Washington County defines capital expenditures, for the purpose of capital asset reporting (see policy in Section B), as projects and/or items costing over $5,000. However, for the purpose of capital planning related to the county’s capital improvement plan, any project budgeted in the county’s Capital funds, Regional Rail fund, or significant capital expenditures in the Parks fund, are included in the annual Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Operating-type capital expenditures are not included in the traditional Capital Improvement Plan, but are included in the county’s Capital Equipment and Technology Plan (CETP) that identifies operating capital needs in excess of $50,000 such as fleet, equipment, and various technology projects throughout the county. Both the CIP and CETP documents are available for public view on the county’s website.
Washington County’s capital expenditures included in the CIP for the year 2022 total $75,260,900. Only new costs that begin in 2022 are included. If a multi-year project was budgeted in during a prior year, but continues into 2022, it is not reflected in this section as those costs are not considered new project costs to the county (per county policy, funds adopted in one year to complete a multi-year project are carried forward until the project is complete).
A list of all 2022 CIP projects and all 2022 CETP projects are included on the following pages. Individual project sheets showing all of the CIP and CETP projects can be viewed on the County’s website. The document include details for each project including:
• Project Description
• Project Justification
• Operating Budget Impact
• Revenues and Expenditures itemized by year
The documents also include charts and graphs to report funding, projects by category, and projects by year.
To view the full 2022-2026 CIP and 2022-2026 CETP click here or go to the Washington County website - Your Government - Budget - Programs and Reports - Capital Improvement Plans.
Impacts on Operating Budgets
As with any capital expenditure, there is likely to be an impact on the county’s operating budget. Many times this impact is non-financial; financial impacts are often variable and are cautiously estimated if and when available and where appropriate.
Each individual project that is programmed into the CIP and CETP includes an assessment on the impacts on the operating budget. Common impacts to the operating budget may include:
• Increased operating and maintenance costs associated with additional roadway infrastructure.
• Decreased operating costs associated with the installation of a modern facility mechanical system.
• Increased staffing costs associated with the operations of a new building.
• New software systems include a statement on annual cost increase for software licensing and maintenance.
The full CIP and CETP documents can be viewed here to see individual assessments on the capital project impact to the operating budget.