Thread: Illinois' unpaid bills could soar to $21.7 billion in five years: report

Illinois' unpaid bills could soar to $21.7 billion in five years: report

By Karen Pierog | Reuters – 18 hrs ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' stack of overdue bills could nearly triple to $21.7 billion in five years unless the state takes action to curb its public pension costs, a financial watchdog group said on Monday.

"Lawmakers need to adopt a long-term mindset and restructure the unaffordable pension systems that are keeping the state in its fiscal downspin," Lawrence Msall, president of the Chicago-based Civic Federation, said in a statement.

The group's report said the amount of unpaid bills would be down from the nearly $35 billion it previously projected the state would face by fiscal 2017, largely due to cuts Illinois made last year to Medicaid, the healthcare program for the poor.

But the $21.7 billion in outstanding bills owed to vendors, social service providers, hospitals and others in fiscal 2018 would be 2.8 times the $7.8 billion in forecast bills in fiscal 2013, which ends on June 30.

Illinois stands alone among states in the scope and way it has institutionalized late payment of bills as a budget-balancing tool.

State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reported on Monday that her office had $6.88 billion in bills dating back to the end of August when the first half of fiscal 2013 ended on December 31. That was up $2.6 billion from the same period in fiscal 2012.

Estimates of bills that state agencies have yet to send to the comptroller would push that amount to more than $9 billion at the fiscal year's halfway point, according to the comptroller's quarterly report.

Topinka also reported that the legislature may have to pass more spending before the end of fiscal 2013 on June 30 to cover health services to the poor and other costs.

PENSIONS WEIGH DOWN BUDGET
Illinois has the worst-funded state pension system, at 39 percent, far below the 80 percent level considered healthy. Lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled legislature have been unable to rally around a plan that would reduce pension costs and labor unions have warned that they will rely on strong protections for retirement benefits in the Illinois Constitution to fight changes.

The Civic Federation said pension costs, including annual state contributions and payments on outstanding pension bonds, could gobble up nearly a third of state-generated revenue in five years. It added that the state must also prepare for increased Medicaid costs in the future.

"We've reached a breaking point where the state will not be able to make its future pension payments without sacrificing basic government services," Msall said.

Compounding Illinois' fiscal problems is the partial expiration in 2015 of income tax rate increases the state enacted in 2011, according to the report. The forecast assumes the rate increases will expire as scheduled, and the drop in revenue, combined with burgeoning pension payments, is projected to result in a $4.2 billion operating deficit in fiscal 2018.

Deputy Majority House Leader Lou Lang introduced a bill last week that would make the personal income tax rate increase permanent, coupling the move with pension changes. That proposal joins other pension reform measures the legislature is supposed to consider this year.

Credit-rating agencies have cited the partial expiration of the tax increases as a negative factor for Illinois, along with the state's nearly $97 billion unfunded pension liability and structural budget deficit. Illinois has the lowest ratings among states from Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service.
http://news.yahoo.com/illinois-unpaid-bills-could-soar-21-7-billion-233543754--finance.html

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