Accommodates Increased Pension Contributions and Holds Property Tax Levy Relatively Flat In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation supports the Chicago Park District’s proposed FY2016 operating budget of $458.1 million. The budget proposal reduces the District’s reliance on one-time revenue sources and accommodates increased employer pension contributions for the second year in a row…
This article discusses a blog post by the Illinois Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability that reviews preliminary estimates for contributions to the State of Illinois’ five pension funds in the next budget year. Contributions will increase by $288.8 million in FY2017, which is considerably less than the $682 million increase required in FY2016, but is still expected to put pressure on the…
Reasonable Plan for Next Year, but Underfunded Pensions Remain a Concern In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced it supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s proposed FY2016 budget of $190.3 million. The District proposes a reasonable, balanced budget without using fund balance reserves for operations while holding the District property tax levy relatively…
The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s proposed $190.3 million budget. The proposed plan is reasonable and balanced, does not use fund balance reserves for operations and holds the property tax levy relatively flat at a time when many other local governments have sought large revenue increases. However, the District’s underfunded pensions remain a concern and…
Holds Fares Flat, but Could be Complicated by State Budget Impasse In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation announced it supports the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) proposed FY2016 operating budget of $1.47 billion. The budget represents an effective effort to actively manage costs and improve service levels. The full 52-page analysis is available here. “The CTA is continuing to…
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) FY2016 operating budget of nearly $1.47 billion. The budget represents a continued effort to actively manage costs and improve service levels. The CTA is continuing to benefit from reforms made in its past four budget cycles. This budget restores some express bus service that was cut in 2010 due to budget constraints, enhances…
The State of Illinois’ contributions to its five pension funds will rise by $288.8 million to $7.8 billion in the next budget year, according to preliminary estimates by the retirement systems. The proposed 3.8% increase will add to the State’s budgetary pressures in the year that begins on July 1, 2016. However, the increase is considerably below the prior year’s increase of $682.0 million, or…
In this interview on the City of Chicago’s Proposed FY2016 Budget with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Mayor discusses the Civic Federation’s analysis of the budget. The Civic Federation supported the budget and necessary property tax increase as a long overdue action to address the City’s public safety pension funding crisis.
This article reviews the Civic Federation’s analysis of Cook County’s FY2016 Proposed Budget. The Federation could not support the budget because the introduction and approval of a one percentage point increase in the County’s sales tax in order to increase pension funding happened outside of the budget process, and there are legal uncertainties regarding the increased pension fund contribution.
This article discusses a potential lawsuit challenging Chicago Park District pension reforms that went into effect January 1, 2015. The Civic Federation said the reforms were designed to save the fund from insolvency and have already reduced the District’s unfunded pension liabilities by $109.4 million in FY2013.
