08.31.18
With governments in Illinois facing steep increases in yearly pension contributions, new plans are being floated to borrow billions of dollars to stabilize ailing pension funds and relieve budgetary pressures.
The...
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02.03.15
The Civic Federation regularly analyzes and comments on the budgets and audited financial statements of eight major local governments in northeastern Illinois:
1....
01.15.15
The Civic Federation and IIFS blogs have written extensively about reductions to assumed rates of return on investment by State and some local public pension plans over the last several years. These changes are part of a nationwide trend, influenced partly by the low interest rate environment...
12.21.11
In this latest entry in a blog post series on local government pension funds, the Civic Federation analyzes the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s pension fund.
The MWRD is the only sanitary district in Illinois to have its own pension fund. All other...
09.18.06
This report examines trends in expenditures, revenues, fund balance, personnel, and long-term debt for 1099 local governments in Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, and Will counties. It includes...
09.19.05
This report found that the "7% cap" resulted in an 11.5% total reduction in property tax owed by homestead exempt properties and a 4.5% increase for all other properties in Chicago, tax year 2003...
12.11.02
The Civic Federation opposed the $7.3 million property tax hike proposed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in its FY2003 $758 million budget.
12.02.02
The Civic Federation supported the Chicago Park District’s $338 million FY2003 budget because the budget was balanced by eliminating over 180 positions and reducing contractual service expenses...
11.08.02
The Civic Federation commended President Stroger for proposing a $2.9 billion budget that is balanced with no broad based tax increases andcontinues a trend toward reducing reliance on property...
11.08.02
The Civic Federation supported the proposed FY2003 $141 million budget because of the proposed expenditure reductions of nearly $7 million, the elimination of 473 positions, the implementation of...