Recent Research

• 07.24.09

  City Colleges of Chicago FY2010 Tentative Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

  The Civic Federation supports the $492.1 million City Colleges of Chicago FY2010 budget because it is a prudent spending plan that both holds the District’s property tax levy flat over the next two years and compensates for uncertainties in State funding by proposing alternative plans to support core academic programs. The Federation is concerned that City Colleges is predicting revenue shortfalls through FY2013 and has not articulated a clear and detailed plan to address the funding gap.

• 03.30.09

  Status of Local Pension Funding Fiscal Year 2007: An Evaluation of Ten Local Government Employee Pension Funds in Cook County

  This report provides a trend analysis of indicators that measure the financial health and performance of ten major local government pension funds from 1998 to 2007, the most recent year for which audited data are available. It finds that unfunded liabilities for the ten funds climbed even during years of good investment returns, increasing from $4.8 to $17.1 billion in ten years, and makes numerous recommendations on legislative actions that should be taken to slow the downward spiral of pension underfunding.

• 12.19.08

  Cook County FY2009 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

  The Civic Federation opposes the Cook County FY2009 proposed budget because it is built on an unstable foundation of $364.0 million in borrowed funds to pay for operating expenses less than a year after the County raised its sales tax by one percentage point. The report makes numerous recommendations for cost reductions, management reforms, and pension reforms.