Before Chicago City Council’s Committee on the Budget and Government Operations, Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers proposed a 2016 budget that decreases reliance on taxpayer dollars by nearly 30 percent, from $2.36 million to $1.66 million. Upon his appointment, Treasurer Summers made a commitment to transform the Treasurer’s Office to better serve all residents in every corner of Chicago. With changes to the City’s current investment strategy, the office projects to earn $77.6 million in total revenue for 2016. To fulfill the mandate of the administration and continue to serve as a responsible fiscal steward, Treasurer Summers proposes modernizing operations to generate more revenue and help lower what taxpayers are charged to fund the Treasurer’s Office.

The Treasurer’s administration has evaluated past practices and identified a number of challenges threatening the stewardship of taxpayer dollars and Chicago’s fiscal health. Some of those challenges include a 33+ year-old treasury system, the lack of a regulatory compliance function, no daily market analysis or reconciliation and a misaligned cost/benefit to taxpayers. With minimal resources in place, the Treasurer has begun taking first steps in the office’s transformation by diversifying the City’s portfolio, adjusting duration, adopting a minimum credit quality, a responsible benchmark and increasing accountability. The Treasurer’s Office estimates that these changes will result in a projected $10.1 million of additional income over the next year, with an overall projection of $77.6 million in total investment income for 2016. This is an increase of $30-$40 million from previous years. The Treasurer has also implemented national best practices in managing the City’s cash on hand.