Capital Improvement Program FY2023-FY2027

Capital improvement projects have a vital relationship to the degree and direction of community development. The City of Tampa’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) forecasts and aligns projected revenues with capital project priorities and planned capital improvement expenses for maintaining, enhancing, and expanding City infrastructure needs over a five-year period. The CIP is updated and submitted to City Council for adoption annually ensuring that new and/or changing priorities are addressed. Projects are subject to change based on level of service standards and needs, special funding opportunities, emergency requirements, or other directives or priorities established by the Mayor and City Council. Because priorities can change, planned projects included in outward years are not guaranteed for funding.

Most capital projects have several phases including design, land/rights-of-way acquisition, permitting, and construction. A capital project can take one or two years from inception to completion; however, major projects may span several years before they are completed. In some cases, construction may significantly lag design due to permitting requirements and land/rights-of-way acquisition. The CIP allows for the annual appropriation of financial resources for a specific phase while allocating funds for future phases.

Only those projects identified in the first year of the five-year capital improvement plan are appropriated in the adopted budget. However, it is important to provide and approve the five-year CIP for long-term planning, establishing funding priorities and goals, as well as coordinating and phasing improvements for all departmental projects. Long-range capital planning is an important management tool that strengthens the links between infrastructure requirements, identified needs and priorities of the community, and the financial sustainability and capacity of the City.

Highlights

The City’s FY2023-FY2027 Capital Improvement Program contains capital improvement projects totaling $1.9 billion. The majority of the capital projects focus on maintaining, repairing and renovating existing City assets such as roads, bridges, parks, buildings, the waste-to-energy facility, and stormwater, wastewater and water infrastructure.

The City’s FY2023 capital improvement budget is $659.2 million and continues to focus on improving infrastructure and mobility, establishing sustainability and resilience, and strengthening community-centric services. Several significant projects include the East Tampa Recreational Complex, Comprehensive Infrastructure for Tampa’s Neighborhoods Phase I, Lower Peninsula Southeast Region, Lamb Canal Rehabilitation, and the Solid Waste Relocation Plan. Additionally, the City continues to invest in citywide street resurfacing and intersection improvements, equipment replacement and improvements at the McKay Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility, rehabilitation of the wastewater collection system and pumping stations, replacement of water mains and distribution lines, and improvements at the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility and the Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The following elements may be included in a CIP project:

• Land: Purchase of all property necessary for the construction of a capital project such as roads, stormwater, and underground utilities (e.g., expansion of roadway, stormwater retention/attenuation, and environmental mitigation). The contribution of right-of-way and easements are also included. Building acquisition is real property or an interest therein, donated or acquired by purchase or condemnation, to accommodate vertical construction.
• Construction/Improvements: Construction includes alterations, conversions, expansions, reconstruction, renovations, rehabilitations, and major replacements. Mechanical and electrical installations such as plumbing, heating, electrical work, elevators, escalators, central air-conditioning, and similar building services are also included. Other examples are site preparation, construction of sidewalks, highways and streets, parking lots, utility connections, outdoor lighting, railroad tracks, airfields, piers, wharves and docks, telephone lines, radio and television towers, water supply lines, sewers, water, signal towers, electric light and power distribution and transmission lines. In general, it includes construction/improvements to facilities that are built into or fixed to the land.
• Design/Professional Services: Creation of plans and specifications for construction of an object or system (as in architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, circuit diagrams). Includes costs for development, programming, surveying, and environmental impact studies for approved capital projects.
• Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI): Includes the activities and resources required to review and inspect construction projects. Includes the review of plans and specifications; control of materials used; supervision of utility relocation and contract subletting; control of contract time and time extensions; as well as maintenance of a project diary.
• Project Management: Contract Administration Department’s (CAD) preparation and management of contracts for professional and construction services. CAD assistance is provided throughout the planning and design, contract execution, and construction phase for a majority of the City of Tampa capital construction projects.
• Aids to Other Governments: Any transfers to other governments, public nonprofit or civic organizations; and any item which cannot be readily categorized in the listed elements.
• Equipment: Tangible property (other than land or buildings) used in the operations of the City. Examples of equipment include instrumentation, machines, tools, and vehicles.
• Computer Hardware/Software: Direct acquisition of computer hardware, software and peripherals which cost over $5,000 and last longer than 2 years. Includes professional services related to these expenditures.
• Public Art: Various art forms which enhance the appearance of public facilities and improve the environment on behalf of its citizens. Visual art meant to be incorporated in the design and construction of public facilities within the City.

