Civic Federation Blog Archive: April 2011

04.27.11

Civic Federation Awards to Honor John A. Buck and Walgreen Co.

The Civic Federation Board of Directors is pleased to announce the 2011 Civic Awards Honorees.

04.20.11

New Chicago Mayor and City Council Face Two Distinct Pension Crises

Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel and the newly elected Chicago City Council face a host of major financial challenges. One of the hardest problems to solve will be the pension crisis. As a result of recent state legislation, the City now faces two distinct pension problems: two of its four funds are still...

04.14.11

Civic Federation Supports Cook County Health System’s Plan for Oak Forest Hospital

The Civic Federation sent the following letter to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board in support of a plan by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System to discontinue acute-care hospital services at Oak Forest Hospital in favor of expanded outpatient care. As discussed...

04.13.11

Bond Restructuring Key Strategy Used to Close Budget Gaps

  The three largest municipal governments analyzed by the Civic Federation are the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the City of Chicago and Cook County. All three began their FY2011 budget processes projecting large budget shortfalls: CPS projected a gap of $370 million, the City of Chicago...

04.06.11

Savings Accounts of Chicago Area Governments

The Civic Federation analyzes the budgets of nine Chicago area local governments. One important indicator that the Federation utilizes to assess the financial health of these municipalities is their fund balance level. In particular, we examine the balance within the general fund that does not have...