Civic Federation Blog Archive: March 2010

03.31.10

Open County Initiative Takes Steps towards Improving County Transparency

Cook County has recently taken efforts to improve its transparency and accountability to the public through its Open County Initiative website. The County developed the initiative as a response to recommendations by the Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization that advocates for better state and...

03.30.10

Civic Federation Position Statement on Senate Bill 1946

The Civic Federation supports the Illinois General Assembly’s first steps toward comprehensive public pension reform in Illinois and urges state leaders to implement further reforms. On Wednesday, March 24, 2010, the Illinois General Assembly took the first important steps toward...

03.24.10

Local Pension Investment Returns—Is the Risk Worth the Reward?

All ten Chicago-area local government pension funds analyzed annually by the Civic Federation had negative investment returns in fiscal year 2008 for a total investment loss of $7.1 billion.[1]

03.16.10

Local Pension Unfunded Liabilities Hit $18.5 Billion

The total unfunded liabilities of the ten major Chicago-area public pension funds reached $18.5 billion in fiscal year 2008. That is an increase of over $15.1 billion dollars in ten years, up from $3.4 billion in fiscal year 1999. 

03.10.10

How Healthy are Chicago-area Public Pension Funds? A Look at Funded Ratios

As reported in the Civic Federation’s latest report on ten local government pension funds, the most recent audited financial statements of the Chicago firefighters’ pension fund showed a market value funded ratio of only 27.2%. The Chicago police fund was close behind at only 34.7...

03.03.10

Forest Preserve District of Cook County Separate Board of Commissioners: Legislative Update

The Civic Federation and the Friends of the Forest Preserves believe that the current governance structure of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County needs reform because it is impossible for one commissioner to fulfill the two diametrically opposed duties of economic development and land...