On May 1, 2015, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released their proposed FY2016 capital budget and an updated Five-Year capital improvement plan for FY2016-FY2020. The exhibit below shows the amounts proposed by CPS for FY2016-FY2020 for capital spending. In those five years, a total of approximately $536.8 million has been forecast for projects. This is nearly a 57% decrease from the FY2015-FY2019…
What local government purposes, services, or expenditures does your property tax dollar fund? Governments traditionally use property tax revenues to pay for a wide variety of expenditures, including employee salaries and pensions, debt service and administrative costs. But, there are significant differences among local governments regarding the use of these revenues. This blog post describes how…
The Civic Federation has long supported sensible legislation aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations in Illinois. The purpose of this blog is to summarize briefly consolidation legislation and initiatives that have been proposed since our last update on this topic in September 2014. Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates Task Force One of…
Short-term or current liabilities are financial obligations that must be satisfied within one year. They can include short-term debt, accounts payable, accrued payroll and other current liabilities. This blog post presents 12-year trends for 1) total short-term liabilities in the Governmental Funds and 2) short-term liabilities as a percentage of operating revenues for the three largest local…
The Chicago Public Schools audited financial statements for fiscal year 2014 released last week indicate the deterioration of the District’s fiscal condition continued through the end of FY2014. The District’s most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) reports ending FY2014 with an operating funds deficit of $513 million, which it closed using fund balance. This deficit was smaller…
The Civic Federation’s previous blog examined the long-term debt of eight major local governments in northeastern Illinois. This blog explores the unfunded pension liabilities of ten pension funds sponsored by local governments in the Chicago area using a per capita indicator based on unfunded pension liabilities. Between FY2004 and FY2013, pension obligations per capita for Chicagoans’ increased…
The Civic Federation regularly analyzes and comments on the budgets and audited financial statements of eight major local governments in northeastern Illinois: 1. City of Chicago; 2. Chicago Public Schools (CPS); 3. Cook County; 4. Chicago Transit Authority (CTA); 5. Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC); 6. City Colleges of Chicago; 7. Chicago Park District; and 8. Metropolitan Water…
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 and by a larger debate over whether pension plans should use a risk-free rate of return to discount…
The Cook County Clerk’s Office annually releases a tax rate report that provides the tax rates for various taxing agencies within Cook County. It is important for property taxpayers to have an accurate picture of which governments receive their property tax dollars and for what purpose so that taxpayers may hold public officials accountable for the level of taxation imposed. The largest portion…
Chicago-area public employee pension funding levels continued to decline in FY2012, with total unfunded liabilities for the ten funds analyzed rising to $37.2 billion from $32.0 billion in FY2011. On average, the ten funds analyzed had an actuarial funding level of 45.5% in FY2012, down from 74.5% in FY2003. For all pension funds supported by the taxes of Chicago residents, including…
