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Online resource will bring together research and tools to promote more sustainable, accountable local government
CHICAGO — The Civic Federation today launched its Local Government Best Practices Hub, a new initiative that brings together research and practical guidance to help strengthen fiscal management and governance across Illinois.
The Hub draws on the Civic Federation’s longstanding work evaluating government policies against recognized fiscal and governance standards and will provide an Illinois-specific resource for understanding what governments should be doing, where practices fall short, and what approaches can lead to better outcomes.
“Too often, conversations about government finances begin only after a problem has become a crisis,” said Joe Ferguson, President of the Civic Federation. “Our work has always been rooted in the idea that strong fiscal practices matter before that point. By clearly laying out the standards governments should be working toward, we can help government officials at all levels make better-informed decisions and give the public a clearer benchmark for holding government accountable.”
The Local Government Best Practices Hub will address key areas of government finance and operations, including budgeting and long-term financial planning, revenue and expenditure policies, public finance and accounting standards, capital planning, debt management, pensions, procurement, government transparency, and more.
This is an ongoing project, but the Federation has already begun building out this body of work through a series of Best Practices publications examining fundamental components of responsible fiscal management, including:
- Best Practices: Property Taxes
- Best Practices: General Revenue Principles
- Best Practices: Sin Taxes
- Best Practices: Personnel
- Best Practices: General Expenditure Principles
The Hub responds to a particular need in Illinois. While national organizations provide extensive guidance on public finance and governance, those resources are not necessarily tailored to Illinois’ distinct fiscal and governmental landscape, including its property tax system, home rule provisions, debt limitations, and nearly 9,000 units of local government. The Federation draws on national standards and successful practices elsewhere while applying them to the realities facing Illinois governments.
The initiative also represents an expansion of the Civic Federation’s traditional approach to fiscal research. Historically, the Federation has incorporated best practices into its analyses of individual government budgets and fiscal challenges. The Hub creates a dedicated home for that work, allowing users to more easily access guidance on what sound fiscal governance looks like independent of any single budget or government entity.
Over time, the Federation plans to expand the Hub with additional research, explainers, dashboards, visualizations, and interactive tools, while connecting those resources to educational outreach with elected officials and other civic stakeholders. The work will initially apply best practices frameworks to governments including the City of Chicago and Cook County, with the potential to expand to additional jurisdictions.
“This is about turning research into a resource people can use,” Ferguson said. “By establishing clear benchmarks for sound fiscal governance, we can have more informed conversations about where governments are succeeding, where there are gaps, and what practical steps can lead to better outcomes.”
Visit the Dashboard
The Local Government Best Practices Hub is available at: https://civicfed.org/localgovthub
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