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| Local Government Distributive Fund |
The Governor's budget as presented to the Illinois General Assembly included a reduction of local government's share of the income tax. See details in the Illinois Municipal League Action Package at http://www.iml.org/page.cfm?key=4234
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| Pension Reform |
Senate Bill 1946 awaits the Governor's signature. The Bill modifies benefits for most Illinois public pension systems, including IMRF’s Regular and Elected County Official plans. For details on the impact to future IMRF members and savings to local government, join us at the April 23, 2010 Illinois Public Pension Institute. |
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| Red Flag Rules |
Compliance deadline extended to June 2010
Under these regulations, financial
institutions and creditors with covered accounts must have identity-theft-prevention
programs in place to identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific
activities that could indicate identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission rules
cover financial institutions and any other entity that holds a “transaction account”
belonging to a consumer. Governments that offers services (common examples are
water, sewer, electric, etc) are considered a "creditor" under this regulation and
required to establish an ID Theft Prevention Program by the deadline. The only way a local government offering services would not be a creditor
is if it required all customers to prepay for services. For more information see notes from the October 3rd Chicago Metro Chapter meeting, the Illinois Municipal Utility Association on-line resources and visit the IGFOA Resource Center for samples from other communities. Do you have a plan to comply with the
Red Flag Rules? If so please forward to execdir@igfoa.org.
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| Road Salt Pricing |
The Village of Lombard recently passed a resolution requesting that
the Illinois Attorney General investigate the high price of road salt for the coming
winter. The resolution notes that 2008/2009 bid tabulations for Road Salt delivered
in our region, including 70 Wisconsin counties participating in the State of Wisconsin
bid, and 277 Michigan local governments participating in the State of Michigan bid,
reveal average Road Salt prices of $49.85 and $45.26 per ton, respectively, while
Northeastern Illinois communities are receiving prices for “unlimited quantities” as
high as $232.00 per ton. The Village further notes that average diesel fuel prices
have increased approximately 36% over the past year, while 2008 bids for delivered
Road Salt show an increase of as much as 570% over last year’s Illinois state
contract of $40.69 per ton. Full text of resolution at
http://legistar.villageoflombard.org/DetailReport/matter.aspx?key=8380
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| Cable Franchise Laws |
On June 30, 2007. the Governor signed SB 678 into law. The bill attempts to address competition and customer service concerns in the cable and video delivery industry. New cable providers can now enter the state market without negotiating separate franchise agreements with each city and village. To examine how the bill will affect local governments click here.
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| Sudan Divestment |
The Sudan Divestiture Act, which prohibited pension funds from investing in companies with ties to Sudan, was declared unconstitutional by a Federal District Court on Friday, February 23. For more information on the breaking news, click here
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| Predatory Lending |
The Illinois Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, has been distributing letters to public pension funds throughout Illinois to encourage them to adopt policies that combat predatory lending. The issue has raised a number of concerns regarding the cooperation of financial institutions, fiduciary responsibility, and enforcement. To learn more about this issue click here.
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| Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP) |
DROP is an alternative to standard retirement designed to keep long-term employees on staff. Although DROPs are not authorized in Illinois, they have spread to many state and local governments. Learn more about the structure, issues, and costs surrounding DROPs by clicking here.
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