CPS Budget Crisis
CPS Funding Basics Local Funding - $2.858 billion in FY 15 Federal Funding - $735.8 million in FY 15 State Funding - $1.751 billion in FY 15 General State Aid (GSA) Chicago Block Grants State Contributions for Capital Projects
Local Funding Property taxes are the main local source of revenue Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL)– prevents Chicago from raising property tax extension above the CPI Tax Increment Financing (TIF) surpluses as designated by the Mayor and City Council
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts In TIF districts growth in property taxes are held in a fund for specific purposes such as infrastructure, public improvements, etc. The City can approve TIF surplus funds be distributed to other taxing bodies such as CPS CPS received $6.3 million in TIF surplus money in FY 15
Federal Funding Federal government provides funds to state for: No Child Left Behind Teacher Improvement English Learners Low-Income Students Special Education School Lunches Other grants
General State Aid 3 components 1) Foundation Grant Foundation Level of $6,119 per student between state and local resources Local resources is defined by property value and an assumed tax rate 2) Low-income Grant Supplemental funding increases with greater proportion of low-income students in a district 3) PTELL Adjustment PTELL limits a local districts property tax extension to the lesser of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 5% If property value is limited by PTELL, this adjustment provides additional GSA
CPS receives proportionally more in General State Aid CPS educates 19.3% of students in the state, but receives 21% of GSA General State Aid- Equity
Chicago Block Grants CPS receives 2 education block grants which include funding for: early childhood ed, special education, transportation, free lunch, etc. For the school year CPS received $279 million more in state funding than it would have without the block grants Non-Chicago legislators assert that this balances the pension inequity
State Contributions for Capital Projects In FY 15, CPS received approximately $75 million in additional funding for school construction projects from various grants and programs.
FY 16 State and CPS Budgets
FY 16 State Education Budget The K-12 education budget was the only budget passed FY 16 Education budget allocated $110 million more to GSA than FY 15 While GSA funding was increased statewide, CPS saw a $65.5 million reduction in their GSA Increase in assumed property value Decrease in proportion of low-income students GSA does not take local debt service or pension obligations into account
FY 16 CPS Budget CPS FY 16 budget totals $6.078 billion $1.215 billion (nearly 20%) will be spent on debt service and pension obligations Relies on $480 million in additional state money that is not currently appropriated
History of Chicago Teachers Pension Fund and Teachers Retirement System CTPF created to provide retirement benefits TRS created to establish combined pension system for the rest of the state
CTPF- Payments Dedicated pension levy for CTPF was eliminated in 1995 From 1995 to 2005, CPS made no employer contributions into the CTPF From 2011 to 2013, lower payments were made, i.e. “pension holiday” Since 1996, CPS contributed $2.7 billion instead of $5.2 billion
CTPF- Current Status CTPF has over $9 billion in unfunded liabilities CPS has a $676 million payment to CTPF in FY 16
Moving Forward In the short-term, we need to be sure that a solution does not repeat past mistakes In the long-term we need to look at revamping our antiquated school funding formula to decrease our reliance on property tax revenues, and we must increase funding for education overall and ensure Chicago students consistently get their fair share of tax dollars. The volatility of CPS cannot continue without negatively impacting our communities and our city as a whole. Operating in continual crisis mode seems to have become the new normal - and this is unacceptable. All decision-makers must work collaboratively to address CPS fiscal challenges