The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Public Schools proposed $5.9 billion budget for FY2012, which is an increase of 1.5%, or $87.0 million, from the year-end estimates of FY2011. The proposed budget is a reasonable short-term plan to fund the District’s core educational mission through its difficult, deepening financial crisis. The Civic Federation is very concerned about the District’s…
In its fiscal year 2012 budget proposal, the Chicago Public Schools administration provided for the first time a three-year projection of its future financial situation on page 9. The projection shows that the total CPS employer pension contribution is expected to jump from $219.3 million in FY2013 to $671.7 million in FY2014, adding over $450 million in expenditure pressure to the CPS operating…
The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund accumulated nearly $5.4 billion in unfunded obligations over the past ten years. This was an increase of over 10,000%, from $5.1 million in FY2001 to $5.4 billion in FY2010. In three years alone, from FY2008 to FY2010, unfunded liabilities grew by $2.3 billion. Unfunded actuarial accrued liability is the dollar value of accrued liabilities not covered by the…
As explained previously in this blog a key indicator the Civic Federation uses to assess the financial health of local governments is the level of unreserved general fund balance maintained. Such reserves are essential in order for the governments to be able to withstand the inevitable “rainy days” that result from revenue fluctuations and unexpected expenditures. Without a fund balance in place…
The three largest municipal governments analyzed by the Civic Federation are the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the City of Chicago and Cook County. All three began their FY2011 budget processes projecting large budget shortfalls: CPS projected a gap of $370 million, the City of Chicago projected a gap of $655 million and Cook County projected a gap of $487 million.[1] These budget…
The Civic Federation analyzes the budgets of nine Chicago area local governments. One important indicator that the Federation utilizes to assess the financial health of these municipalities is their fund balance level. In particular, we examine the balance within the general fund that does not have any external legal restriction, called the unrestricted fund balance. Fund balance differs from net…
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton has recently suggested that school districts should begin contributing a larger share of the employer contribution to the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois. President Cullerton noted that this change would relieve some of the financial pressure on the State, which has borrowed to make its pension payments for the past two years. He has…
This report analyzes basic financial data on ten major local government employee pension funds in Cook County. It is intended to provide lawmakers, pension trustees, pension fund members and taxpayers with the information they need to make informed decisions regarding public employee retirement benefits. The report reviews fiscal year 2009 actuarial valuation reports and financial statements of…
In 2010 the Civic Federation blog provided comprehensive information about government and fiscal issues across Illinois for the public, government officials and media. In a range of posts on topics from the effect Public Act 96-0889 would have on local government pension systems to explaining nuances of the Cook County property tax system, the Federation blog offered rapid-response commentary on…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2011 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, reinstating means-tested transit discounts for seniors, requiring large counties to hold budget…
