A look back at the Civic Federation’s blog this year provides a preview of upcoming fiscal challenges for local governments in 2013. Pension Funding The most urgent fiscal challenge for Illinois governments continues to be the pension funding crisis. The combined funded ratio for the four City of Chicago pension funds fell to 43.3% in FY2011. The funded status of the Cook County Pension Fund…
Last week the Civic Federation marked the end of the FY2013 budget season with a blog that summarized the proposed budgets for the nine local governments the Federation monitors. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan…
Last week marked the end of the budget season for the nine local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), DuPage County, City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and Chicago…
This report provides estimates of the total market value of real property in Cook County from 2001-2010 and shows how property value is spread among the City of Chicago, the northern and the southern suburbs. The full market value of real estate in Cook County was approximately $449.8 billion in tax assessment year 2010. This represents a decline of $100.3 billion, or 18.2%, from the 2009…
As highlighted in the Civic Federation’s analysis of the proposed FY2013 City of Chicago budget and discussed in last week’s blog post, Chicago faces difficult choices due to the continued decline of its four pension funds. The Police and Fire pension funds have the lowest actuarial funded ratios at 35.6% and 28.3%. The funded ratio shows the percentage of pension liabilities covered by assets.…
On October 31, 2012, the Civic Federation released its analysis of the City of Chicago’s FY2013 proposed budget and President Laurence Msall presented the Federation’s position to City Council at its public hearing. The Civic Federation supports Mayor Emanuel’s proposed FY2013 budget of nearly $6.5 billion because it is a reasonable continuation of the City’s efforts to reduce its structural…
The Civic Federation supports the City of Chicago’s FY2013 proposed $6.5 billion budget which reduces the City’s reliance on one-time revenue sources while restructuring City government through better managing personnel expenditures. The proposal also holds the property tax level nearly flat and does not include any new tax or fee increases. Actions taken to close a $298 million budget gap…
Last week, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability published a blog on the State of Illinois’ Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) and why the State will be distributing $182 million less to local governments in FY2013. This blog builds on that one to show the impact of the drop in PPRT revenues on the City of Chicago’s FY2013 budget. The PPRT is a revenue source…
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…
Since 1988, the City of Chicago and its four pension funds have been party to the settlement of City of Chicago v. Korshak regarding how much the City, the funds and annuitants pay for healthcare. The settlement agreement expires June 30, 2013. The four pension funds are the Firemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund; the Chicago Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund; the Municipal Employees, Officers and…