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The three primary means to finance the City’s capital projects are current revenues (cash basis), grants, and/or debt.

Current Revenues (Cash Basis)

The City primarily funds its capital improvement program on a cash basis. There are various revenue sources used for this purpose. Some revenues are restricted, such as transportation impact fees, local option gas taxes, and community investment taxes.

• Community Investment Tax (CIT): The Community Investment Tax was approved by voters in 1996 and can only be used to fund certain capital improvement projects and/or debt service on qualified capital projects.
• Community Redevelopment Area Trust Funds (CRA): The Community Redevelopment Areas (CRAs) are supported by Tax Increment Financing (TIF), which is determined by the property values in each of the CRAs , to fund redevelopment activities within the respective CRA.
• Stormwater Improvement Assessment: Provides funding through an annual non-ad valorem assessment for stormwater-related capital improvement projects within the Central and Lower Basin Improvement Area, which include system capacity increases, pond construction, the installation of drainage systems, and pumping station rehabilitation.
• Transportation Impact Fees: Impact Fees were assessed on land development in six impact fee districts to support the added demands on the transportation network due to expanded or new construction. Transportation impact fees are restricted to projects that provide for increased roadway (vehicle) capacity improvements, address right-of-way and construction, and can only be spent within the transportation impact fee district in which they were collected. Effective August 1, 2015, Tampa ceased collection of transportation impact fees and instead collects multi-modal impact fees.
• Transportation Multi-Modal Impact Fees: Transportation Multi-Modal Impact Fees are assessed on land development to support the added demands on the transportation network due to expanded or new construction. The new multi-modal impact fee provides flexibility to expand capital facilities for bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes in addition to funding automobile capacity along the classified roadway network. Multi-modal fees can only be spent within the transportation impact fee district in which they were collected.
• Local Option Gas Tax: Local Option Gas Tax usage is restricted for various transportation capital improvement projects including resurfacing, complete streets improvements multi-median sidewalks, bike lanes, medians and traffic signals. Local governments may assess up to 12 cents per gallon. Hillsborough County currently assesses 7 cents per gallon of fuel purchased within County boundaries for transportation capital funding.
• Utilities Services Taxes: Utilities Services Taxes are levied by the City on taxable sales for communications and utilities. The tax is assessed on the following services: communications, water, electricity, and gas. Utilities services taxes may be used to fund general governmental operations, capital equipment purchases, capital improvement projects, and/or to pay the debt associated with capital projects.
• Enterprise Revenues: Enterprise revenues are collected within the Parking, Water, Wastewater, and Solid Waste departments for delivery of their respective services. These revenues are restricted to support the operations, fund capital improvements, and/or pay debt service within the respective department (e.g., wastewater rate revenue cannot be used to fund a solid waste capital project).

Grants

The City receives capital grants from several sources. These grants are awarded for specific purposes and often require a local match. The granting agencies usually impose specific requirements to qualify for the grant.

Debt

The City issues debt to either refund an existing debt issuance or obtain new funds to acquire and/or construct major improvements to the City’s infrastructure. The City uses a combination of fixed-rate and variable rate, long- and short-term debt based on the lowest possible cost and risk to the City to fund its capital needs. The financing methodology for each transaction is determined based on funding priorities and available debt capacity. For each debt issuance, the City will comply with all prudent financial policies, the City charter, and all legal, Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules and regulations.

The State of Florida, through the Florida Growth Management Act, mandates all counties and municipalities adopt comprehensive plans providing public facilities (infrastructure) and services to support the impact of development. The comprehensive plan is a legal document adopted by local governments to guide and coordinate long-range growth and development. It considers information such as population projections, patterns of existing development, suitability of land for development, capacity of public facilities to serve future development, and the financial capacity to make improvements to those facilities. The comprehensive plan specifies policies toward land use and growth including a Future Land Use Map that regulates the general type of land use allowed (commercial, industrial, residential etc.) and the maximum density (living units per acre) or intensity (square feet of building area) of those uses. All land use decisions made by local jurisdictions must be in conformance with the comprehensive plan.

Comprehensive Plans for the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City and unincorporated Hillsborough County were initially adopted in 1989 by the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission with the input of the citizens and most recently amended in 2016. There are two processes used to update the Comprehensive Plan: 1) annual updates and changes based on locally initiated requests for changes such as the Capital Improvement Program and Capital Improvements Section Schedule; 2) a comprehensive update every 7 years.

Long-range planning is directed by the Mayor of Tampa and the City’s administrators. The Mayor’s decision making is guided by the Tampa Comprehensive Plan (external link), the five-year Consolidated Plan for Housing & Community Development Programs, and other long-term development plans. These decisions result in the production of the five-year Capital Improvement Program.

