This article covers the Civic Federation’s October 14 analysis of the FY2016 City of Chicago budget. The Federation supports a proposed property tax hike of $544.2 million over four years to address the City’s public safety pension funding crisis, but warns greater sacrifice will be needed due to continued deficit projections for the City of Chicago, liquidity issues and future deficit…
With Illinois operating without a budget for more than three months, concerns have arisen about whether the State is going to run out of money. The simple answer is no—at least not in the way that running out of money is typically understood. Despite the lack of a budget since fiscal year 2016 began on July 1, 2015, money is still going into the State’s checking accounts. However, this revenue…
Cautions that plan is subject to significant uncertainty pending decisions on pension and retiree health care reform In a report released today, the Civic Federation announced its support for the City of Chicago’s proposed FY2016 budget of $7.8 billion and applauded long overdue action to address the City’s public safety pension funding crisis. However, the Federation is concerned the property…
The Civic Federation supports the City of Chicago’s proposed $7.8 billion budget and necessary property tax increase as a long overdue action to address the City’s public safety pension funding crisis. The total proposed property tax increase of $544.2 million over four years will be dedicated entirely to fund the Police and Fire pension funds. This unprecedented infusion of property taxes is a…
A report released today by the Civic Federation uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial trends of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2009 to FY2013. The financial trends for Chicago, New York and Detroit were consistently less favorable on average than the other 10 cities during this time period, which marked the end of the Great Recession and…
Financial Indicators Report, FY2009 to FY2013 Financial Indicators Executive Summary, FY2009 to FY2013 This report uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2009 to FY2013, which marked the end of the Great Recession and beginning of recovery for most cities. The financial trends for Chicago, New…
Revenue collected by the State of Illinois from the largest two areas of legal gaming in the State, riverboat casinos and lottery, both declined significantly in fiscal year 2015 while the State’s more recently implemented video gaming continued to grow. However, unlike previous years the gains in video gaming were not enough to offset the losses in the other areas. According to the annual gaming…
This segment and adjoining article examine the proposed City of Chicago FY2016 budget released September 22, which includes a property tax increase to address the City’s unfunded pension liabilities. The Civic Federation said Chicago Public Schools and the State of Illinois are in similar financial positions, which could add to the taxpayer burden.
This segment covers Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s FY2016 proposed budget released September 22, which includes a $543 million property tax increase phased in over four years, along with several other new targeted fees and taxes. The Civic Federation said the City has no choice but to increase revenue in order to address the enormous pension debt that has accumulated through years of poor financial…
This segment reviews the property tax increase aimed at addressing Chicago’s underfunded pension systems that was proposed as part of the FY2016 City of Chicago budget released September 22. The Civic Federation said this tax increase could be one of many, as other local governments and the State of Illinois also face significant unfunded pension liabilities.
