The three largest municipal governments analyzed by the Civic Federation are the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the City of Chicago and Cook County. All three began their FY2011 budget processes projecting large budget shortfalls:…
The Civic Federation analyzes the budgets of nine Chicago area local governments. One important indicator that the Federation utilizes to assess the financial health of these municipalities is their fund balance level. In particular, we…
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton has recently suggested that school districts should begin…
This report analyzes basic financial data on ten major local government employee pension funds in Cook County. It is intended to provide lawmakers, pension trustees, pension fund members and taxpayers with the information they need to make…
In 2010 the Civic Federation blog provided comprehensive information about government and fiscal issues across Illinois for the public, government officials and media. In a range of posts on topics from the…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2011 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a…
The Civic Federation often voices concerns when governments use one-time or nonrecurring revenue sources for ongoing expenses. There are a number of reasons this can be problematic. By definition such revenue sources will not be…
On Monday the Civic Federation released its analysis of the Chicago Public Schools FY2011 proposed budget.…
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Public Schools proposed $6.5 billion budget for FY2011, which is a reduction of 5.9% or $402.3 million from the proposed FY2010 budget. The proposed budget offers a short-term solution to the…
On June 15, 2010 the Chicago Board of Education approved measures to cope with the school district’s…
