Overview

The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is the official statement of the City of Chicago's public works plan for a given five-year period (such as 1998-2002). It is a "wish list" of where the City would like to spend its capital improvement dollars over the coming five years. The CIP also discloses which funding sources the City plans to use to pay for the public improvements, as well as forecasts of construction start and completion dates. The CIP is only a guide -- the City may choose to drop a project or delay it significantly without giving any warning.
But what is a "capital improvement"? Capital improvements refer to major investments in infrastructure such as roads, sewers, police stations, and water mains -- major expenditures expected to last many years rather than the day-to-day expenses of City government such as trash pickup or street cleaning. The CIP includes projects in seven categories:

Economic Development: This category includes industrial street and viaduct projects, as well as "streetscaping" projects in neighborhood commercial areas.

Municipal Facilities: Libraries, health clinics, senior centers, human services centers, fire and police stations, city-owned office buildings, and municipal operating facilities (including city-owned office buildings and Streets and Sanitation facilities).

Neighborhood Infrastructure: Alley construction, lighting, new street construction, residential street resurfacing, sidewalk construction, and "other neighborhood improvements" (mainly cul-de-sacs, speed bumps, and other "traffic calming" measures).

Sewers: Sewer construction and rehabilitation.

Transportation: Bridges, intersection safety improvements, major streets, traffic signals, and public transit.

Water: Water mains, pumping stations, the Jardine Water Purification Plant, and the South Water Filtration Plant.

Who Decides Which Projects Make It into the CIP?

The CIP process begins with a draft document produced by the Office of Budget and Management that reflect the initial recommendations of City departments such as the Dept. of Transportation or the Dept. of Sewers. The City holds public hearings in the Fall, then OBM releases a final CIP. It is not a legally binding document, and individual items never need to be approved by anyone other than the Mayor's own staff. Consequently, projects are free to appear and disappear at the whim of City Hall staff.

Does the CIP list the projects that are scheduled for my ward?

No. The CIP includes addresses for most projects, but it does not include information about the ward. It is extremely time consuming to figure out which projects are slated for your ward. Community organizations and individuals who join NCBG can get a ward project list as a benefit of NCBG membership. To join NCBG call 312-939-7198. The CIP does list capital projects by regions of the City, known as Neighborhood Planning Districts. You can find these geographic listings in the appendices toward the end of the CIP document.

What system should the City use instead of the CIP to plan its public works spending?

Most major cities -- including New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia -- enact an annual capital improvement budget. In fact, an NCBG survey found that 19 of the 22 major cities we examined rely on an annual capital budget that holds the city accountable for how its spends its public works dollars.

How does an annual capital improvement budget work?

Such a budget appropriates available (and anticipated) dollars to specific public works projects. The budget shows where the money comes from, where it is to go, and when it will be spent. The budget is debated and approved by the City Council. Once adopted, the budget directs City departments to implement the approved projects for the coming year. With the exception of emergency repairs, City Hall cannot remove a planned project on its own, and it cannot slip in new projects without subjecting them to a process of public scrutiny. At the end of the year, citizens can look back and compare what the City promised to get done in the budget with what it actually accomplished. This process would provide for a clear yardstick by which Chicagoans can judge the performance of their elected officials.

How would an annual capital budget benefit Chicago?

An annual capital improvement budget will strengthen our City and help our neighborhoods because:

• Community residents and businesses alike would know how much and what kinds of public improvements the City will make each year -- and therefore have a greater incentive to stay and invest in Chicago themselves.
• Citizens will be able to evaluate whether the City is spending enough public dollars each year to keep their neighborhoods healthy.
• More elected officials will have a stronger voice in the setting of capital improvement priorities, and citizens can hold their elected representatives accountable for those choices.