'too Much For City'

Adoption of a Capital Improvements Budget and Program (CIB-P) was deferred by the Ann Arbor Planning Commission Tuesday night amid concern the document could lead to tax increases higher than property owners could afford. The commissioners had been scheduled to act on the CIB-P last night, but decided to defer it to a working session next week. Final action would probably come the following week. The deferral resulted from concerns that the $121,000,000 in expenditures projected over the next five years was just too much, and from a charge by Commissioner Robert Potts that the Commission was being forced into action. Potts accused administrative officials of "Subterfuge" by requiring that any changes in the document they propos ed must be made by formally adopted amendments. But Chairman John Laird responded, "We'll do what we want to do and the way we want to do it." Laird also said his experience with the CIB-P has shown evidence of a general feeling that it is "too much for this city to adopt at this time." He said there is some sentiment that the commission should refer the CIB-P back to department heads for review and' list the various projects by priori ty. City Administrator Sylvester Murray stated bluntly, "The city cannot afford, what you see here (in the CIB-P)." He added the purpose of preparing it was to plan the future needs of the city and to determne if and how they could be financed. The claim that the CIB-P proposed by the administrador) must be cut was' voiced bythe Citizens Association of Area Planning, a private group of citizens and local planning organizations. Ulrich Stoll, chairman of CAAP's, subcommittee on the CIB-P, pointed to administrative esti mates that the debt millage for capital projects -would increase from the current 3.4 milis to over 10.5 milis over the life of the proposed CIB-P. Stoll also said the true costs for the projects was more than the $121,000,000 because there would be uncounted costs ' assttciateu witri many of the projects. He also noted that actual construction costs in the past have been twice the amount estimated by the Administration. CAAP recommended that the commission separate the capital projects that essentially cali for remedial measures from those that would be to meet new growth needs. H suggested the commission delete 47 projects which Stoll said would cut the cost of the CIB-P in half, resulting in more acceptable debt millage increases. When it meets next week, the commission wil] go through the CIB-P item by item to determine what will be included I in the final document that will be voted on the followïng week. The CIB-P lists all of the major capital improvement projects the city is expected to be undertaking in the next five years. The budged part of the document relates projects to be worked on in 1974, while the program portion lists projects for the following four years. The current CIB-P includes such major proposals as a $25 million expansión of the sewage treatment plant, $1.2 million for widening State Street to four lanes, and $2.4 million for widening Fuller Road.