This article discusses a recent Chicago conference that featured expert panelists who discussed solutions to the City’s biggest challenges. As a panelist, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall gave his insight on the City of Chicago’s fiscal issues, urged Illinois officials to put an end to the States’ budget impasse and discussed the corrosive effects the impasse has had on Chicago.
This article discusses the City of Chicago’s billion-dollar plan to build the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art that will require borrowing and tax increases. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, explains that until an agreement is made by the State on how to prioritize spending, it will be hard for any project of this magnitude to be addressed.
This article reports on payments made to Chicago's police and fire pension funds using $220 million in short-term borrowing. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, called the borrowing an unfortunate, expensive, yet forseeable development, due to the lack of contingency planning in the City’s FY2016 budget.
The Civic Federation has long supported legislation aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations in Illinois by consolidating or abolishing redundant and/or anachronistic local governments. For example, on November 17, 2003, the Federation called on the State to abolish the Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District. The District was ultimately dissolved…
This article discusses that the city of Harvey, a south suburb of Chicago, is in serious financial trouble with millions of dollars unaccounted for. President of the Civic Federation, Laurence Msall, notes that the lack of records and documentation to showing how the cities’ money was spent is troubling.
Popular Annual Financial Reports: The Potential for Increased Transparency, Accountability and Public Inclusion The Civic Federation has long encouraged government transparency and accountability, both of which are emphasized in our Mission Statement. To promote financial transparency many local governments provide a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for each fiscal year.[1] Not to be…
This Curious City segment on the CTA asks “How many fares does it take for a bus to get to the break even point?” The Civic Federation said the concept of breaking even is not a reasonable expectation for the public agency; rather that the goal should always be reducing the cost of the system in order to attract more riders or expand services.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) recently released its FY2016 proposed budget. While the Civic Federation traditionally analyzes features common to all local government budgets, our analyses of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) budgets include a review of the Authority’s productivity measurement data. The Civic Federation uses expenditures, ridership and miles traveled data provided by the…
The Civic Federation has long supported sensible legislation aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations in Illinois. The purpose of this blog is to summarize briefly consolidation legislation and initiatives that have been proposed since our last update on this topic in September 2014. Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates Task Force One of…
This segment investigates the costs associated with an abandoned CTA “superstation,” a plan for non-stop airport train service left unfinished underneath Block 37 in the Chicago Loop. The Civic Federation said the expensive, unfinished superstation is a prime example of a project that failed due to inadequate planning and lack of public discussion.
