NCBG Recommends:

Adopting an Annual Capital Improvement Budget
The Capital Improvement Program is, as the name states, a Program, not a Budget. The Chicago City Council does not vote on an annual appropriation of capital expenditures, as it does on the annual Operating Budget. In this, Chicago is an exception; in almost all major cities, the elected city body debates and votes on an annual capital budget. NCBG recommends that the City Council be called on to officially vote in an annual Capital Budget each year. This will allow our elected representatives to publicly discuss and debate the City’s recommended capital investment priorities and proposed expenditures for the upcoming year and to take public comment.

Adopting a Needs Assessment Program
Currently, the City of Chicago has no discernable method of assessing and prioritizing infrastructure needs throughout the City. NCBG recommends that the City create a Needs Assessment at the Ward and Community Area levels. City transportation, water, sewer, and other infrastructure experts would provide technical input, along with the City’s financial and budget officers. Moreover, the process should include input from citizens as to the physical needs of their neighborhoods. The City would disclose the results of an annual Needs Assessment to the Aldermen and to the public. With a detailed and regularly updated Needs Assessment, Chicago’s citizens could depend on a Capital Improvement Program based on well thought-out priorities and the real needs of neighborhood residents and businesses.

Improving Aldermanic Menu Disclosure
Every year, Chicago’s Aldermen choose the neighborhood capital projects that are paid for with $1.2 million in Aldermanic Menu funds allocated to each ward. NCBG has urged Aldermen to work with their constituents to identify projects in their wards that have the highest priority. NCBG recommends that bringing residents into the Aldermanic Menu selection process be a condition of getting the $1.2 million for ward projects each year. This would be facilitated if supported by a ward-based Infrastructure Condition and Needs Assessment Report. NCBG also recommends that the City make available on an Aldermanic Menu Request Form on its website for each of the 50 Wards to enable citizens to make their recommendations to their Aldermen. In addition, NCBG recommends that the City provide all 50 Aldermen with s standardized request form that can be used by citizens to recommend Aldermanic Menu priorities.

Once Aldermanic Menu choices have been identified, the City should provide a ward by ward listing, both on its website and in the CIP.

Creating and Keeping Jobs by Budgeting More for Industrial Infrastructure
Funding for industrial street and viaduct improvements has been decreasing steadily since the 2000-2004 Capital Improvement Program. The City should fully fund the industrial infrastructure projects listed in the 2003-2007 CIP as quickly as possible, preferably during 2003-04. Fast-tracking increased investment in industrial infrastructure would aid the City in retaining Chicago’s neighborhood manufacturers and the family-sustaining jobs they provide.

Adding a Funded Flood Prevention Plan to the CIP
For 2003, the City plans to spend only $37 million o sewer improvements, compared to $57 million in 2002 and $48.8 million in 2001. Given the continuing public concern about periodic flooding in many of our neighborhoods, NCBG is recommending a new CIP initiative. NCBG proposes that the Department of Water Management produce a study highlighting those areas that are experiencing repeated flooding, assess the condition of the relevant infrastructure systems, and contributing factors to such flooding and propose a multi-year plan of action to alleviate flooding problems.