Who We Are
The Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability is a bi-partisan 501(C)(3) non-profit research and
advocacy think tank that promotes fair, efficient and progressive
tax, spending and economic policies.
CTBA releases
new publications
Highlights of the FY 2009 Proposed Budget
February, 2008
After adjusting for inflation many
state programs will be cut in FY 2009, including K-12 and higher
education, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Children
and Family Services and the Department of Natural Resources.
Revenue is forecasted to grow only
$448 million, while just covering the inflationary cost of FY 2008
service levels into FY 2009 is over $1.2 billion. This creates
a deficit of $752 million, between revenue costs and service cost
growth. Additionally the Illinois Comptroller has found that
the state currently owes $3.4 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills and
the pension ramp is scheduled to increase by $720 million from FY
2008 to FY 2009.
Citizen's Guide to the Illinois Budget & Tax
System
A Primer on the Illinois Fiscal
System & State Budget Pressures
January 2008
Citizen's Guide to the Illinois
Budget and Tax System reviews the technical elements of the Illinois
budget and tax system. It provides in-depth analysis of
historical spending and revenue trends, major budget pressures,
deficit spending, bonds and debt, pensions and how the state shares
revenue with local governments.
With almost 50 tables and charts, the
Citizen's Guide details the budget process, revenue system and
challenges the state faces in clear terms.
Issue Brief on the Illinois Structural Deficit
January 2008
Issue Brief: Tax Fairness in Illinois
January 2008
State of Working Illinois 2007
Executive Summary
Presentation
December 2007
CTBA working in partnership with Northern Illinois
University publishes annually the State of Working Illinois.
The report is one of the most detailed state analyses ever conducted
on the Illinois economy. The report tracks the effects of
national and global economic trends on working families throughout
the state and provides a wealth of information on jobs, income, and
unemployment for each county in the state. The report also
identifies industrial sectors and occupational growth by sector,
employment, education and income changes in each region.
With over 800 tables
and charts, The State of Working Illinois
is the comprehensive reference on the Illinois workforce.
Visit the StateOfWorkingIllinois.org
website for every table and figure that appears in the printed book.
Cook County's Revenue System is Structurally
Unable to Support the Public Services it Provides
Executive Summary
September 2007
The report analyzes the basic public
services Cook County provides and the revenue sources that fund
them. The report also examines the Cook County fiscal system
to determine whether it has the ability to fund and sustain the
level of public services it currently provides.
Learn More About
Comprehensive Fiscal Reform
Senate Bill 2288 provides a new,
permanent revenue source for
schools, property tax relief for
homeowners and $1 billion for debt
service for a state infrastructure
program.
It is the only
piece of legislation that will truly
reform the way education is funded in
Illinois by making the state the primary funder of K-12 education. The bill also
provides $300 million for community
colleges and universities.
Visit our
SB 2288 Page
Quick Links to Resources
Fact
Sheet on the four principles of good fiscal policy
CTBA Presentation on the IL Economy and
How it Relates to Education Funding
Illinois Fiscal System Basics
Why is the expanding the sales tax base so crucial
to comprehensive tax and school funding reform?
View a fact sheet on the sales tax expansion.
Recent Publications
FY 2008 State Final Budget Analysis
February 2008
How Public Long-Term Care Services for Older
Adults are Funded in Illinois: A "Map" of the Current Financing
Structure
The Finance Workgroup of the Illinois
Older Adult Services Advisory Committee, of which CTBA is a part,
releases a primer
on how Illinois finances long-term care for older adults.
June 2007
The Illinois Public Pension Funding Crisis: Is
Moving from the Current Defined Benefit System to a Defined
Contribution System an Option that Makes Sense?
May 2007
The State of Illinois Shortchanges Cook County
on Federal Medicaid Funds
February 2007
Private Sector Job Trends and The Illinois Structural Deficit:
What
Illinois’ Changing Economy Means For The Demand For Public Services
and The State’s Fiscal Capacity to Fund Them
January 2007
An analysis of the state's fiscal
system finds that
Illinois’ state deficit will increase to more than $6 Billion over
the next five years, without adding or expanding any programs.
This deficit increase is the result of a tax system that does not
generate enough revenue to continue funding the current level of
public services into the future, adjusting solely for inflation and
population growth. This fiscal mismatch is called a “structural
deficit”.
In addition to an
unsustainable state revenue system, the study also found that
increasing the number of high paying jobs in the state will not
solve the problem. This limited impact of high paying jobs on the
state’s ability to generate revenue is a direct result of the
longstanding structural flaws in the state fiscal system that
severely limit Illinois' ability to generate revenue that responds
adequately to economic growth.
Illinois Pension Funding Problem: Why it
Matters
Executive Summary
November 2006
An analysis of the five
Illinois retirement systems finds that the state's
worst-in-the-nation unfunded pension liability has grown by more
than $7 billion in just the last two years. Lawmakers must act
now to pay down the debt or its impact on the state budget will soon
affect everything from education and health care to the state's bond
rating and its ability to pursue capital improvement projects.
Illinois’ Medicaid Program: Financing Challenges
in the Face of Federal Medicaid Cuts and a Flawed State Fiscal
System
September 2006
An analysis of the role “intergovernmental transfers”
and the “upper payment limit” play in financing Illinois’ Medicaid
program. These financing mechanisms are critical to funding health
care for poor and low-income individuals throughout the state.
An Analysis of the Tax Exemptions Granted to Cook
County Non-Profit Hospitals and the Charity Care Provided in Return
May 2006
CTBA is pleased to announce the release of a study
comparing the value of the tax breaks received by Cook County
non-profit hospitals to the charity care they provide in return.
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