The Civic Federation supported the Chicago Park District's FY2008 Budget because the District did not raise its property tax levy this year, and has continued to hold down operating costs through a combination of careful management practices, privatization of services, and public-private partnerships. However, the Federation is concerned about the decline in health of the District's pension fund…
The Civic Federation supports DuPage County's proposed FY2008 $420.4 million budget, which includes a 12.1% or $60.1 million decrease in spending over the previous year and calls for the elimination of 10% of the workforce or 241 full-time positions, including 168 positions in public safety. The Federation's support is due to the County's established record of managing its existing resources and…
The Civic Federation supports the CTA's proposed $1.0 billion FY2008 budget because it makes the necessary fare and service changes to create a blanced budget for the coming fiscal year. The Federation calls on the General Assembly and Governor to pass SB 572 immediately in order to allow the CTA to institute landmark pension and retiree health care reforms and rein in its skyrocketing employee…
The Civic Federation opposes the City of Chicago's proposed $5.9 billion budget. The budget proposes an additional $266.6 million in new spending and includes a $108.0 million property tax increase, the largest in recent Chicago history. We believe that the 15.1% property tax increase should be rejected and the city should maintain its self-imposed property tax cap. We believe that the city has…
The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District's proposed $175.2 million budget because the District has issued a Capital Improvement Plan for the second consecutive year and made it available on its web site. The Federation makes a number of recommendations on ways to improve the financial management of the District.
The Civic Federation opposes the Cook County FY2008 proposed budget. The $3.2 billion budget includes a 267% increase in the county sales tax, the addition of 1,130 new positions, and other tax hikes that could generate as much as $979.8 million when fully implemented in FY2009. The Federation’s analysis includes recommendations that would both contain costs and provide much-needed improvements…
The Civic Federation gives qualified support to the Chicago Public Schools Recommended 5.8 billion dollar FY2008 operating budget. The District has made efforts to contain costs and improve budget transparency. However, the Civic Federation's support is based on the District's pledge to develop publicly-available long-term planning processes and documents next year. The Civic Federation also…
The Civic Federation supports the City Colleges of Chicago's tentative $473.6 million FY2008 budget because the district will reduce its overall property tax burden, exercize fiscal restraint, and has increased the amount of time allowed for public comment and review. The Federation is concerned, however, that the budget does not contain current personnel or enrollment projections and predicts…
The Civic Federation opposes the massive expansion of health care and long-term borrowing proposed in the FY2008 State budget recommendation, but offers qualified support for sale/lease of the State lottery and for reasonable revenue enhancements to fund education and mass transit. The Federation also urges the General Assembly to implement pension benefit reforms.
This report provides a trend analysis of indicators that measure the financial health and performance of ten major local government pension funds from 1997 to 2005. It finds a combined 16.5 billion dollars in unfunded liabilities for the ten funds, and makes numerous recommendations on legislative actions that should be taken to slow the downward spiral of pension underfunding.
