The Civic Federation supports the FY2010 Forest Preserve District of Cook County budget of $198.2 million because the District will reduce its property tax levy by $1.1 million and use a portion of its budget reserve funds, rather than increase taxes, to balance its budget. However, the Civic Federation warns that the Forest Preserve District faces fiscal pressures due to rising personnel costs…
The Civic Federation opposes the FY2010 City of Chicago budget of $6.14 billion because it is unsustainable and relies too heavily on one-time reserve funds to close a $520.0 million budget deficit. The proposed drastic draw down of long-term reserves allows for increased spending in FY2010 but does not properly plan for the future. The City must consider FY2011 and FY2012 when crafting its…
While the Civic Federation traditionally analyzes features common to all local government budgets, our analyses of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) budgets include additional productivity measurement data. The Civic Federation uses expenditure, personnel and ridership data provided by CTA to gain insight into changes in productivity. The Civic Federation uses three measures to assess CTA’s…
The Civic Federation opposes Cook County’s $3.0 billion FY2010 operating budget because it is predicated on the continuation of an unnecessary one percentage point sales tax increase and provides limited evidence of cost-saving efficiencies or structural reforms. In contrast, the Cook County Health and Hospital System is proposing efficiencies and eliminating vacant and non-front line positions.…
The Illinois Senate voted today to approve House Bill 4625, which means both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have now approved the same bill to reduce the veto override threshold for the Cook County Board of Commissioners to the three-fifths level common to most governments. The number of votes now needed to overturn a veto from the Cook County Board President is an unusually high four-…
The Civic Federation supports the $521.2 million FY2010 DuPage County budget proposal because it maintains funding for core programs while providing property tax relief. The County has additionally improved its budget planning process and increased government transparency. Read the press release for the FY2010 DuPage County budget proposal here.
The Illinois House of Representatives voted on October 14, 2009 to reduce the number of votes required to override a veto by the Cook County Board President from an extraordinary four-fifths—or 14 of 17 commissioners—to three-fifths or 11. House Bill 4625, introduced by Representative Mark Walker, was approved 98-18-2 yesterday and would be effective immediately if it becomes law. The…
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) recently implemented a vendor database that allows members of the public to search for vendor and contract information on the CTA website. The database is intended to improve the transparency of the CTA’s procurement activities by making data about individual vendors and contracts more easily accessible to the public, particularly vendors interested in doing…
This article discusses the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid’s loss in the first round of voting by the International Olympic Committee. It mentions the Civic Federation’s analysis of the Bid, which found that taxpayers were adequately protected against risk stemming from the operating budget, but more insurance was needed to protect against the real estate risks of developing the Olympic Village.
This editorial opposes the village of Hinsdale’s proposed plans to lease a parcel of Cook County Forest Preserve District land on which it would build soccer fields and other park facilities. It includes a Civic Federation quote saying that although there are many good alternative uses for District land, they are contrary to the Forest Preserve’s mission to preserve natural land.
