Last week the Civic Federation described the City of Chicago’s structural deficit in our budget analysis and a blog post. One of the primary sources of funding that has allowed the City to finance this deficit has been revenues from the long-term leases of the Skyway and the metered parking system to private operators. The Civic Federation generally opposes using the one-time funding received from these public-private partnerships for operating expenses. The City of Chicago now finds…
Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office today released the 2009 Cook County Tax Rates Report. The Cook County Treasurer’s office also announced that property tax bills are expected to be mailed via U.S. mail on Wednesday, November 10th. Taxpayers who can’t wait for the mail will be able to look up their tax liabilities on the Treasurer’s web site beginning Wednesday. Tax bills will be due on December 13th, 2010. The first installment tax bills for 2010 will be mailed as usual at the end…
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.
On this segment of the City Room news program, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says the next Cook County Board President should roll back the Cook County sales tax increase of 2008, a recommendation found in the Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report.
This segment of the “Chicago Tonight” news program features a roundtable discussion with the three candidates for Cook County Board President. The candidates discuss recommendations made by 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…
Group Retains Concerns about Use of Capital Funds to Balance Budget The Civic Federation announced today that it supports the FY2011 Chicago Transit Authority proposed budget of $1.3 billion because it implements efficiencies and cost-cutting measures while maintaining current service levels. However, the Federation retains significant concerns about the System’s future fiscal stability. The full budget analysis is available on the Civic Federation website at www.civicfed.org. The CTA proposes…
Civic Federation Supports FY2011 Budget, Urges More Complete Planning Process Citing DuPage County’s plan to cut expenditures by 3.0% while pledging to maintain core services, the Civic Federation announced today that it supports the $459.4 million proposed FY2011 budget. However, the Federation warned that the County will need to improve its financial planning process to prepare for an uncertain future. Like many governments, DuPage County predicts continued declines in its economically…
