Plan Uses Revenue from Increased Income Tax Rates on New Homeowners’ Grant (CHICAGO) – In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability opposes Governor Quinn’s recommended budget for FY2015 because it uses revenue from extending the 2011 temporary income tax increase for new spending. The State’s fiscal crisis demands that any increased revenue be used to stabilize State finances by significantly reducing its massive backlog of unpaid bills…
The Civic Federation opposes Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended budget for FY2015 because it uses revenue from extending the 2011 temporary income tax increase for new spending. The State’s fiscal crisis demands that any increased revenue be used to stabilize State finances by significantly reducing its massive backlog of unpaid bills. The Civic Federation is encouraged that the recommended budget recognizes the State cannot withstand a $1.8 billion reduction in revenues next year due to the…
As part of the FY2015 budget recommendation for the State of Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn provided two separate five-year projections for both “recommended” and “not recommended” budget proposals. The long-term outlooks show the implications of the extension of higher income tax rates in the recommended budget and the considerable spending reductions that would be necessary to balance the State’s budget if the increases were allowed to roll back under the not recommended budget. Under current…
The Civic Federation joined with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 23, 2014 to co-host a conference on ways that municipalities in Illinois can avoid or resolve fiscal stress. Experts, practitioners and academics from around the country gathered to discuss Chicago’s fiscal future and how different state intervention and revenue policies around the country have impacted local governments. Attendees to the sold out conference included civic and business leaders and government officials…
This article discusses Governor Quinn’s recent indication that he would consider increasing the share of State income taxes distributed to local governments if the 2011 income tax rates were made permanent. The Civic Federation recommended restoring the full 10% share of income tax revenues to local governments in its FY2015 State of Illinois Budget Roadmap. Municipalities did not receive additional revenue from the 2011 tax increase.
On April 8, 2014, the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate approved Senate Bill 1922, which contains reforms and funding increases intended to stabilize the financial condition of two of the City of Chicago’s four pension funds. The bill awaits Governor Quinn’s review. This blog post is an update to a post from two weeks ago that provided the details of an earlier version of the reform bill. The approved version contains some changes, described below. Amendments made to Senate…
This segment discusses Governor Quinn’s opposition to the property tax component of Chicago’s recent pension reform plan for its Municipal and Labor funds. The Civic Federation said increased property taxes have to be part of a solution to save the pension funds, and noted the Chicago Park District’s successful pension reform package included increased employer contributions that will likely be funded by property tax increases.
This article discusses the City of Chicago’s plan to restore 90% funded levels to its Municipal and Laborers pension funds by 2054 through a combination of property tax increases, increased employee contributions and lower cost-of-living increases for retirees. The Civic Federation said the plan strikes a reasonable balance of shared sacrifice among taxpayers, employees and retirees to stabilize the City’s finances.
This article reports on a pension funding plan announced by the City of Chicago April 1 that would bring the Municipal and Laborers pension funds to a 90% funded level by 2054. Without reforms, both funds face insolvency within 9-17 years. The Civic Federation said the City’s plan is reasonable, but aiming for a 100% funded level would be ideal.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a proposal to stabilize the City’s underfunded Municipal and Laborers pension funds on March 31. The 40-year plan includes successive property tax increases to provide additional pension funding coupled with employee benefit reductions. His proposal does not address the severe funding crisis in the Police and Fire Pension Funds. Legislation based on the Mayor’s proposal was passed by the Illinois House Personnel and Pensions Committee on April 2. The…
