Cicero applauded for strong economic base reducing burden on taxpayers

The financial burden on taxpayers continues to increase in cities across the State of Illinois, but major financial institutions and finance associations have applauded the Town of Cicero for its strong and healthy financial basis.

In recent weeks, Cicero was notified by Standard & Poors that its Credit Rating remains at a strong A-Plus (A+) rating, and it has received three top national honors for its professional and transparent financial reporting procedures.

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA), a professional association with over 17,500 members, whose purpose is to enhance and promote the professional management of governments for the public benefit by identifying and developing financial policies and best practices and promoting their use through education, training, facilitation of member networking, and leadership, has bestowed upon Cicero its three major awards in budgeting and financial reporting: The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award; The Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting; and, The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting.

Cicero Finance Director Donald Schultz said that the series of announcements have not only highlighted the strength of Cicero’s financial management on a national scale, but most recently contributed to the Town’s strong credit rating, which helped Cicero achieve a taxpayer savings of $1.5 million on its most recent bond offering.

“The Town of Cicero has the distinction of being one of only a handful of municipalities in the State of Illinois to receive all three national awards of recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association,” Schultz noted.

“The rating from Standard and Poors determines what interest rate municipalities and governments must pay in order to borrow money,” Schultz explained at a recent board meeting.

Schultz pointed out that at the time Larry Dominick was elected the Town President of Cicero, prior administrations had strapped the town with major debt borrowing in excess of $148 million, which has been reduced to $94 million, or 36.5% during Dominick’s first two terms, with no additional long term debt financings.

“It was a terrible debt to unload on Cicero taxpayers, but President Dominick immediately moved to address Cicero’s financial challenges and those efforts have been repeatedly recognized by the financial associations that matter,” Schultz said.

“By maintaining a strong credit rating, President Dominick has been able to renegotiate the loans on four separate occasions to significantly reduce interest rate charges saving taxpayers more than $5.4 million in interest debt payments.”

Schultz said that the reduction is money the taxpayers would have been forced to pay since borrowings are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the Town through real estate taxes.

The recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association only reinforces Cicero’s attention to careful long-term financial planning and its successful efforts to eliminate debt and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Of the 485 Illinois cities and counties that are current GFOA members, only six local governments, including the Town of Cicero, have received all three awards, representing only 1.4% of eligible local units of government.

Reflected in the Town’s national recognition is the Award for Distinguished Budget Presentation for the Town’s Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning January 1, 2013.  In its presentation, GFOA states that the Award “reflects the commitment of the governing body and its staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.  In order to receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation.  These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as (a) a policy document; (b) a financial plan; (c) an operations guide; and (d) a communications device.”  Cicero’s budget was rated proficient in all areas by an independent panel of GFOA national reviewers.

Following its presentation of the highly coveted Award For Distinguished Budget Presentation, GFOA presented the Town of Cicero with its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial reporting for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the

Fiscal Year Beginning January 1, 2012. “The Certificate of Achievement,” states the announcement, “is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.”

The third Award presented to the Town of Cicero by GFOA was an Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting for the Town’s Popular Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2012.  “The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting,” states GFOA’s award announcement, “is a prestigious national award that recognizes conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state and local government popular reports.”

“These Awards,” announced Schultz, are strong indicators of the Town’s commitment to sound financial management, long-term planning, and transparency in the reporting of the administrations goals, achievements, and results of its financial operations.

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