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 preservation. Currently the Cook County Board of Commissioners serves double duty as Forest Preserve District Commissioners, but there is legislation introduced in the Illinois General Assembly to…
The Civic Federation and Friends of the Forest Preserves support the creation of a separate elected Board of Commissioners to govern the Forest Preserve District of Cook County as detailed in this 2008 report. Due to an organizational structure that creates an inherent conflict of interest and inhibits proper oversight, the District suffers from numerous problems that would be improved by creating a separate governing body to oversee the Forest Preserve system. This governing body would…
On February 2, 2010 Illinois will hold its primary election. The position of Cook County Board President and all Cook County Commissioner seats are on the ballot. Many issues pertaining to Cook County government have been debated during this election cycle, including the repeal of the entire sales tax increase approved by the Board of Commissioners in 2008 and the future of the County’s health and hospital system. Another issue that has been raised during debates is whether a separate board of…
The redesign of the Civic Federation website in July has provided the public, government officials, and the media better access to the Federation’s analyses of government services in Illinois. The regularly-updated Civic Federation blog especially has provided a constant source of information on the issues that the Federation covers, including local budgets and pensions, taxes, privatization and asset leases, and commentary on events in the news. Blog posts about local government budgets…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2010 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement performance measurement and a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, reinstating means-tested transit discounts for seniors, requiring large counties to produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform,…
In September Fitch Ratings announced an upgrade of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s outstanding unlimited tax general obligation bonds totaling $115 million to ‘AA-’ from ‘A+.’ However, Fitch noted that the District is vulnerable to decisions made by its Board of Commissioners, who also serve as the governing board of Cook County. Fitch expressed support for Senate Bill 176, which would establish a separate Board of Commissioners for the District, and stated that the greater…
The Civic Federation supports the FY2010 Forest Preserve District of Cook County budget of $198.2 million because the District will reduce its property tax levy by $1.1 million and use a portion of its budget reserve funds, rather than increase taxes, to balance its budget. However, the Civic Federation warns that the Forest Preserve District faces fiscal pressures due to rising personnel costs and should transfer law enforcement duties to the Cook County Sheriff and swimming pools to local…
The Civic Federation sent a letter today to the Board of Forest Preserve Commissioners, which is also the Cook County Board of Commissioners, urging them to reject a request by the Village of Hinsdale for 30 acres of Forest Preserve District land to create a village park. The Board is scheduled to act on the request at a Forest Preserve District Board Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, October 7th at 10:00 a.m. in the Cook County Board Room. October 6, 2009 To the Board of Forest Preserve…
August 14, 2009’s Civic Federation blog post, “Tweeting Towards Transparency (Part 1),” discussed how the Cook County Board’s Twitter account has helped make the proceedings of county board and committee meetings more transparent for Cook County residents. Today’s follow up post approaches improving local government transparency on Twitter from a public awareness and marketing perspective. Specially, this post elaborates on how Twitter accounts of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and…
This report analyzes the public funding for 12 major cultural institutions in Cook County that receive property tax-based funding from the Chicago Park District or the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. It makes recommendations for alternative funding sources that could stabilize the public funding for these and other institutions.
