(CHICAGO) The Civic Federation released today a comparative analysis of the cost of the $9.6 billion in bonds the State of Illinois issued between September 2009 and July 2010. The report estimated that Illinois government may pay as much as $551.3 million extra for its borrowing as a consequence of its deteriorating bond rating. The full report is available at www.civicfed.org. “Due to…
This issue brief provides a comparative analysis of the cost of the $9.6 billion in bonds the State of Illinois issued between September 2009 and July 2010. The report estimates that Illinois government may pay as much as $551.3 million extra for its borrowing as a consequence of its deteriorating bond rating. The report found that the extra borrowing cost will continue to stress future budgets…
A recent report shows that nearly all the bond subsidies promised under the Build America Bond (BAB) program are being paid by the federal government to issuers applying for the credit without significant administrative delay. The BAB subsidy, equal to 35% of the interest cost of qualified municipal bonds, was pledged as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program was…
It’s no secret that the financially troubled State of Illinois owes billions of dollars in unpaid bills. What is not as widely known is that the State also owes $730 million in corporate income tax refunds, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue. Unlike unpaid bills, unpaid tax refunds are not accounted for in the budget. The budget specifically shows unpaid bills as accounts payable at…
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently announced his plans for $500 million in mass transit infrastructure improvements across the State. $442.7 million of that will go to the Regional Transit Authority for repairs to the Chicago Transit Authority’s rail infrastructure, the rehabilitation of Metra train stations, and new vehicles and a system-wide radio system for Pace. Click here for a list of all…
Roughly a month ago, on July 1, 2010, Governor Pat Quinn announced that he planned to cut $1.1 billion from the $26.0 billion FY2011 State of Illinois budget previously approved by the General Assembly. At that time, the Governor did not say where $891 million of those spending cuts would be made. During the week of August 2, 2010, Governor Quinn revealed the specific reductions to agency budgets…
Despite a $2 billion drop in the State’s annual revenues in FY2010 , the General Assembly passed Governor Pat Quinn's proposal to provide a back-to-school sales tax holiday for Illinois consumers as part of the FY2011 budget. The State charges a composite rate of 6.25% on consumer purchases of most general merchandise from retailers in Illinois, but only 5% of that rate is the State’s share. The…
Illinois’ increasing cost of borrowing is the focus of this article. The Civic Federation says businesses are reconsidering plans to invest in Illinois because of uncertainty over the State’s long-term tax policies and fiscal health.
Almost immediately after the Illinois General Assembly approved an unbalanced budget for FY2011, two of the three major rating agencies downgraded the state’s debt ratings. It was the fifth time in the last 18 months that Illinois has seen its ratings reduced by Fitch and the third reduction from Moody’s. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has also reduced the State’s rating three times in the past…
This editorial is about the State of Illinois’ FY2011 enacted budget. It mentions the Civic Federation’s alternative budget recommendations as one of several possible solutions overlooked by legislators.
