The mayor introduced the 2010 capital budget Tuesday, which includes funding for a new police training facility and significant investment in street infrastructure.
The capital budget details large spending items for city agencies such as libraries and police and fire departments. It generally controls the cities’ borrowing plans to finance new facilities and equipment.
In previous e-mails to department heads, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said this was not the year for new positions or spending. The e-mails asked the heads to offer budget cut options of 6 percent from a calculated base.
“It still comes as no surprise to any of you that we face the toughest fiscal environment in my seven budgets,” Cieslewicz wrote.
The mayor also said his budget comes in $2 million under from the original estimate of borrowing for 2010.
The Engineering Department received the most public funding — $35 million. The department reached a total funding amount of $60 million. Most of the projects listed relate to repairing and resurfacing streets.
Cieslewicz said in a statement he aims to reduce the percentage of substandard arterial streets from 19 to 10 percent by 2014.
The next agencies with the most funding are Metro Transit, as well as Planning and Community and Economic Development, both of which received more than $14 million in total funding.
Also included in the budget is Tax Increment Financing funds for the proposed redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel. The mayor has been supportive of the project, and the budget includes a total of $16.6 million in TIF funds over two years, with $8.3 million in funding included in the 2010 capital budget.
In this trying economic climate, Cieslewicz said he will not do anything budget-wise that affects public safety and basic services.
The Madison Police Department requested just under $1 million, and the department received more than $2 million of public funding from the budget.
The budget includes funds for a new police training facility, estimated to cost $2 million.
“It’s our intent to be as fiscally responsible as possible,” said Terri Genin, the MPD finance manager.
Genin said the police have previously used a building at Madison Area Technical College. The MPD was given “short notice” the building would be demolished, Genin said.
“We are expecting a larger academy for next year,” Genin said.
Other funding includes the new Central Library, which will be funded over three years with money for the project coming from a variety of sources: $6 million in New Market Tax Credits, $4 million from the sale of the existing library and $10 million from private fundraising spread over two years.
The budget is by no means set in stone. The City Council will review the budget and consider amendments, voting on it along with the operating budget the week of Nov. 9.
