The Annual Capital Improvement Expenditure Program shall be developed in the following manner:
(a) Each department and officer concerned shall compile annually, in accordance with instructions issued by the Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services, a list of capital improvement projects, other than special assessment projects, which, in their opinion, are necessary to carry out their duties and responsibilities under the City Charter and ordinances of the City; such projects to be arranged in descending order of priority with the first or highest priority being assigned to those projects which are so urgently needed and further delay will be detrimental to the best interests of the City.
(b) Such departmental priority lists, together with such supporting data as is prescribed in the above mentioned instructions, shall be submitted to the Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services at the time designated by him. The Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services shall list in suitable form all physical plant and operating plant projects included in the departmental priority lists and shall prepare sufficient copies of same for distribution to the Mayor, each member of the City Council, and other interested officials.
(c) The Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services, after analysis of such departmental lists and with the advice of the City Engineer and such other officers and employees as necessary, shall prepare a tentative capital improvement expenditure program of physical plant, municipal facilities and wastewater projects for the ensuing fiscal year equal to the total amount of funds estimated to be available for capital improvements.
(d) The above-mentioned tentative capital improvement expenditure program shall be submitted by the Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services to the Public Works Committee, not later than February 15 of each year as requested by the Chairman of said committee.
(e) The Public Works Committee shall, thereafter, consider the tentative capital improvement expenditure program and, if deemed advisable, may revise priorities among projects of equivalent value shown on the tentative capital improvement expenditure program. On or before April 20, the Public Works Committee shall submit to the City Council for consideration in the budget process its recommendations as to final priorities for physical plant projects, municipal facilities and wastewater projects and including an item of approximately five (5) to ten (10) percent of the total funds available for capital improvements, as an appropriated item for “Contingencies.”
(f) The funds for the proposed Capital Improvement Expenditure Program shall include such amounts as are appropriated from general city funds; and all money legally available for construction and rights of way, as well as for public buildings, major street resurfacing, major street lighting projects, and similar improvement from the following sources: subventions and grants, Traffic Safety, Permanent Improvement fund, bond funds, and any other sources which may become available in the future; provided, however, that appropriations for such items as street maintenance, traffic engineering and control, street lighting, tree trimming and fire hydrants may be made from the funds for which such expenditures are legally permissible.
(g) On July 1 of each fiscal year the department or officer authorized to expend funds for purposes as designated in the Capital Improvement Expenditure Program as finally included in the Budget adopted for the current fiscal year shall have authority to complete the plans and acquire needed land in connection with those projects for which they have responsibility of execution in the order of priority enumerated in said expenditure program. However, before advertising for bids on the construction of any project financed from general city funds, the authorized department or officer shall notify the Controller of their intention to advertise for bids and shall indicate the probable date upon which contract payments are to be made. The Controller shall forthwith determine if, in his opinion, sufficient revenues will have become available to make such contract payments on that probable date. If such determination is in the affirmative, he shall certify to the department or officer as to such availability of funds. If he determines that funds will not be available on that probable date, he shall notify the department or officer as to a specific date on which funds will be available and the department or officer shall delay advertising for bids to such time that contract payments will not be required prior to the date specified by the Controller; unless specific authorization for earlier advertising for bids is made by the Council.
(h) To meet changing conditions, transfers from one appropriated item to another item or to a new project added subsequent to the adoption of the budget may be consummated at any time prior to the award of the construction contract in accordance with the provisions of Section 342 and 343(a) of the Charter.
(i) In the event that work upon any project being financed from general city funds and included in the Capital Improvement Expenditure Program has not progressed to the extent that the amount appropriated for construction purposes has not been encumbered on June 15th of each fiscal year, the Controller shall submit to the Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services a list of such projects and the respective unencumbered balances of their original appropriations. After investigation and review, the Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services shall recommend to the Council the re-appropriations as of July 1 of such amounts for any of the projects listed as he deems advisable and such recommendation shall be recorded as a memorandum encumbrance on the books of the Controller until the Council shall have adopted and the Mayor shall have approved such re-appropriations. All such money included in the memorandum encumbrance which is not so re-appropriated shall be transferred to the Reserve Fund as required by Section 344 of the Charter.
(j) Upon the completion of any project included in the Capital Improvement Expenditure Program, and financed from general city funds, the Traffic Safety Fund or the Permanent Improvement Fund, the designated department shall type on the final demand drawn against the appropriation for such project the following notation: “PROJECT COMPLETED” and such notation shall constitute an authorization to the Controller to close out the project account and to transfer the unexpended balance to the item entitled “Contingencies” in the fund involved.
SECTION HISTORY
Based on Ord. No. 103,047.
Amended by: Ord. No. 123,361; Subsec. (d) and (e) by Ord. No. 150,582, Eff. 3-24-78; Oper. 4-1-78; Subsec. (c), (e), (j) by Ord. No. 153,176, Eff. 1-5-80; Subsec. (c) and (e), Ord. No. 167,031, Eff. 7-12-91; Ord. No. 173,305, Eff. 6-30-00, Oper. 7-1-00.