs major pension fund reforms and must not rely on one-time revenues from asset lease deals to balance its budgets.
After experiencing several years of poor market conditions, three of the five Illinois State employee retirement funds have reduced their expected rate of return on investments. This rate, also known as the discount rate, is used to calculate the present value of the future obligations of the systems. Although the reductions were small, one percentage point or less, the move triggers a substantial increase in the present value of the commitments made by the State to its employees and…
As explained in its recent analysis of the State of Illinois FY2011 proposed budget, the Civic Federation opposes the practice of supplying money to the State’s pension funds through borrowing. Pensions are an annual operating expense and the use of debt to fund them is not sustainable, adding to the State’s mounting debt service burden and increasing future pressures on the operating budget. On Thursday the Civic Federation sent a letter to members of the Illinois General Assembly urging them…
The Civic Federation opposes the proposed FY2011 City of Chicago budget of nearly $6.2 billion because it does not effectively address the structural deficit and relies too heavily on asset lease reserve funds and debt restructuring to close the $654.8 million budget deficit. The proposed budget would defer costs and postpone changes needed to align current year expenditures with recurring revenues. Click here to read the press release for this analysis.
The Civic Federation announced today that it opposes the $6.2 billion FY2011 City of Chicago budget because it does not do enough to address the City’s structural deficit. Instead it relies upon long-term asset lease funds and other non-recurring revenues to close a $654.8 million shortfall. The Federation urges the City Council to reduce spending to avoid further deterioration of the City’s financial condition. The full 80-plus page analysis of the budget is available at www.civicfed.org. The…
In this blog post, Greg Hinz examines some of the recommendations in the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report.
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) proposed FY2011 budget of $1.3 billion but has significant concerns for the agency in the longer term. The budget is a 5.2% or $66.7 million increase from the adopted FY2010 budget of $1.2 billion. The proposed FY2011 budget maintains the current level of transit service for the Chicagoland area. However, it is precariously balanced on $83.0 million in anticipated payments from the State which have not yet…
