A new three-year budget projection for the State of Illinois by Governor Pat Quinn’s administration shows that significant spending reductions will be needed to balance the State budget in FY2015 and FY2016, when temporary income tax rate increases start to be phased out. Even with the projected spending cuts, the State is not expected to be able to make much progress in reducing its enormous…
The 97th Illinois General Assembly’s closing session ended on January 9, 2013, leaving many questions unresolved about the State’s current budget year and fiscal sustainability in the face of its $97 billion unfunded pension liability. At the end of each two-year legislative session, all of the bills not passed by both chambers of the General Assembly are cleared from the legislative agenda.…
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) is a special-purpose government providing wastewater treatment for residents and industrial businesses primarily in Cook County. The budget process for the MWRD differs from the budget processes of other northeastern Illinois governments. The District produces three versions of its budget which include, in order of release, the Executive Director…
(The full content of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article discusses the Regional Transportation Authority’s delay in voting on the Chicago Transit Authority’s proposed 2013 budget and request for additional information on the CTA’s proposed $1 billion borrowing plan. The Civic Federation supported the CTA’s FY2013 budget, its first structurally balanced…
Throughout this year’s Illinois budget negotiations, the IIFS blog was a valuable source of information and focus in the State’s murky and complex budget process. This year’s negotiations included a groundbreaking effort to address the Medicaid funding gap, new pension reform proposals and yet another downgrade to the State’s credit rating. Budget Negotiations The Institute started the year…
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…
This article covers the release of the Civic Federation’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District FY2013 Tentative Budget: Analysis and Recommendations. The Federation supports the budget for continuing a comprehensive effort to control rising personnel costs and said the budget reflects recent efforts by the District to address underfunding of its pension and healthcare costs.
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…
This article discusses the Civic Federation’s State of Illinois Infrastructure report, which found that State and local governments could need to invest more than $300 billion over the next 30 years to maintain public infrastructure throughout the State. The report also explores the need for a comprehensive approach to prioritizing and funding the State’s critical capital investments.
If the U.S. Congress is unable to agree to an alternative to the automatic $491 billion in combined tax increases and spending cuts set to take place in January 2013, many are predicting dire national economic consequences. Additionally, Illinois and other states will also see a major decrease in available resources if the so called “fiscal cliff” comes to fruition. According to the Illinois…
