The pension crisis at the City of Chicago is severe. As described here, the City faces two distinct pension crises: two of its four funds are expected to run out of money by the year 2030 while the other two funds are scheduled to be rescued from insolvency but at a very steep cost to the City. Data from the latest audited financial reports of the City’s Police, Fire, Municipal and Laborers’…
On Wednesday October 12th, Mayor Emanuel will release his first budget recommendations for the City of Chicago. With a reported FY2012 budget gap of $635.7 million to close in the Corporate Fund, the proposed budget is likely to address costs in the largest component of the City’s operating budget: public safety. With regard to dollars appropriated, personnel expenditures and workforce size, the…
Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office today released the 2010 Cook County Tax Rates Report. The report lists property tax rates for all taxing districts in Cook County and provides sample composite rates for many municipalities. The composite rate is the total tax rate that appears on a tax bill. The composite tax rate on a typical City of Chicago tax bill will increase from 4.627% last year to 4…
Today the Civic Federation published an update to its primer The Cook County Property Tax Extension Process: A Primer on Levies, Tax Caps, Tax Bills and the Effects of Tax Increment Financing Districts. The update adds additional years of data when available and provides an enhanced explanation of the effect of tax increment financing (TIF) on local governments and taxpayers in Cook County. This…
The June 2011 edition of Government Finance Review features “The Chicago Experience: a P3 Checklist,” co-authored by Civic Federation President Laurence Msall and Program Manager Roland Calia. The article reviews the City of Chicago’s experiences with its three major public-private partnership (P3) asset lease transactions: the Skyway, the downtown parking garages and the parking meters and…
After two consecutive years of losses, the State of Illinois is reporting moderate growth in sales tax revenue for FY2011, which ended on June 30, 2011. Not only did sales tax revenue collected by the State grow but it also beat the projections on which the budget was based. Total General Funds revenues from sales taxes declined from FY2008 through FY2010 by nearly $1 billion, from $7.2 billion…
In the Civic Federation’s “Recommendations for a Financially Sustainable City of Chicago” report issued last week, the Federation discussed the importance of a government making data about its operations available for public download. Municipalities often include data about budgets and tax increment financing on their websites, as well as information about traffic congestion, consumer…
The purpose of this report is to provide the City of Chicago’s Mayor and City Council with detailed recommendations on ways to address the City’s serious financial challenges and create a government that is more efficient, less costly and more accountable. On February 14, 2011, the Civic Federation released Financial Challenges for the New Mayor which identifies the most significant fiscal issues…
The purpose of this report is to provide the City of Chicago’s Mayor and City Council with detailed recommendations on ways to address the City’s serious financial challenges. Click here to read the complete report Click here to read the press release This report provides recommendations for creating a government that is more efficient, less costly and more accountable. It contains some…
Alternative service delivery refers to any process that shifts some or all of the functions, risks or responsibilities for delivering a service from the primary government to the private sector or another public entity. When the function is transferred to the private sector it is commonly referred to as privatization. Alternative service delivery can take many forms such as an asset sale or lease…
