The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s proposed budget of $1.1 billion which continues a comprehensive effort to control rising personnel costs. The budget holds the tax-capped portion of the District’s property tax levy flat and reflects recent efforts by the District to address underfunding of its pension and healthcare costs. While praising the overall…
The Civic Federation strongly supports the Chicago Transit Authority’s proposed FY2013 budget of $1.4 billion as a structurally balanced plan based on shared sacrifice by union members, riders and CTA management. The budget implements several prudent and sustainable steps including a targeted fare increase. The new proposed fare structure maintains base fares but increases rates for fare passes,…
The Civic Federation supports the $410.9 million FY2013 Chicago Park District budget for limiting spending increases and continuing the District’s effort to eliminate its structural deficit by FY2015. By utilizing prudent alternatives to raising taxes, the District is able to hold its property tax levy relatively flat for the eighth consecutive year. The Civic Federation remains concerned,…
The Chicago Park District recently released its $410.9 million spending plan for FY2013. The District had identified a $16.0 million budget gap, which it proposes to close with district-wide shut-down days, position eliminations, refinancing debt and some revenue enhancements. In addition, the District plans to use approximately $10.7 million in General Fund fund balance and prior year resources…
The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s FY2013 proposed $190.3 million budget for its discipline in identifying non-tax revenue sources to hold the property tax levy flat for the fourth year in a row while maintaining substantial reserves. While the District’s overall budget demonstrates continued fiscal discipline, the Civic Federation is concerned about…
In June 2012 the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Board of Commissioners approved the issuance of $110 million in bonds to finance capital improvement projects and to refinance existing debt. This major financing decision was made without the release of an updated capital plan and before offering the District’s operating budget for FY2013. The 2012-2016 Capital Improvement Plan was…
The purpose of this report is to provide a review of the DuPage County Proposed FY2013 Financial Plan and examination of the County’s financial condition. The report reviews key findings of the $431.8 million budget plan and compares proposed FY2013 figures to FY2012 adopted and current budget figures. Five-year trend analyses for liabilities, including pensions, debt and capital funding, are…
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…
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…
UPDATE: On Thursday, August 16, 2012, Governor Quinn signed into law the changes to the Chicago Park District Pension Fund fiscal year as Public Act 097-0894. On May 31, 2012, the Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Bill 3629, which amends the Chicago Park District’s Pension Code so that the fiscal year of the pension fund will match the Park District’s fiscal year. Beginning in 2013, the…
