This article covers Mayor Rahm Emanuel seeking approval from City Council for $3 billion in borrowing, the biggest in his tenure. President of the Civic Federation, Laurence Msall, asks whether the record borrowing is in the best interest of city taxpayers.
This article examines a ruling by the Illinois 4th District Appellate Court, finding that the 2012 law defining nonprofit hospitals’ property tax exemptions is unconstitutional. The particular ruling involves a case against the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois. Civic Federation President, Laurence Msall, discusses the potential implications of this ruling for hospitals statewide.
After a 20-month hiatus from the municipal bond market, the State of Illinois recently announced it would sell bonds later this month in order to continue paying for ongoing capital projects in need of additional funding. According to the bond sale documents posted online, the State will sell $480 million of tax-exempt bonds on January 14, 2016. The bonds will be sold through a competitive bid process and will include equal amounts of principal repaid over 25 years to comply with State…
This article reports on the City of Chicago seeking to borrow up to $3 billion dollars in 2016 to fund a mix of capital, water, sewer and airport projects. Several hundred million of the borrowing funds will go to refinancing existing city debt. Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation remarked on the need for a detailed plan regarding how this will address the city’s financial crisis.
This article discusses the state of Illinois ending calendar year 2015—six months into FY2016—without a budget. With the current budget impasse, spending plans have driven up borrowing costs, the state’s credit rating has sunk and underfunded pensions have worsened. According to the Civic Federation, Illinois is set to pay about $7.5 billion to pensions this fiscal year. The Civic Federation also noted that even with the record budget impasse, about one of every $5 dollars from the state’s…
FY2016 Budget Season Summary December 3, 2015 marked the end of the budget season for the eight local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Chicago Park District. Four of the seven governments that levy property taxes held their levies relatively…
This article discusses the Chicago Teachers Union’s recent vote to authorize a strike. If the strike were to happen, it would be the second strike in three years. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall explained that the District’s current pension obligations are unsustainable. The Civic Federation did not support FY2016 Chicago Public Schools budget because it relied on $480 million in State funding that had not been appropriated.
This article covers the Civic Federation’s December 3 analysis of the FY2016 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Tentative Budget. The Federation supported the budget for its fiscal responsibility in property funding pensions and prefunding retiree health benefits. The analysis also praised the District for using long-term financial planning.
This article discusses a December 1 meeting scheduled between Governor Rauner and four House and Senate leaders to discuss the Illinois budget and the ongoing budget impasse. The Civic Federation said there is an enormous financial cost to Illinois while the budget impasse continues and the State’s unpaid bills continue to grow.
As Illinois enters the sixth month of fiscal year 2016 without a budget, the backlog of unpaid group health insurance bills has reached more than $2 billion and is likely to grow much larger. In the absence of an FY2016 budget, the group health insurance program is one of the major areas of State government for which there appears to be no legal authority to pay the bills. Nevertheless, the program’s costs must be paid eventually because of State law and union contracts. When the overdue bills…
