This article reviews the $423 million capital plan released by Chicago Public Schools May 2, which is financed primarily through borrowing. The Civic Federation said the District needs to have a plan for absorbing the resulting increased debt service into a budget that is already severely constrained.
The Civic Federation joined with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 23, 2014 to co-host a conference on ways that municipalities in Illinois can avoid or resolve fiscal stress. Experts, practitioners and academics from around the country gathered to discuss Chicago’s fiscal future and how different state intervention and revenue policies around the country have impacted local…
Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended budget for FY2015 proposes that the State of Illinois build a financial cushion to deal with future economic downturns. The Governor suggests the creation of an adequate “rainy day” fund in a five-year blueprint for the State, but specifics of the plan have not been provided. The State’s perilous financial situation—a looming revenue loss due to income tax rate…
Although the budget recommended by Governor Pat Quinn for FY2015 proposes extending current income tax rates to avoid a massive revenue cliff, it also relies on borrowing $650 million to close a budget gap and pay down a portion of the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. Despite the additional income tax revenues, total General Funds revenues from State taxes and fees combined with federal…
UPDATE: On June 4, 2014, the State of Illinois filed its application for a $5 billion Medicaid plan with the federal government. Advocates for Medicaid recipients said they were told by State officials that there were no substantial changes from the version of the plan posted for public comment in February. Original post published on April 11, 2014 Despite a scheduled submission date of March 12…
This article discusses the City of Chicago’s plan to restore 90% funded levels to its Municipal and Laborers pension funds by 2054 through a combination of property tax increases, increased employee contributions and lower cost-of-living increases for retirees. The Civic Federation said the plan strikes a reasonable balance of shared sacrifice among taxpayers, employees and retirees to stabilize…
On March 26, 2014, Governor Pat Quinn presented an FY2015 budget proposal for the State of Illinois that avoids a fiscal cliff by retaining temporary income tax increases that were scheduled to be phased out beginning in January 2015. The Governor’s recommended budget also significantly increases the property tax credit for homeowners on State income taxes. In order to balance the budget and pay…
This article discusses Governor Quinn’s FY2015 budget recommendation, which calls for making Illinois’ temporary income tax rate increases permanent to help finance education and pay down unpaid bills. It cites the Civic Federation’s State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap, which found the State would face a $3.9 billion revenue drop by FY2016 if the income tax rates partially roll back as…
This article follows Governor Quinn’s FY2015 Budget Address and plan to make Illinois’ temporary income tax increase permanent to generate more State revenue. It cites the Civic Federation’s State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap, which recommended extending the current tax rate for one year before gradually reducing the rate by 20%.
This article covers Governor Quinn’s March 26 announcement of his plan to make Illinois’ temporary income tax increase permanent. The Civic Federation said the tax increase alone won’t signal to credit rating agencies that the State knows what to do to avoid another fiscal crisis. In its State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap the Civic Federation recommended that Illinois publish a long-term…
