CAPITAL PROJECTS FUNDS

Capital Projects Funds are used to account for the acquisition and construction of major capital facilities financed through grants, general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, or one-time use of reserves. The funds record the capital improvement transactions for the current fiscal year.

Utility Improvements Fund 45 – This fund is used to account for enterprise-related capital improvements to the City's water and wastewater systems. Improvements are financed through revenue bonds, grants, and reserves. Some of the major water and wastewater improvements planned for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 include design and construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and upgrades to pump stations

Parks Improvements Fund 52 - This fund accounts for parks capital improvements that are financed through general obligation bonds and grants. The planned park improvements budgeted in the current year's budget include Mormon Mill (Parkview) Park, Thunder Rock Sports Complex, and Veterans Memorial Park.

General Improvements Fund 68 – This fund accounts for capital improvements to streets, sidewalks, drainage, and construction of general government buildings. Funding for general government capital improvements come from general obligations bonds, grants, and reserves. Street improvements include Avenue Q from 1431 to Broadway, Nature Heights Drive Extension, Avenue N Bridge, and North Main and Highway 281 beautification. Facilities improvements include Fire Station No. 1 renovation, and design of a new downtown civic center complex.

The responsibility for updating the plan and presenting it to the City Council rests with the CIP Committee.

Process

The CIP process continues each year when Capital projects on their multiyear pass. The projects are studied and evaluated for importance and timeliness. The estimated cost, the time frame, justification, and impact on operating budgets are reviewed for conditions, estimated growth rates, the comprehensive plan, new initiatives, and economic conditions.

The CIP Committee evaluates the CIP. Criteria include legal constraints and requirements, health and safety, project life, impact on the City’s operating budget, consistency with the City Council and Management priorities, conformance with adopted plans, cost effectiveness, frequency of use and population impacted.

Capital Improvement Program Definitions

The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is a planning and budgeting tool which provides information about the City’s infrastructure needs for a twenty-year time frame. Each year, the list of projects is reviewed for need, cost and priority. New projects may be added and other projects deleted.

Generally, capital improvements are defined as physical assets, constructed or purchased, that have a useful life of ten years or longer and a cost of $25,000 or more. The following are capital improvements included in the plan:

a. New and expanded facilities for the community

b. Large scale rehabilitation or replacement of existing facilities.

c. Equipment for any public facility or improvement when first constructed or acquired

d. The cost of engineering or architectural studies and services relative to the improvement

e. The acquisition of land for a community facility such as park, road, sewer line, etc.

Finally, the City includes major purchases in the CIP plan. These may include major equipment, vehicles, major computer hardware and computer software that, over the life of the project, cost $250,000 or more.

What are Capital Projects?

There are two types of capital expenditures. One deals with infrastructure projects and the other with operating programs. Capital Projects, which are addressed in the CIP and budgeted within the City’s Adopted Budget, generally include major fixed assets or infrastructure with long term value, such as buildings, roads, bridges, and parks; major equipment purchases (vehicles), life and capital maintenance projects. Any of these may involve some form of debt financing. Capital projects costs include all expenditures related to the planning, design, construction and equipment necessary to bring a project on line. The costs can include reimbursement of the project manager’s time.

Why have a Capital Improvement Program?

The CIP provides information on the current and long-range infrastructure and equipment requirements of the City. It provides a mechanism for balancing needs and resources and for setting priorities and schedules for capital projects. It is based on needs identified through the planning process, requests needs and recommendations of City departments and the concerns of citizens and elected officials.

The CIP includes identification of the revenue sources, which will be utilized to fund capital improvements. Projects are included even if revenues are not available to fund them. These projects are prioritized and may be funded by current revenues or by debt financing, depending on the availability of funds, the nature of the project, and the

policies of the Council. Time may also be an issue with the length of a construction project, or a critical deadline being that can change year to year.

The CIP strives for efficient use of capital improvement funds by identifying CIP projects and prioritizing them according to their relative importance and urgency of need. Identification assures needed projects are known, while prioritization ensures that those projects which are most urgently needed are funded first.

Why a separate Capital Improvement Program?

The Capital Improvement Program outlines long range capital improvement expenditures. Funds budgeted through the CIP for a specific project during a specific year remain with that project until the project is completed, while the operating budget terminates at the end of the fiscal year.

Each year project costs will be reviewed and additional funds may be allocated to a project which, when combined with resources carried over from the prior year, result in the continuing project budget for the new fiscal year.

How are projects prioritized?

The City does not have sufficient funding to meet all of its capital needs each year. Projects are prioritized based on the effect of each project on the City’s ability to meet community goals. Projects are compared on the basis of a common set of selection criteria. Priority City Council and Management priorities, conformity with adopted plans and goals, impact on the City’s operating budget, cost effectiveness, environmental impacts, population impacted, and frequency of use.