City going with the funding flow for capital projects - Baltimore Business Journal:

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It called for $3 millionm of work on streets that crisscross downtownn from Broad Street north to Nationwide includingbusy east-west thoroughfares such as Spring and Long streets. But the plan was shelveds in mid-June when city officials cut this year’s capital improvements budget to the Citing a decline in revenue fromthe city’sw income tax due to recession-related layoffs and wage cuts for workerws in Columbus, City Council pared income tax-backed spendinv on capital projects across the including ones in the to $24.1 million this year.
That was about 10 percentr of what city officials had anticipatefd would be available this year before the bottok began falling out of the economyh in the fourth quarterof 2008. Council’sw action means there will be almost no new projects financedr by the quarter of all income tax revenue set asidw to pay off bond debt on projects such as stree andbridge improvements, sidewalks, bikeways and purchasesx of fire vehicles and trash “It’s just symptomatic of our entire budget,” said who wonders if his department will have enougjh money to patch potholes next year let alone take on a streetf resurfacing program like the one he said is needec downtown.
He and others in Mayor Michael Coleman’sa administration, along with City Council members, are trying to addresd the problem by convincing voters to approveraisiny Columbus’ 2 percent income tax to 2.5 percentt during a special election Aug. 4. If the tax hike could put the city in a positiojn to haveabout $200 million a year in income-tax backer funding to spend on capital said Columbus Finance Director Joel Taylor.
This year, however, projectxs that are part of Coleman’s long-runningv effort to revitalize downtown Columbus will have to county on a mix of federal includingstimulus dollars, carryover funds from past capita budgets and revenue from water, sewer and electric utilith user fees. An exception is the Sciotpo Mile riverfrontpark project, whicnh will receive $3.5 million from the income tax-supportecd fund this year and another $1.5 in carryove r capital budget funding.
Taylor said that will coved the rest ofthe city’s $10 million commitment to Scioto Mile, fulfilling its obligationn to a project that also is receiviny $20 million from the private sector and $13 millionj from Franklin County, state and federal Federal stimulus money will providee $5.5 million to help the city completer the conversion of Frony Street to two-way traffic and resurface the Taylor said. It runs through the RiverSouthu District next to the refurbished Lazarus buildinhg and the site where Lifestyle Communities is finishingg construction of condominium andapartment units.
Another $25 millionj in federal stimulus money will help the city meet its commitmenty to rebuild the intersection at Parsons and Livingstom avenues nextto . The road work at what the Coleman administration considers the southeast gatewayu to downtown will complementan $842 million expansion undert way at the hospital. Taylor said $2 million in federalo stimulus money will be used for construction of the new RichStreet bridge, which will connect downtown and Franklinton. This year’sw capital budget also includesanother $27.9 million in statde and federal funds, plus $1.7 million from the city’es 2004 bond package, for the $33.8 million bridge project.
Columbus also has been awarded $7.4 milliob in federal stimulus fundingfor energy-related some of which are downtown. Taylofr said they include $1.1 million for energy improvements at Columbuspolice $500,000 for bicycle infrastructure work and $200,000 for energty enhancements at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center. In the capital budget calls for morethan $16 milliom in water and sewer improvement s downtown and nearly $1.3 million in electric utility work along Front Streetr and the area arounx the Franklin County courthouse complex off South High and Fultonn streets.
Water, sewer and electric project financed by user fees will accounr for about 80 percent ofthis year’ds $457 million capital spending budget, said Columbue Auditor Hugh Dorrian. Columbus has a decades-long practicre of financing other capital projects by settin aside a quarter of the revenue collected from the income tax to pay offbond Traditionally, income tax revenue has increasedr 4 percent to 6 percent annually, a boost that woulc have provided about $200 million for capital projecta this year, Dorrian said. However, city officiala are estimating 2009 tax collections will be aboutt 5 percent lowerthan 2008, so capitap spending has to be curtailed.
That also meanxs the funding picture is unclearfor $588 million of income-tas supported projects in a $1.67 billion bond package approvex by Columbus voters in November. Coleman had originallty billed that project wish listas Columbus’ bicentennial bond package in conjunction with the city’s 200th birthday celebration in 2012. But with the economuy and cityfinances tanking, Coleman dropped the tag just before he, Dorrian and City Councikl introduced a scaled-back bond issu project list to voterws last June.
Coleman’s critics have said part of the current funding shortage for capitalo projects is due to the Democratic mayor and councikl having overspent on downtownnrevitalization projects. “The grand majorith of the money has been spent downtown even thougyh we still have areas of the citythat don’ty have streetlights,” said Matt Ferris, principaol of in Columbus and a Republican candidate for City “I’m all for fixing up downtowbn and making capital improvements, but city hall needs to realized Columbus is more than just the Critics of city spending on downtown projects are missiny the point about the area’s importance to said Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of the Capital Crossroads Speciapl Improvement District, a private organization focused on downtown He said downtown accounts for less than 1 percent of the city’s land mass but generates 15 percent of its property tax revenu and about 25 percent of income tax &ldquo ;To keep the flow of tax dollars to the neighborhoods,” he said, “we’vse got to keep the downtowmn healthy.
Everyone has a financial stake inthe downtown.” The Colemaj administration has been able to leverage the city’s capital improvement budget to land state, federal and private-secto r funding for downtown projects, said Mike the city’s urban venturew coordinator. “People hear the he said, “and think it’ds all from the city (budget). But we’re drawing down federak dollars as well asstate funds. That’s a win for the city.” Brown also said the city spendsz four to five times more on capital projectsz in neighborhoods than it doesdowntownj – even though 22 percent of work force is downtown.
“We have to keep downtowm happyand healthy,” he said, “so it doesn’f decline like downtowns in otherr cities in the country.”