The Capital Improvement Funds account for the revenue and costs of all capital projects in the city when the project costs are $10,000 or more and an expected service life of at least 3 years. These funds reflect the 2022-2023 portion of the 2022-2028 six-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The categories included in the CIP are Streets and Sidewalks, Bikeways and Trailways, Water, Sewer, Police, Fire, Public Facilities, Parks and Recreation and Debt Service. Additional information and supporting documentation are included in the Capital Improvement Program document in the link below.
The CIP process begins by departments submitting project requests to the Department of Community Development. Requests are accumulated and considered amongst the CIP Review Team (Office of the City Manager, Finance Department, and Department of Community Development). The City Manager submits a proposed CIP document to the Planning Commission and then City Council for final approvals along with the annual budget.
In conformance with generally accepted accounting principles, project-related debt service is paid from the appropriate debt service fund or enterprise fund. When planned to be paid from the CIP, a corresponding transfer is made from the Capital Improvement Fund to the appropriate debt service fund. Physical improvements and acquisitions with costs between $5,000 and $10,000, and equipment with shorter lifespans, are considered capital outlay and are separately shown in the operating budgets of the city.
Capital Improvement Fund expenditures do not materially affect the operating expenditures of the tax supported funds of the city. The budgets for Bikeways and Trailways, Police, Fire, and Public Facilities capital improvement activities total $4,776,099 or approximately 16 percent of the Capital Improvement Fund budget, Streets and Sidewalks budget is $7,080,000, or 23 percent, and Parks and Recreation budget is $8,674,000, or 28 percent. The other activities in the Capital Improvement Fund are related to operations which are either supported by rate payers (e.g., Water and Sewer), and some Federal and State revenue (e.g., Streets). The budget shown for capital improvements will not include projects funded with federal transportation funding or MDOT state grants, as those funds are not directly received or paid by the city. As a result, the recorded budget is $2,680,000 less than the 2022-2023 total shown in the Capital Improvement Program 2022-2028 summary.