Racine, Wis., Aldermen Discuss Making the Switch to Fully Automated Garbage Trucks

Entering into the discussion phase of the budget process, aldermen dug into the city’s proposed 10-year capital improvement plan on Wednesday, as well as some aspects of the proposed operations budget.

This year's budget talks, the first for City Administrator Jim Palenick, have focused heavily on the need for strategic infrastructure spending to help boost the city’s tax base and levying ability.

While the capital improvement plan calls for spending many millions of dollars on development projects — from $55 million in 2018 for the proposed arena to $5 million in the long term to aid in the redevelopment of the old Uptown Theater — many of the aldermen’s questions on Wednesday focused on more routine aspects of the spending plan, such as money set aside for street repairs, buses, tree removal and garbage trucks.