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Department of Planning - Capital Improvement Program (CIP)


Overview of the Capital Improvement Process

To guide the City in making necessary physical improvements, the City Charter requires the Planning Commission to annually prepare a six-year recommended Capital Improvement Program (CIP). A capital improvement, as defined by Board of Estimates policy, is "… any physical betterment or improvement and any preliminary studies and surveys relative thereto, including, but not limited to, any property of a permanent nature, and equipment needed in connection with such improvement, when first erected or acquired. The terms 'capital improvement' or 'capital project' shall not include the following: projects or improvements costing less than $50,000; vehicular equipment; items of a repair or maintenance nature costing less than $100,000 or which are of an emergency nature; Bureau of Water and Waste Water items of repair, maintenance or emergency nature costing less than $250,000; salaries other than those which are properly capitalized as part of the project cost."

To begin the CIP process, the Department of Finance sends the overall capital fund source budget targets to the Department of Planning. Planning then assigns specific agency targets, by fund source, and sends out detailed CIP guidelines and instructions to all agencies. The agencies then submit their six-year capital requests and Planning Department Comprehensive Planning Division staff perform a detailed analysis of the requests received. Staff work with agencies to prioritize requests by assessing whether the proposed project fulfills the Mayor's key goals and meets specific Planning Commission criteria, listed below.

Mayor's Citywide Goals

  • Create Clean, Green, and Healthy Neighborhoods
  • Embrace a Growth Agenda that supports Economic Opportunity, Economic Empowerment, and Economic Development
  • Reestablish Neighborhoods as the Organizing Principle in Community and Human Development
  • Foster a More Efficient and Effective Government
  • Ensure Consistency with the Citywide Comprehensive Master Plan

Planning Commission CIP Evaluation Criteria

Community input in the CIP process is primarily through the established community planning processes, such as the Strategic Neighborhood Action Plans (SNAPs) and the Small Area Plans, coordinated by Comprehensive Planning staff. Each of these plans set out capital project priorities, like street resurfacing, park upgrades or school renovations. The vehicle for implementation of these capital priorities is the CIP. The Citywide Comprehensive Master Plan, organized around the themes Live, Earn, Play, Learn also sets priorities for future capital improvements in the City. In addition, Planning invites community organizations to attend agency CIP briefings to the Planning Commission. These briefings usually are held in January and February prior to the Commission adoption of the six-year CIP.

After its review of all capital project requests, Planning staff prepare a preliminary recommendation and discuss any outstanding issues with the Budget Director's office. The next step is a briefing for the Planning Commission, followed by the Planning Commission adoption of the CIP at a public hearing. After Planning Commission approval, the recommended six-year CIP is submitted to the Board of Estimates. The Board of Estimates refers the CIP to the Board of Finance and Director of Finance for review and recommendation, and then acts to adopt the six-year CIP. The Board of Estimates then forwards the first year of the six-year program, called the budget year, to the City Council for inclusion in the Ordinance of Estimates. Once passed by the City Council and approved by the Mayor, the capital portion of the Ordinance of Estimates becomes the City's official Capital Budget for the subsequent fiscal year. Shortly after the Mayor and City Council have approved the capital budget, Planning posts digital copies of the CIP reports on its web page.

The schedule for the major steps in the capital programming process appears below.

CIP Programming Process

August Request Packets sent to Agencies
October Request submissions due to Planning Department
Oct. - Dec. Planning staff performs detailed review of requests
Jan.- Feb. Review sessions with Mayor's Office/Budget Director
February Planning Commission approval of recommended CIP
March Board of Finance review of recommended CIP
April Board of Estimates approval of recommended CIP
June City Council adoption of Capital Budget
July 1 New Fiscal Year begins

Fiscal Policy

In preparing Baltimore's Capital Improvement Program, great care is taken to ensure sound fiscal management. The underlying financial guidelines of this program are:

  1. Funds for construction projects are appropriated for the fiscal year in which construction is likely to begin, and not before.
  2. Non-City funds (Federal, State and other special funds) are appropriated for the fiscal year in which they can reasonably be expected to be available. Funds from non-City sources are accepted only if: the projects constructed will fulfill definite City needs; the non-City funds do not require more matching funds from the City than it can afford; and the City will not incur an undue burden in maintaining the projects once they have been completed.
  3. The amount of City loan funds appropriated each year is subject to the debt policy approved by the Board of Finance. Under the current policy, new authorizations of City loan funds may not exceed $60 million per year.
  4. Working within these guidelines, Baltimore City has consistently followed conservative budgeting and debt management practices. Reflecting the City's historical ability to maintain balanced financial operations through difficult economic times, during fiscal year 2000 Standard and Poor's Corporation upgraded the City's "A" rating to "A+." Moody's Investors Service confirmed its "A1" rating, as did Fitch IBCA for its "A+" rating of the City.

CIP Reports and Maps

Sat. May 17, 2008

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Online Pre-Development Review