Forest Preserve District of Cook County

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Pension Funding Basics: Unfunded Liabilities as a Percentage of Payroll

The difference between a pension fund’s assets and accrued liabilities is known as the unfunded liability. The unfunded actuarial accrued liability (UAAL)

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Civic Federation Supports House Bill 1154, as Amended in Senate

On May 28, 2014, The Civic Federation sent this letter to Representitive Elaine Nekritz and the members of the House Personnel and Pensions Committee in advance of a 4 p.m. hearing on…

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Cook County Forest Preserve District’s New Conservation Plan Faces Challenges

In 2013 President Preckwinkle formed a blue-ribbon commission of local leaders to develop the Next Century Conservation Plan…

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How Well Do Chicago Area Local Government Capital Improvement Plans Follow Best Practices?

As a follow-up to the Capital Planning Overview, this blog post summarizes information contained in the Civic Federation’s FY2014…

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2013 Year in Review on Civic Federation Blog

The following posts were among the most highly read on the Civic Federation blog in 2013 and represent some of the most closely followed local government issues this year:…

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Civic Federation Budget Recommendations for Chicago-Area Local Governments

Last week the Civic Federation marked the end of the FY2014 budget season with a blog that summarized the proposed budgets for the eight local governments the Federation…

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FY2014 Budget Season Summary

Last week marked the end of the FY2014 budget season for the eight local governments monitored…

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End double duty for County Board

This editorial calls for the creation of a Forest Preserve Board separate from the Cook County Board, saying the current governing structure has held the Forest Preserves back in recent decades. The Civic Federation has…

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Forest Preserve District of Cook County FY2014 Executive Budget Recommendation: Analysis and Recommendations

The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s FY2014 proposed $178.8 million budget that holds the property tax levy flat and maintains substantial reserve funds. However, the Federation warns that these…

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Capital Planning Overview: State and Local Government Summary

As part of its ongoing analysis of State and local government budgets, the Civic Federation also reviews proposed capital budgets along with any planning documents provided in support of infrastructure investments. Although many…