Fiscal Note
There is no net impact on the City levy. The Resolution proposes that budgeted funds of $25,000 in the 2014 operating budget of the Director of PCED be "repurposed" to provide support of UW internships and for which the City anticipates the production of a useful study. The 2014 operating budget of PCED will be amended as follows:
($44,883) GN01-51200-212000 Reduce Hourly Wage Expense
($ 5,117) GN01-52000-212000 Reduce Fringe Benefit Expense
$25,000 GN01-73410-212000 Reduce Other Gov'ts Grants Revenues
$25,000 GN01-54950-212000 Increase Consultant Expense
Title
Amending the 2014 adopted operating budget of the Office of the Director of Planning and Community and Economic Development agency to utilize $25,000 in budgeted City funding for UW Interns and for a State Smart Transportation Initiative.
Body
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Planning, Community, and Economic Development budget includes $25,000 to support interns through the University of Wisconsin. The program in 2014 envisioned interns placed at positions in the City, paid with $25,000 in funding from the UW, and $25,000 in City funds. The program did not develop as envisioned in 2014, but PCED now has an opportunity to modestly "repurpose" the funding as intended and still achieve the mutual goals of the UW, the City, and some graduate students.
WHEREAS, the 2014 adopted operating budget of the Office of Director of Planning and Community and Economic Development (PCED) includes $50,000 in funding , shared equally by the City and by a contribution from the UW, to enable the placement of UW graduate students within the City for mutual positive experiences; and
WHEREAS, for various reasons, a robust intern placement program did not develop in 2014; and
WHEREAS, PCED has nonetheless identified an opportunity to support a Graduate Research Assistant level intern affiliated with the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) within the Center on Wisconsin Strategies at the University to study parking utilization rates within private developments. The study will measure parking demand at residential (and potentially commercial) buildings throughout the city. The goal is to better understand where parking demand is over- or under-met and also what factors affect parking demand (e.g., proximity to downtown, access to transit, parking price, etc.); and
WHEREAS, The product will be a helpful tool for the City, for developers, and for citizens to better understand parking demand and address parking-related issues. It will also aid efforts to plan for strategic reservoirs of parking that could be used in shared parking arrangements with compatible land uses and in conjunction with the deployment of the City's Bus Rapid Transit system, and it will supplement Madison in Motion, the City's transportation master plan. There are examples of similar parking study projects in Seattle and San Francisco. SSTI would help the intern design and implement the study and the intern would work closely with city staff on the development of the project.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2014 adopted operating budget of the Office of the Director of Planning and Development be amended to allow the City's budgeted funding of $25,000 for UW interns be provided to the UW for its program, which will yield a study beneficial to the City.