An analysis released today by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation estimated the State’s FY2013 budget could reduce the existing backlog of unpaid bills by roughly $1.3 billion, but warned that the reduction may be difficult to achieve. The State’s $33.0 billion operating budget reflects significant steps to rein in the costs of Medicaid but fails to address…
This editorial discusses Moody’s Investor Service’s most recent downgrade CPS in the wake of a new labor contract for teachers and rising pension costs. The Civic Federation says CPS cannot afford to wait for leadership from the Illinois General Assembly and should immediately work to identify sustainable pension reforms.
A $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase enacted by the State of Illinois in June to help fund the State’s Medicaid program is bringing in far less revenue than originally expected and could fall short of projections by as much as $125.7 million. However, due to the way the tax was enacted it is not expected to have a major impact on Medicaid funding. The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) has…
On June 30, 2011 the Civic Federation released Recommendations for a Financially Sustainable City of Chicago. The report offered a comprehensive set of forty recommendations to improve the City’s long-term fiscal condition. The reforms could be implemented over the next few fiscal years and covered a wide array of functions from pensions to public safety. Next month the City will release its…
Yesterday, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin presented the DuPage County Proposed FY2013 Financial Plan to the County Board. DuPage County’s current fiscal year ends on November 30, 2012; the new 2013 fiscal year begins on December 1, 2012. Budget Overview DuPage County proposes a FY2013 budget of $431.8 million. The budget is a 1.8%, or $8.1 million, decrease from the FY2012 current budget…
This article discusses strong investor interest in the City of Chicago’s recent $271 million sewer bond sale, despite the City’s severe financial challenges including a $369 million projected deficit for FY2013. The article cites the Civic Federation’s warning that contributions to the City's police and fire pensions will increase from $476 million in FY2012 to $1.2 billion in FY2015.
Although the State of Illinois is still burdened with a multibillion-dollar backlog of unpaid bills, one component of that backlog—unpaid income tax refunds—is now expected to be eliminated at the end of FY2013. The Illinois Department of Revenue projects that no approved refunds will be unpaid on June 30, 2013. That compares with $735 million owed at the end of FY2010 and…
Earlier this year, the Civic Federation published a blog describing the recent changes to the standards for how governments report fund balance. Fund balance is a term commonly used to describe the net assets of the governmental funds and serves as a measure of financial resources.[1] Fund balance is the difference between the assets and liabilities in the governmental funds.[2] Fund balance is…
On August 17, 2012, Illinois legislators adjourned a special one-day session of the General Assembly without taking action on the State’s pension crisis. Due to the stalled effort, the State continues to face pension costs that will consume an increasing share of its resources over the next two decades. The chart below compares total pension costs—including State contributions and payments on…
On July 19, 2012, the Civic Federation released its analysis of the proposed FY2013 budget for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in anticipation of the Board of Education’s vote on the budget scheduled for the following week. However, two days before the meeting, CPS announced that the Board vote would be postponed until negotiations between the District and the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU) were…
