This article discusses the Civic Federation’s call for a full actuarial analysis of the City of Chicago’s plan to save the City’s Municipal Employees Pension Fund and questions whether it may be enough. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall describes the utility tax plan as a reasonable option to help prop up the fund, but also explains that the Federation will not be convinced until it sees…
This article discusses the cost to Cook County taxpayers of separate staffs for each of the 17 Cook County Commissioners. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall remarks that the situation lends itself to further examination and notes that Los Angeles County, similar in geographical size and population to Cook County, has only five elected commissioners.
The City of Evanston recently released a white paper on the initial results following the dissolution of its coterminous township. Based on the results of a fiscal analysis of the dissolution of Evanston Township, taxpayers have saved $779,668 in fiscal year 2015, the first full year following dissolution, far exceeding the initial estimated savings of $500,000.[1] The Civic Federation has long…
August 24, 2016 UPDATE 3: The State now plans to post the draft waiver application on August 26 and hold public hearings in Springfield on September 8 and Chicago on September 9. For more information, see the website of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. August 19, 2016 UPDATE 2: The State has delayed indefinitely the posting of the draft waiver application and…
The City of Chicago recently released its mid-year Annual Financial Analysis for 2016, which provides financial estimates for the City’s fiscal year ending on December 31, 2016 and a forecast for the next fiscal year. The analysis shows improvements toward reducing the budget deficit and eliminating “scoop and toss” borrowing practices. This is the first year that the City has released the…
This article reports on the City of Chicago’s potential plan to save the Municipal Employees Pension fund through raising utility taxes. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall remarks that there are very few, if any, sources of revenue that could generate the amount of money needed to fund the City’s largest pension fund at an actuarially determined level.
The Civic Federation recently released its analysis of the City Colleges of Chicago FY2017 Tentative Annual Operating Budget. This blog examines City Colleges of Chicago tuition rate changes for in-district, out-of-district and out-of-state tuition rates per semester hour over a ten year period. This blog also compares City Colleges of Chicago in-district tuition rates with the in-district rates…
This article discusses a plan to provide $20 million in property tax rebates to City of Chicago homeowners. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, notes that the program is likely to have a very modest impact to Chicago taxpayers.
On June 29, 2016 the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a resolution to present a public question via a binding countywide referendum asking if the Office of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds should be eliminated and all duties and responsibilities be transferred to the Office of the Cook County Clerk. Cook County Commissioner John A. Fritchey introduced the resolution to…
Despite a stopgap spending measure enacted on June 30, 2016, State of Illinois appropriations for higher education remain below expenditures in fiscal year 2015—the last year the State had a complete annual budget. For FY2016 and FY2017, appropriations from general operating funds and related accounts total $1.6 billion, or 82.4% of the $1.9 billion spent in FY2015. In other words, higher…
