Chicago Public Schools

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Local Governments Must Repay $168 Million to the State

In April 2016, the Illinois Department of Revenue announced that it discovered a misallocation totaling an estimated $168 million in…

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Alternatives to Bankruptcy for School Districts in Fiscal Crisis

The Chicago Public Schools faces a potentially devastating financial crisis. The elements of this crisis include:   An FY2016 budget that was not balanced as it depended on the vague hope that the State of Illinois will provide $…

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Short-term Liabilities of City of Chicago Increase through FY2014, while CPS and Cook County Short-term Liabilities Decrease

Short-term or current liabilities are financial obligations that must be satisfied within one year. They can include short-term debt, accounts payable, accrued payroll and other current liabilities. This blog post presents five-year…

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2015 Year in Review on Civic Federation Blog

The following are the five most read posts presented by the Civic Federation blog in 2015. These posts examine a number of closely followed local government issues, ranging from City and County taxes to Chicago pension debt.  …

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FY2016 Budget Season Summary

FY2016 Budget Season Summary December 3, 2015 marked the end of the budget season for the eight local governments monitored by the Civic Federation. These governments include: the…

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Chicago Public Schools FY2016 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation opposes the Chicago Public Schools proposed $5.7 billion FY2016 budget because it is not balanced and does not provide a sustainable path out of the District’s current fiscal crisis. It is yet another financially risky…

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Chicago Area Governments Bond Ratings Fall Below Investment Grade

Recently, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the City of Chicago,…

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Chicago Public Schools Releases Scaled Back Capital Improvement Plan

On May 1, 2015, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released their proposed FY2016 capital budget and an updated Five-Year capital improvement plan for FY2016-…

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Where Do Your Property Taxes Go?

What local government purposes, services, or expenditures does your property tax dollar fund? Governments traditionally use property tax revenues to pay for a wide variety of expenditures, including employee salaries and pensions, debt…

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More Government Consolidation and Efficiency Efforts in Illinois

The Civic Federation has long supported sensible legislation aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations in Illinois. The purpose of this blog is to summarize briefly consolidation legislation and…