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Capital Improvements Pro,ram The Capital Improv~nents Program (CIP) and budgetary process for such projects has remained a line system budget with some modifications. There has been little analysis from the General Plan recu,~,nended Capital Improvement Program and Budget of 1965 through the present 1974-75 annual budget capital improvement allocations of the impact of expenditures on program areas such as housing. There appears to have been no attempt to weigh or determine the actual impact of capital improvement projects upon the economic or social envirooment of the City. It is extremely difficult to evaluate the CIP with regard to subsidiary benefits except on a subjec- tive basis. Whether or not a street improvement or storm drain installation improved business conditions in the area, enhanced the City's tax base, caused homeowner upgrading of a residence, or bettered the overall quality of housing has not been pre- or post-analyzed based on actual allocations and expenditures. There may have been untested assumptions that a now library or fire station would have some degree of benefit upon the desir- ability of an adjacent residential neighborhood and, in the case of a deteriorating residential area, create an atmosphere conducive to regen- eration and improvement; however, the validity of such assumptions have been open to serious question. with the major fiscal crisis facing municipalities which has been pointed out to be even more crucial for Santa Ana due to its declining commercial and industrial prominence {or declining tax base) with an influx of lo~er income groups necessitating a greater level of governmental ser- vices, the relative degree of impact of capital improvement expenditures on problem areas, other than just the physical absence of such facilities, has become mandatory. This is to ensure that for the expenditures made the greatest secondary benefits are achieved. In what area, for example, would the installation of new street lights accomplish the greatest impact on soaring crime rates or upgrade the overall neighborhood quality? No longer should guessed or assumed secondary benefits of the CIP be used, but rather the best available analytic techniques implemented to ascertain more defini- tive impacts expected. Another area of concern to the CIP is that of the desires of the actual residents and businessmen of an affected area. The budgetary process is one of the most important actions of the lecal legislative body affecting its citizens. Unfortunately, it is also one of the driest, most coml~licated and least understood functions to the bulk of the citizenry. An aggressive attempt should be made to involve meaningful citizen participation in the 000031