Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was a panelist for this discussion on public pensions in Illinois.
This article, part of an investigatory series about Illinois’ public employee pension crisis, quotes the Civic Federation. The Federation says that part of the problem can be attributed to the changing nature of retirement benefits, which were originally meant to provide economic security for those no longer able to work.
This article about Fitch’s revision of the Chicago Public Schools’ bond rating from positive to stable cites the Civic Federation analysis of the FY2010 CPS proposed budget, specifically the recommendation that the Illinois General Assembly and District work together to reform the District’s pension system in order to avert fiscal challenges.
Data from the most recent audited financial statements of Illinois’ state and local government pension funds shows that the total unfunded liabilities for pensions supported by the taxes of Chicago residents reached $10,037 per capita for fiscal year 2008. Property taxes paid by Chicago residents (both owners and renters) support the four pension funds for City of Chicago employees as well as the pension funds for employees of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Cook County, Cook…
In this segment on the City Room news program, Civic Federation Vice-President Lise Valentine is interviewed about the Federation’s support of the Chicago Public Schools FY2010 operating budget. Ms. Valentine also points out that CPS must gain control of its ballooning pension system.
The Civic Federation supports the $6.9 billion Chicago Public Schools FY2010 proposed budget. The District employed reasonable measures to balance its budget in light of a $473 million deficit, including cuts to personnel and a proposed drawing down of reserves. The Federation also supports the District’s modest 1.5% increase to its property tax levy. Going forward, the Federation has concerns about the District’s growing annual pension liabilities, which is a principle driver of its…
Today the Civic Federation released its analysis of Chicago Public Schools’ proposed FY2010 budget. On page 61 of the analysis we discuss the District’s dramatically escalating annual pension contribution costs. The District’s statutorily-required pension contribution was $177.8 million in FY2009. In FY2010 it will jump to $307.5 million, a one-year increase of $129.7 million or 72.9%. But this is just the beginning. The outlying years paint a grim picture for the District’s finances. In…
This segment on the news program “Eight Forty-Eight” examines Chicago Public Schools’ proposed FY2010 budget and the District’s underfunded pension system. It features an interview with Civic Federation President Laurence Msall, who says that union contracts will likely need to be examined and possibly renegotiated in order to avert a looming pension crisis.
This in-depth profile of Mike Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House, cites Civic Federation research into Illinois’ public employee pension system, which indicates the system has $73.4 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
More details are finally available on the FY2010 operating budget, and it would be difficult to describe it as balanced—even on paper. Depending on how you look at it, there is technically either a $157 million deficit or an $872 million surplus in the budget approved by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Pat Quinn on July 15, 2009. However, those numbers don’t take into account the $3.5 billion that the State plans to borrow to make its required pension payments. Nor do they reflect…
