Government Budgets

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The “Long” and “Short” of City Asset Deals

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…

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Chicago's FY2010 Budget Relies Too Heavily on Long-Term Reserve Funds Says Civic Federation; Short-Sighted Plan Ignores Future Deficits

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…

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City of Chicago FY2010 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation opposes the FY2010 City of Chicago budget of $6.14 billion because it is unsustainable and relies too heavily on one-time reserve funds to close a $520.0 million budget deficit. The proposed drastic draw down of long-…

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Governor Quinn’s Deal with the CTA and RTA is Fiscally Irresponsible

The Civic Federation has enormous concerns about the fiscal risks associated with Governor Quinn’s “deal” to avoid CTA fare increases. Under the proposal, the Regional Transportation Authority will issue General Obligation bonds worth $83…

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TIF Does Not Take Money Away From the Chicago Public Schools

Under the old state statute that limited the property tax rates of the Chicago Public Schools, Tax Increment Financing directly restricted property tax revenues available to CPS because it froze part of the equalized assessed value (EAV)—…

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Chicago Public Schools Reap TIF Revenues

Chicago Public Schools has received almost $400 million in Tax Increment Financing revenue from the creation of the first City of Chicago TIF in 1984 through July 2009 and is scheduled to receive over $491.3 million more according to…

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Finances Continue to Decline for America’s Cities in 2009

The financial condition of U.S. municipalities continues to deteriorate, according to the recently-released 24th annual City Fiscal…

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Measuring Productivity at the Chicago Transit Authority

While the Civic Federation traditionally analyzes features common to all local government budgets, our…

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Watchdog group supports DuPage budget plan

This article discusses the Civic Federation’s analysis of DuPage County’s proposed FY2010 budget plan. It mentions the Federation’s support for the budget and quotes County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, who says that the County may…

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Cook commissioners, critics rock Stroger’s balanced budget proposal

This article about Cook County’s FY2010 proposed budget and the efforts to rollback the County’s one cent sales tax increase from 2008 quotes the Civic Federation. The Federation says the high Cook County sales tax rate hinders business…