Issues: Fees and User Charges
The Civic Federation strongly supports the use of charges and user fees by governments because those who voluntarily use the service pay the fee or charge. In contrast, critical, core government services, which benefit everyone in the jurisdiction either directly or indirectly, are appropriately financed through taxes.
Recent Research
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11.27.12
Forest Preserve District of Cook County FY2013 Budget Analysis
The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s FY2013 proposed $190.3 million budget for its discipline in identifying non-tax revenue sources to hold the property tax levy flat for the fourth year in a row while maintaining substantial reserves.
While the District’s overall budget demonstrates continued fiscal discipline, the Civic Federation is concerned about several negative trends threatening the District’s long-term fiscal health. The funded ratio of the District’s pension fund fell to 61.6% in FY2011, now below a financially sustainable level. The pension challenges facing other Illinois governments demonstrate how quickly a negative trend can turn into a crisis.
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12.07.11
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District FY2012 Tentative Budget: Analysis and Recommendations
The Civic Federation offers conditional support for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s (MWRD) FY2012 Tentative Budget of $1.0 billion. The Federation is concerned that the budget proposes the maximum increase to the property tax levy and does not comply with the District’s own fund balance policy. The proposed reforms to pension funding that have the support of the Retirement Fund Board and the Board of Commissioners are a strong step toward improving the financial health of the pension fund, which is only 56.5% funded. However, the passage of these reforms in Springfield will require strong advocacy by the Commissioners.
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12.07.11
Chicago Park District FY2012 Budget: Analysis and Recommendations
The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Park District FY2012 Budget of $407.5 million because it holds the property tax levy flat for the seventh year in a row and emphasizes cost containment and revenue diversification. The Federation supports the District’s development of a fund balance policy and its efforts to eliminate the structural deficit through a multi-year plan. While we support the budget, the Civic Federation has concerns about the declining health of the District’s pension fund.
Issue Briefs
Recent Commentary
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Blog Entries
04.26.12
Chicago City Council Approves Infrastructure Trust
On April 24, 2012, the City Council passed an ordinance establishing an Infrastructure Trust for the City of Chicago....
01.13.11
UPDATE: Governor Quinn Ends Seniors Ride Free
On February 14 Governor Quinn signed into law Public Act 096-1527 which effectively ended the Seniors Ride Free program...
12.21.10
Where do the Cook County Sales Tax, Amusement Tax and other Taxes go?
State and local governments utilize fund accounting in order to demonstrate accountability and compliance with rules,...
08.18.10
City Colleges Tuition Costs Still Competitive
On August 5, the Civic Federation released its analysis of the FY2011 City Colleges Tentative Annual Operating budget....
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