Over the last several years, several local governments in the Chicago area have taken advantage of a provision of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL or “tax caps”) that allows governments to increase their revenue beyond what…
The Civic Federation strongly supports the proposal to create an Office of Financial Analysis for the Chicago City Council. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed FY2014 budget includes funding for an Office of Financial Analysis to help vet…
The Civic Federation supports the City of Chicago’s proposed $7.0 billion budget as a reasonable short-term plan that closes approximately two-thirds of a $338.7 million budget gap with structural changes that will continue to reduce the…
This report uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2007 to FY2011. In addition to Chicago, the other cities analyzed were Baltimore, Boston…
As part of its ongoing analysis of State and local government budgets, the Civic Federation also reviews proposed capital budgets along with any planning documents provided in support of infrastructure investments. Although many…
Four large local government pension funds in the Chicago area reduced their expected investment rates of return for fiscal year 2012. While intended to make the funds’ actuarial assumptions more realistic, these decisions will also have…
Over the next few weeks, many Chicago-area local governments will be releasing their proposed budgets for fiscal year 2014. In preparation for the upcoming budget releases, this blog will recap the Civic Federation’s significant…
Since July 2013 each of the six local governments monitored by the Civic Federation with General Obligation bond debt has experienced downgrades to their bond ratings. These governments are the City of Chicago, Cook County, the…
The long-term lease of assets by the City of Chicago is one of the most significant financial undertakings by the City in recent years. These groundbreaking transactions have received national attention and been examined by other…
