04.10.14
A recent report by the Illinois Supreme Court raises significant concerns about Cook County’s pretrial services.
The Cook County Pretrial Services Department (PSD) was established in 1990 to address a host of concerns, not the least of which was overcrowding. While inmate crowding...
03.26.14
In 2013 President Preckwinkle formed a blue-ribbon commission of local leaders to develop the Next Century Conservation Plan to help provide vision and guidance to the Forest...
12.12.13
On December 11, 2013, the City Council approved an ordinance to establish the City Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA), modeled on...
07.09.13
The Civic Federation supports the City Colleges tentative FY2014 budget totaling $657.0 million for continuing the District’s exemplary work to improve its financial and operational health....
05.30.13
The following opinion piece by Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was published by Crain's Chicago Business on May 30, 2013 .
Wrapped around the recent Memorial Day weekend were some of the most...
01.02.13
On December 12, 2012, an ordinance to create an independent budget office was introduced to City Council. The ordinance, sponsored by...
01.02.13
While the Civic Federation traditionally analyzes features common to all local government budgets, our analyses of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) budgets...
09.27.12
On June 30, 2011 the Civic Federation released Recommendations for a Financially Sustainable City of Chicago . The report offered a comprehensive set of forty recommendations to improve the City’s long-term fiscal condition....
07.25.12
In its recent analyses of the $5.7 billion FY2013 budget proposed by Chicago Public Schools and the $659.5 million FY2013 budget proposed by the City Colleges of Chicago, the Civic Federation expressed concern about the limited time allowed for public review. In each case, the Federation found...
05.23.12
UPDATE: On Thursday, August 2, 2012, Governor Quinn signed legislation to require all counties to release their financial statements within six months of the end of their fiscal year as Public Act 097-0890 . The...
