Capital Improvement Plan

In the private sector, clear criteria usually exist for determining which capital investments to make and when to make them. Most often, the decision rests on the best way to maximize profits. The return for a capital investment by government, however, is often a social benefit which, while real, is often difficult to measure since it cannot be captured in revenue streams.

Pasco County’s capital assets are the physical foundation of our service delivery. Some examples our residents notice daily include the variety of County-owned and maintained facilities, ranging from recreational assets like Parks and Athletic Complexes, to public buildings like Courthouses, Government Centers, Fire Rescue Stations, and the Judicial Centers. Other items that we use every day and may not realize are capital improvements include roads, water, and wastewater systems, as well as the public transportation system, and the vehicles and equipment needed to maintain all of these systems.

Decisions made regarding the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) are very important because capital improvement projects are generally large and expensive, and the assets they create will likely be required for decades of public use. Capital projects generally take multiple years to complete, require special funding sources, and are included in the Capital Budget, which is separate from the County’s Operating Budget.

Capital Improvement Planning is the tool that allows Pasco’s decision makers to assess how, when, and where future improvements are to be made. The document itself is a snapshot into the next five years – existing and future capital needs and the funding needed to make them a reality. The most current year is proposed as part of the annual budget. The remaining four years represent estimates of future expenditures. The CIP is derived from a variety of sources – the County’s Strategic Plan, Business Plan, Utility Master Plan, Comprehensive Plan, Facilities Master Plan, Parks Open Space Master Plan, Long Range Transportation Plan, Libraries Strategic Plan, as well as recommendations from citizens, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) and departments. As such, the CIP is a dynamic document that proposes the design/permitting, land acquisition, construction, enhancement, or replacement of public infrastructure to serve Pasco County citizens.

Development of the CIP allows the County to clearly assess its needs, ensuring the projects that are proposed are the ones that will best serve the needs of the community, while still balancing the community’s ability to pay for the projects. Finally, the CIP promotes financial stability through long term planning of resources and needs. The impact of capital funding on the operating budget is clearly visible and can be forecasted several years ahead.

By prioritizing projects according to criteria founded in the County's mission and plans, the CIP process also creates a more understandable and defensible investment decision-making process, improves linkages between capital investments and the County's long-term vision and goals, and builds citizen confidence by making a more effective use of County resources. In addition, the availability of funding is driven primarily by State law and County ordinances governing the funding sources. The limitations of those funds are further described in the Description of Funding Sources section.

• The CIP is a complex process. This process includes identifying, prioritizing, and finding funding for needed projects; developing and approving the annual CIP Budget and implementing multiyear capital improvement projects.

• Many County departments and organizations are involved in the CIP. Asset-owning departments identify, prioritize, and—working with the County Administrator, the BCC, and appropriate County departments—find funding sources for needed capital improvement projects. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reviews project funding requests, confirms the availability of funds, and with departments, develops the CIP budget.

• The projects are then vetted by a scoring committee that evaluates each project, using a scoring matrix that allows for the prioritization of projects. The matrix allows for an objective and consistent evaluation and scoring process. The submitted projects, more often than not, exceed the anticipated available funding for the five-year CIP.

• The CIP may be constrained by limited available funding and funding sources that have specific restrictions on how they can be used. The County’s infrastructure needs significantly exceed available resources, so the County has competing priorities for limited funds. The CIP is funded from various sources which often have restrictions on how they can be used, for example, based on the type of project or a specific community or geographic location. As a result, there is relatively little discretionary funding available and some Departments, such as Public Infrastructure which is supported through water and wastewater rates, have significantly more available funds than others.

• The annual CIP Budget process is the County’s mechanism for getting projects approved and implemented.

• The goal of the CIP is to identify projects that will be funded in the Capital Budget. The ranking of CIP projects may be used to influence funding for the annual Capital Budget. The inclusion of a project in the CIP does not mean it will be completed, funded, or purchased. It is a tool used to identify the best use of County funds with the monies available.

Development of the County’s CIP is an interactive process that takes approximately six to eight months to complete, from the initial stages of project identification to budget approval. All County departments and Constitutional Officers with capital needs submit project requests. These requests are reviewed for accuracy and availability of funding by OMB. Determining the availability of funds includes an analysis of fund balance and historical and current revenue trends. The Capital Project Team then reviews the proposed list for overlap, conflict, and prioritizes as appropriate. It is at this time that difficult choices must be made to decide which projects will be included in the proposed CIP and in what year(s) they can be funded.

The proposed plan is presented to County Administration and then to the BCC at the same time as the operating budget. After work sessions and public hearings are conducted and appropriate changes and adjustments are made, the CIP is adopted in conjunction with the County's annual budget. The first year of the CIP is the County's Capital Budget. Upon adoption of the CIP, funds are appropriated for those projects identified in the first year of the plan and remain appropriated until the project is complete.