The Civic Federation and IIFS blogs have written extensively about reductions to assumed rates of return on investment by State and some local public pension plans over the last several years. These changes are part of a nationwide…
The following posts were among the most highly read on the Civic Federation blog in 2014 and represent some of the most closely followed local government issues this year:…
The Cook County Clerk’s Office annually releases a tax rate report that provides the tax rates for various taxing agencies within Cook County. It is important for property taxpayers to have an accurate picture of which governments receive…
For the third year in a row, the budget proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel for the City of Chicago relies on the use of refunding bonds to pay for principal owed in the coming year rather than making payments from operating resources.…
The Civic Federation supports the City of Chicago's proposed $7.3 billion budget because it reflects both reasonable structural changes and significant actions toward long-term stability, including the 2014 pension reform law for the City'…
Since the release of our 2012 Effective Tax Rates report on September 29th the Civic Federation has fielded many inquiries about how to…
An analysis this week released by the Civic Federation uses 13 indicators of financial condition to provide a snapshot of the fiscal health of four Chicago charter schools or networks between fiscal years 2007 and 2011. The analysis…
This report is a quantitative analysis of the finances of four Chicago charter schools. The report uses 13 indicators of financial condition to provide a snapshot of fiscal health for the five-year period between fiscal years 2007 and 2011…
Chicago-area public employee pension funding levels continued to decline in FY2012, with total unfunded liabilities for the ten funds analyzed rising to $37.2 billion from $32.0 billion in FY2011. On average, the ten funds analyzed had an…
The declining health of public employee pension funds throughout the State of Illinois is primarily due to two causes: inadequate employer contributions over a sustained period and recent investment losses. This blog will discuss the role…
