Yvette Shields

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza will highlight the state's progress on key fiscal metrics during upcoming meetings with the rating agencies and has updated the fiscal 2023 interim audit as the full audited results have not yet been published.

S&P expects improvement although for some borrowers that simply means a reduction in losses, or breakeven to just slightly positive margins.

The Board of Education approved a fiscal 2024 budget amid warnings about the need for more state help to manage a gap of up to $700 million in fiscal 2026.

"We believe pensions have an elevated probability of stressing the state and local governments' budgets even as Illinois has made supplemental contributions above the statutorily required amounts," S&P Global Ratings analyst Joseph Vodziak said.

A $100 million offering of voter-authorized general obligation bonds will speed up blight removal and fund parks and transportation projects.

The Police and Fire Retirement System lacks authority to shift to a 20-year amortization of unfunded legacy liabilities from the 30-year term laid out in the city's bankruptcy exit plan, according to a judge's ruling that eases one fiscal pressure point for the city.

The early redemption plan saves the state $266 million in interest payments and allows pull-tab gambling revenue to flow to the general fund.

The task force expects to "form sub-groups to address specific pension issues and dedicated revenue as part of a comprehensive and balanced approach."

The gap next year is up from the $18.2 million shortfall projected heading into the fiscal 2023 budget season but down from the $121.4 million projection in 2022 and the expected near-record $410 million hole that loomed in 2021.

Jack Brofman will start at the University of Chicago July 17 as executive director of global treasury operations.

Clare Oaks' history of fiscal struggles resulted in two bankruptcy filings, the most recent leading to a bond exchange in 2020.

If approved by the local governing bodies, Milwaukee could raise nearly $180 million more annually from the new sales tax and the county $80 million from a hike, according to estimates.

CPS expects to close the current fiscal year with a clean slate on short-term borrowing for a second year in a row but it will still rely on TANs to manage liquidity throughout the next fiscal year.

"Stakeholders believe the best solution is to utilize the bankruptcy process to run a marketing and sale process," Friendship Village of Schaumburg said in a statement.

The report provides the first step in assessing what level of benefit enhancement is needed before further state action is taken on Tier 2 pension benefits.

Nuveen's investment featured prominently in a settlement ending Preston Hollow's four-year legal pursuit of Nuveen for using what one judge labeled as "lies" and "threats" to damage its access to deals.

The City-County Council signed off on up to $625 million of borrowing for a city-owned convention center hotel after a developer-financed plan fell through.

Cook County, local governments, transit agencies, and the education and hospital sectors all benefit from bills passed by Illinois lawmakers.

The system is incorporating some floating-rate risk into its fixed-rate debt portfolio to allow for strategic flexibility after its new hospital campus opens.

BJC HealthCare and Saint Luke's Health System signed a letter of intent to form an integrated not-for-profit Missouri-based health system.