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…
The following were among the most highly read posts provided by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability in 2015. Understandably, they represent the most closely followed Illinois fiscal issue of the year: the ongoing state budget impasse. The posts have been listed in chronological order, rather than by number of views, for the purpose of best explaining the events related to the matter…
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…
Popular Annual Financial Reports: The Potential for Increased Transparency, Accountability and Public Inclusion The Civic Federation has long encouraged government transparency and accountability, both of which are emphasized in our Mission Statement. To promote financial transparency many local governments provide a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for each fiscal year.[1] Not to be…
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.
This Curious City segment on the CTA asks “How many fares does it take for a bus to get to the break even point?” The Civic Federation said the concept of breaking even is not a reasonable expectation for the public agency; rather that the goal should always be reducing the cost of the system in order to attract more riders or expand services.
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…
In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced it supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s Tentative FY2016 budget of $1.21 billion. The District proposes a reasonable, balanced budget while maintaining ample reserves and continuing to be fiscally responsible by properly funding its pensions and prefunding its retiree health benefits. The full 55-page analysis is…