The Imagine 2040: Tampa Comprehensive Plan is a twenty-year plan for the growth and redevelopment of the City of Tampa. The plan is updated periodically to reflect changes in growth patterns, community aspirations, demands for City services, and incorporation of new supplemental plans (such as the Urban Forest Management Plan). Major updates to the plan are made on a seven-year cycle, while minor revisions are made annually. This process allows the City to respond to changing fiscal, economic, or social conditions while continually aligning annual capital decisions with long-term goals and objectives. The Tampa Comprehensive Plan completed a major update in 2016 and was awarded an American Planning Association Silver Level Comprehensive Plan Standard for Sustaining Places. Tampa is a great city to live and work in, offering diversity and a vibrant urban life that nurtures residents’ creativity and their entrepreneurial spirit. The Plan builds on these qualities and outlines a collective vision for sustaining and enhancing an attractive and safe city that evokes pride, passion, and a sense of belonging using innovative and sustainable strategies and planning techniques. The Plan ensures Tampa will prosper well into the 21st century.

Capital Improvements Section (CIS)

Comprehensive plans are organized by “elements” which cover functional public facility and service areas. The CIS and public facility elements of the Tampa Comprehensive Plan are used to implement the growth management act as it pertains to capital improvements. The public facility element reviews current infrastructure such as parks and recreation, stormwater, transportation, wastewater, potable water, and solid waste in comparison to established levels of service (LOS).

Capital Improvements Section Schedule (CIS Schedule)

The CIS Schedule is a required component of the Tampa Comprehensive Plan which provides the regulatory framework to ensure there is sufficient infrastructure either planned or already built to support current and future populations. The CIS Schedule:

• Collects and evaluates the needs identified to support the level of service standards and measurable objectives identified for each of the facility elements listed above;
• Estimates the costs of those improvements for which the City has fiscal responsibility;
• Analyzes the fiscal capability of the City to finance and construct the improvements;
• Adopts financial policies to guide funding of the improvements; and
• Schedules funding and construction of the improvements to ensure they are provided, when required.

Annually, City staff reviews and updates the CIS in conjunction with the preparation of the CIP. The City identifies CIS projects, those that address level of service standards (LOS), in the CIS Schedule. The CIS reflects the timing and funding of capital projects required to meet or maintain adopted (LOS) standards and implements the goals, objectives, and policies of the comprehensive plan. The scheduled capital projects will also reduce existing deficiencies, provide for necessary replacements, and meet future demands during the time period covered by the CIS Schedule. Per Florida Statute, City Council must amend the CIS portion of the Tampa Comprehensive Plan to incorporate capital project changes before the end of each calendar year.

To view the CIS Schedule, click here.

Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget Process

City departments submit CIP requests during the annual CIP budget process to the Budget Office. The Budget Office balances all CIP requests against available funds and makes its funding recommendations to the Mayor and City administrators. This process culminates in the five-year Capital Improvement Program that is part of the City’s annual budget as approved by City Council. Capital projects relating to (LOS) requirements are included in the CIS Schedule and then adopted into the CIS of the Tampa Comprehensive Plan per state requirements.

Definition of Capital Improvement Program Projects

The City defines a CIP project as a major, non-recurring, capital expenditure for the construction, expansion, purchase, or major repair/replacement of buildings, utility systems, streets, or other physical structure or property. Generally, a CIP project will have an expected useful life greater than one year and an estimated total expenditure of more than $100,000.

An important factor that is evaluated as part of CIP development is the financial impact that a capital project will have on the City’s future operating costs. Departments are required to estimate the annual operating costs/recurring expenditures for each project submitted for consideration in the CIP. Operational impacts generally refer to the increased personnel, supplies, services, equipment, and non-capital costs related to a project as well as savings generated because of a project.

The greatest operating impacts relate to new or expanded facilities requiring additional funding for operating expenses and often additional personnel. For example, opening a new city services facility results in additional staffing requirements and increased operating expenses including utilities, supplies, repair costs, and routine maintenance such as janitorial/custodial services or landscaping.

CIP projects can also result in operating budget savings due to efficiencies gained from new equipment, lower maintenance costs, and/or reduced staffing requirements. For example, using capital project funds for brick street restoration projects usually reduces the need for repairs and other maintenance otherwise funded within the operating budget. Likewise, LED lighting installations result in reduced electrical expenses.

To view a summary of the estimated annual Operational Impacts of Capital Improvement Projects, click here.