Tax revenues that states depend on to fund operations continue to decrease, dropping at least $119.7 billion nationwide in the most recent fiscal quarter. A study released by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government on November 23, 2009 also shows that Illinois continues to be one of the hardest hit by revenue losses during the current recession. Illinois was one of only ten states that…
Taxpayers should get what they pay for, and pay for what they get—that is the core notion behind intergenerational equity in government. When governments live within their means, balancing revenues and expenditures without hoarding excess cash or borrowing from the future, they achieve intergenerational equity among taxpayers and others who pay for and receive government services. If today’s…
This article about a report on the States in the worst fiscal condition by the Pew Center on the States quotes the Civic Federation in its profile of Illinois’ budget problems. The Federation noted that Illinois’ budget hole is too large to be filled with just a tax increase.
This news segment examines Governor Quinn’s deal with the Chicago Transit Authority that will avert a fare increase through increased borrowing. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says the deal may be a bad one in the long run, increasing the possibility of greater fare increases and service cuts down the road.
This article describes the politics surrounding a vote by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to reduce the county sales tax by a half-cent. It cites the Civic Federation’s analysis of the County’s proposed FY2009 budget.
This article discusses the Civic Federation’s analysis of the City of Chicago’s FY2010 proposed budget. The Federation opposed the budget because off its reliance on reserve funds to make up a fiscal shortfall.
This article mentions a recent City budget hearing at which the Civic Federation presented its analysis of the City of Chicago FY2010 proposed budget.
In two previous blog posts [here and here] the Civic Federation discussed the City of Chicago’s use of asset lease proceeds from its 99 year leases of the Chicago Skyway and the City’s parking meters. In sum, the City has set aside $900.0 million in long-term reserve accounts using proceeds from both the Skyway and parking meter leases. The City set aside an additional $1,226.4 million of asset…
In FY2010 the City of Chicago proposes to close a majority of its FY2010 $520 million budget deficit with proceeds it received from the long-term leases of its parking meters and the Chicago Skyway. This begs the question: how has the City been using the rest of the proceeds from its long-term asset leases? The long-term lease of the Chicago Skyway yielded the city a lump sum payment of $1.83…
The Civic Federation opposes the proposed $6.14 billion FY2010 City of Chicago budget because it is unsustainable and relies predominantly on one-time reserve funds to close its $520 million deficit. The Federation’s full 69-page analysis of the budget is available on our website, www.civicfed.org. The FY2010 budget was crafted without adequate attention to future budgets. The City proposes to…
