As the economic stimulus package evolves in Washington, the United States Conference of Mayors is doing its part by putting together a “ready to go” list of jobs and infrastructure projects for cities across the country. Madison contributed 64 projects to the list, and all are set to begin within 90 days — as soon as they are funded. Together the projects would cost $243 million and create or save about 1,900 jobs. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and his staff had three priorities for choosing projects to submit: “fix it first” projects, initiatives to create green jobs and — if there is money left over — more ambitious plans.
When we evaluate the list of projects, it is important to think about where the money is coming from. All of these projects would be funded with borrowed money. If we start on projects now, the federal government will borrow the money for us, along with the money for projects around the rest of the country, and the entire country will pay it back over time. Alternatively, we can wait until we had originally planned to do the projects, and the city will borrow the money, and Madisonians alone will pay it back using local property taxes.
With that in mind, we should only accelerate projects we are absolutely sure must move forward even without the stimulus. Secondly, any project we start early with the stimulus must unlock long-term value. This is not free money, and everything we take on early means a heavier burden to pay back later. There are enough “shovel-ready” projects in Madison that meet both criteria and can help provide a boost to stabilize the economy.
The perfect example of a viable project would be the proposed Central Park on the near east side. The city plans to transform the East Washington Avenue corridor from the current wasteland of used car lots and shuttered industrial buildings to a vibrant, grand new entrance befitting the capital city. Designs for the park are essentially done. The University of Wisconsin Research Park has opened a new Innovation Center right on the boundary of the future park to jumpstart the process. In a few years, when the economy has returned, having a new jewel of a park will catalyze the most important redevelopment effort the city has ever undertaken.
Building new train stations to enable passenger rail service and easily connect to Milwaukee and Chicago as well as the new BioAg commercialization facility on the far southeast side will spur economic development and should also be accelerated. On the energy efficiency front, the mayor has called for investments in city buildings and a loan program to help improve local homes. The mayor is right seeking to expand the use of solar energy for water heating.
However, one idea missing from the list is property acquisition. Now is the perfect time for the city, state and university to look ahead and buy parcels they may need in the future. Property values and rates on government bonds are low, so taxpayers get a good deal. Government acquisitions help prop up the market, and the liquidity the purchases create will be available for investment in other projects. Finally, if plans change, the government can sell the properties and get most of the taxpayers’ money back.
However, some of the projects on this list are not worthy of acceleration. A new downtown public library or east side arts incubator are both appealing projects, but neither will significantly create new jobs after their construction. Both projects are also in areas that are already well-developed, so they’re not going to do much for the surrounding neighborhoods.
The city is also still debating if we should even build a new central library. The current difficulties with the Overture Center should give us pause before accepting new projects that are built on our behalf. Rebuilding the Elizabeth Link Peace Park on State Street for $1 million has little potential for increasing its long-term value. It is also unlikely the residents of Forest Hill Cemetery are likely to return to the workforce anytime soon, so now is not the time to invest in a $1.3 million upgrade of the cemetery’s irrigation systems. Most of the remaining projects fall somewhere in the middle.
The mayor believes the most likely way the Federal stimulus will work is through block grants to communities, who can then determine specific priorities and not a list of specific projects. I don’t believe this is likely, but no matter which way the project list is determined, we as a city will have to prioritize and select which projects we move forward. The mayor’s list is an excellent starting point, but this discussion is too important to leave to one person, and we have to get it right the first time. There will be no bailout for the bailout.
Erik Paulson ([email protected]) is a Ph.D. student studying computer science.
