Since its beginnings in July with the overhaul of the Civic Federation’s website, the IIFS blog has focused mostly on issues related to the Illinois budget, including Medicaid, debt, and the State pension system. These posts expand upon topics discussed in IIFS research publications and events in the news. Discussion about Illinois’ FY2010 budget and how the State was planning to bridge a two-year, $11.6 billion budget gap was the focal point for a number of blog posts. “New Borrowing Worsens…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2010 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement performance measurement and 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 produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform,…
As noted on page 9 of its FY2010 Tentative Budget, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago will begin to address concerns over its increasing pension liabilities. The District is proposing to create a task force to study pensions and possibly commission a report that would present analysis of the current and future costs of the District’s pension benefits. The report would also explore strategic alternatives to increase the funded ratio of District’s Retirement Fund…
The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s FY2010 Tentative Budget of nearly $1.7 billion as a prudent response to revenue shortfalls. The MWRD plans to prioritize spending, control personnel costs, and implement a modest increase to its property tax levy to balance its budget. The Federation cautions the District, however, that substantial changes may be necessary to stem growing pension liabilities. The Federation recommends that the District pursue employer…
Facing a multi-billion dollar mountain of unpaid bills and declining revenues, Governor Pat Quinn has proposed a new short-term borrowing plan for the State of Illinois that has encountered opposition from the Comptroller’s Office. As previously reported in this blog, the Governor in late October announced his intention to borrow $900 million to help catch up on payments to state vendors and service providers. The original plan called for borrowing based on revenue shortfalls, known as “failure…
This article about a report on the States in the worst fiscal condition by the Pew Center on the States quotes the Civic Federation in its profile of Illinois’ budget problems. The Federation noted that Illinois’ budget hole is too large to be filled with just a tax increase.
The Civic Federation opposes the FY2010 City of Chicago budget of $6.14 billion because it is unsustainable and relies too heavily on one-time reserve funds to close a $520.0 million budget deficit. The proposed drastic draw down of long-term reserves allows for increased spending in FY2010 but does not properly plan for the future. The City must consider FY2011 and FY2012 when crafting its FY2010 budget as the City’s revenues are not likely to rebound enough in the next 12 months to replace…
The State of Illinois’ inadequate funding of its employee retirement systems has already contributed to downgrades in the State’s credit ratings and will continue to affect rating decisions for many years, according to a new report by Moody’s Investors Service. The report comes as Illinois’ Pension System Modernization Task Force is preparing to issue recommendations to the General Assembly to reform the State’s pension plans. Governor Pat Quinn had urged sweeping pension reforms in his FY2010…
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) proposed FY2010 budget of $1.29 billion. Facing significant public funding short falls, CTA plans to close its $300.9 million deficit with fare increases ranging from 25 to 75 cents per ride, the elimination of 1,021 full-time equivalent positions, reductions in bus and rail service and the transfer of capital funds into general operating funds. The Federation finds that the transfer of capital funds into operating funds and…
The Civic Federation supports the $521.2 million FY2010 DuPage County budget proposal because it maintains funding for core programs while providing property tax relief. The County has additionally improved its budget planning process and increased government transparency. Read the press release for the FY2010 DuPage County budget proposal here.
