Infrastructure

More Calls For Capital Plan Transparency

Mose Buchele — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:00:22 -0700

It seems like people are so worried about where Springfield lawmakers will find the $25 billion to fund the Illinois Capital Improvement plan, that no one is asking how that money will be spent.

Well, almost no one.

The Daily Herald editorial board today endorsed a proposal to ensure that needed infrastructure repairs and expansions are undertaken before pork is handed out to politically powerful districts. The proposal is one of the recommendations of the Metropolitan Planning Council, which says that more oversight is needed for the project, particularly in these lean economic times:

It may seem hard to believe, but Illinois does not have a process for rating all transportation projects to determine which make the best use of taxpayers' dollars. Such a process is sorely needed, if for no other reason than that the state does not have enough money to fund all of the projects on its wish list. According to a 2007 study by the American Economics Group, Illinois has almost $9 billion in surface transportation capital needs per year over the next five years; however, only $2 billion a year is spent for surface transportation projects.

The Herald points to the state's last major infrastructure improvement effort, the Illinois FIRST plan, as an example of what can happen without a system in place to judge construction projects on their own merits. But in sounding such warnings, the Herald and Metropolitan Planning Council are not alone. As we reported in March, other community groups have also began calling for increased transparency as the capital plan moves forward.

Corps Of Engineers Takes A Look At Illinois' Levees

Mose Buchele — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:09:58 -0700

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers undertook an inventory of levees which it maintains or helps to fund. It recently completed that inventory, and the results spell trouble for Illinois. The AP reports that many local levees reviewed by the corps could not guard against serious flooding:

In Missouri and Illinois, nine levees that are supposed to protect against a 500-year flood fall short of even 100-year protection [...] Just getting those levees up to standard would cost an estimated $200 million.

Just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis is the Wood River levee in Illinois, which protects a ConocoPhillips refinery. Flooding there could spell an environmental and economic disaster.

Water seeped through the levee in 1993, but it held. Levee district commissioner Leroy Emerick worries that the next big test might not go as well.

But the news gets worse. The corps only examined those levees under its jurisdiction. Thousands of private levees (or "farm levees") that protect residential, commercial, and agricultural land were not investigated. The corps has no idea how many of these levees actually exist, much less what condition they are in. Meanwhile, Congress has ordered the corps to learn more about these privately-built flood walls, but has not yet funded the project.

This should cause particular concern in the Midwest which has already been hit by severe flooding this year. Nineteen Illinois counties were declared state disaster areas after floods wreaked havoc in the southern part of the state in March. So far this year has been the third wettest in state history.

How Will The Capital Plan Be Funded?

Adam Doster — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:41:51 -0700

In Springfield yesterday, Gov. Blagojevich and top lawmakers met to discuss the capital improvement plan and reportedly agreed "that everyone wants to spend money on construction projects and that it is time to find a funding source." The group is scheduled to review a list of funding options in two weeks.

More revenue for capital improvements couldn't come soon enough. As the Daily Herald reports, despite the January sales tax increase, Regional Transit Authority officials have their hands tied:

But the influx of added revenues -- about $530 million more a year for the three agencies the RTA oversees -- is only for operating expenses, which include items such as salaries and fuel, officials stressed.

About $10 billion is needed for capital projects, RTA planners estimated. The to-do list includes new CTA track to reduce slow zones at a cost of $689.5 million, improvements to CTA rail stations priced at $901 million, and replacing outdated Pace fixed-route buses estimated at $99 million.

Medill Reports has more on the funding shortfalls. But the source of cash-- still unidentified -- will be important, and if Denny Hastert's warning is any indication of the direction our leaders may go, it's a bit discouraging:

Hastert declined to discuss specific funding options, but said a gambling expansion bill passed by the Senate last year is “a good place to start.”

The bill cited by Hastert would produce three additional casino licenses: one for a land-based casino in Chicago and the other two for new riverboats. As Mose noted last week, gambling has turned out not to be a very fair or sustainable way to generate state revenue and many other states are turning away from the quick fix.

Meanwhile, improving Illinois highways, education facilities, and public transit systems -- something the Bush Administration has largely ignored -- is vitally important for our environment, our safety, and our standard of living.

Let's hope our legislators take more inventive and ambitious steps to fund this initiative.

A "Substantial," "Sustainable" State Infrastructure Plan

Josh Kalven — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:29:57 -0700

This morning, the Beachwood Reporter posted a letter from Chicago Metropolis 2020 to the members of Gov. Blagojevich's Illinois Works Coalition, which was recently formed to help pass a state capital plan. In the letter, Chicago Metropolis 2020 urges the new working group to focus on a plan that is "substantial in size and scope," with a "revenue source that is reliable and sustainable," and investments that are more than just a "grab bag of projects":

As you execute your responsibilities, there are three points that we ask you to keep in mind.

First, the transportation program needs to be substantial in size and scope. In light of the need - estimated at $14 billion over five years in new state and local dollars for rail, road and transit - a small symbolic program makes no sense. The business community and public will lose patience with inadequate, piecemeal efforts that allow our infrastructure to crumble and the economy to suffer.

Second, you need to find a revenue source that is reliable and sustainable. Burdening the state's balance sheet with more debt without new revenues to pay for it is unacceptable. Raiding the road fund to pay for new debt is a shell game. Increasing user fees or taxes is the most responsible way to fund a capital program.

Third, it is essential to create a process to ensure that investments are based on clearly articulated state goals and a rationale for setting priorities. The process should result in investments that yield the greatest transportation, economic and environmental benefits. Two recent reports, by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission and the Eddington Commission for the United Kingdom, recommend this type of thorough analysis. If you only produce a capital bill that is a grab bag of projects without such a rationale, it will fail to give the public confidence about how their money is used.

The letter goes on to note the "C" grade received by Illinois in a Pew Center for the States report on government performance, adding: "Illinois taxpayers that have to foot the bill for infrastructure have a right to expect better before they open their pocketbooks once again."