The Civic Federation supported granting the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) the authority to manage stormwater in Cook County, but opposed exempting the proposed stormwater management property tax levy from the property tax Extension Limit Law (PTELL, or "tax caps").
This issue brief provides a "plain English" description of how GASB 34 has increased transparency in government financial reporting. It is illustrated with examples from the City of Chicago's FY2002 CAFR, as well as State of Illinois and Cook County CAFRs.
The Civic Federation supported some of the resolutions before the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Task Force. It urged the Task Force to consider the criteria of sound fiscal policy, improved service, and continued federal funding in its deliberations over the resolutions.
This report provides a 6-year trend analysis of indicators that measure the financial health and performance of 9 major local government pension funds from 1997 to 2002.
The Civic Federation commended the MWRD for its FY2004 budget of $848.3 million because the District reduced its property tax levy by $2.7 million from the tentative FY2004 budget proposal, it drew down its Corporate Fund balance from a high of $77.7 million in FY2001 to an estimated $41 million in FY2004 and personnel has been reduced by over 240 positions, or 10.2%, in the last ten years.
This report presents a macro-level overview of expenditure, revenue, debt and personnel trends of 1,043 governments in Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, and Will Counties. It includes FY1997 and FY2000 comparative information for counties, municipalities, school districts and other special districts.
The Civic Federation was disappointed in the Forest Preserve District’s FY2004 operating budget of $140.8 million for several reasons. There was insufficient time--only 4 working days--permitted this year for public review of the budget. The budget fails to significantly build upon the cost cutting measures enacted last year and implement additional management reforms that will improve the…
The Civic Federation supported the Chicago Park District's $351 million FY2004 budget because of the District's history of implementing management efficiencies and cost cutting measures and the progress it has made in shifting revenues from property tax to fees.
The Civic Federation supported the CTA’s FY2004 operating budget of $936 million. The fare increase in this budget was justified because: the CTA has made some significant efforts over the past five years to control costs; the budget does not make service cuts; and the CTA is a major economic and social asset to the Chicagoland region.
The Civic Federation supported the City Colleges' FY2004 budget of $295 million because growth in appropriations was contained through personnel reductions and management efficiencies. However, The Civic Federation remains concerned about a lack of transparency in the budget document.
