Civic Federation Blog Archive: November 2009

11.24.09

The 18th Annual Motorola Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award, Honoring Judy Erwin

The Civic Federation is teaming up with the Motorola Foundation to present the 18th Annual Excellence in Public Service Award next month. After reviewing nominations for some of the best and brightest public servants throughout Illinois, the award advisory committee selected Judy Erwin, Executive...

11.23.09

Why Intergenerational Equity Matters to Taxpayers

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...

11.19.09

Protecting Proceeds From Long-Term Asset Leases

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.

11.18.09

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 City been using the rest of the proceeds from its long-term...

11.13.09

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.

11.09.09

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)—the tax base—available for taxation.1 This...

11.09.09

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 intergovernmental agreements with the City of Chicago. CPS has...

11.06.09

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 Condition Survey published by the National League of Cities (NLC).

11.04.09

Measuring Productivity at the Chicago Transit Authority

While the Civic Federation traditionally analyzes features common to all local government budgets, our analyses of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) budgets include additional productivity measurement data. The Civic Federation uses expenditure, personnel and ridership data provided by...