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City Agrees with OIG Recommendations to Improve the Five-Year Capital Planning Process and Increase Transparency

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the development and evaluation of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), a “five-year schedule of infrastructure investment that the City plans to make for continued support of existing infrastructure and new development.” The audit––which was completed before the City released its latest five-year plan in November––concluded that the CIP development and evaluation process largely mirrored leading practices for development, but the City did not consistently evaluate goal achievement using performance measures or incorporate lessons learned from completed projects into future capital decision-making. Additionally, OIG determined that the Office of Budget and Management (OBM), which informs departments of their capital budgets and compiles their capital plans, could play a more active role in increasing transparency and public engagement in capital budgeting.

OIG made various recommendations to ensure that OBM improves the City’s CIP by defining, standardizing, and documenting Citywide processes aligned with best practices. Specifically, we recommended that OBM,

  • conduct comprehensive needs assessments to identify capital assets necessary to meet both program-specific and general City goals;
  • maintain inventories of capital assets with updated status reports on their conditions;
  • compare current assets to needed assets and determine how to bridge the gap, including consideration of alternative approaches such as public-private partnerships;
  • establish review and approval frameworks, with predefined project ranking and selection criteria;
  • create multi-year plans that anticipate future resource needs and implementation priorities;
  • use performance measures to evaluate the results of completed projects in relation to general and program-specific goals, and engage in evaluation processes that include sharing lessons learned within and across departments;
  • initiate collaboration on capital planning with the City Council Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development, and resume the practice of hosting geographically diverse community meetings on the topic of capital planning; and
  • provide more information online about capital project selection criteria, project results, and opportunities for public input and transparency.

In response, OBM stated that it agrees with our recommendations and has already incorporated improvements into the 2021-2025 CIP, released in November 2020. Additionally, OBM intends to address transparency issues by publicly sharing selection criteria and identifying additional opportunities for public engagement and input.

“Without a strong framework for capital decision-making, proper collaboration among City departments, and performance standards, the Capital Improvement Program will not be able to adequately or efficiently support development, improvement, and budgeting processes for much needed infrastructure,” said Inspector General Joe Ferguson. “OBM’s commitment to national standards must go beyond individual departmental assessments, as in the case of the Chicago Department of Transportation’s programs––street resurfacing and traffic signals–– which, it should be noted, OIG previously found to be operating at substantial deficits tied in some part to the absence of comprehensive assessment and planning. It is crucial that OBM understands that improvement also requires more transparency concerning allocation of funds, locations of new developments, and program changes, so that the associated inequities which have historically beleaguered the City are recognized and corrected.”

The full report can be found on the OIG website.

Follow @ChicagoOIG on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information on how OIG continues to fight waste, fraud, abuse, and inefficiency in Chicago government.

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The mission of the independent and non-partisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct investigations and audits into most aspects of City government. If you see corruption, fraud, or waste of any kind, we need to hear from you. For more information, visit our website at: www.igchicago.org.

The mission of the independent and non-partisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct investigations and audits into most aspects of City government. If you see corruption, fraud, or waste of any kind, we need to hear from you. For more information, visit our website at: www.igchicago.org.

About Office of Inspector General

The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government. If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest information on how OIG continues to fight fraud, abuse, and inefficiency in Chicago government.