25LINKBUDGET(FULL) - Flipbook - Page 105
City of Plymouth 2024 / 2025 Budget
Capital Improvement Programs
A formal Capital Improvements Policy was adopted by the City in 1993.
Background
A capital improvements program is a plan for the scheduling of public improvements, such
as streets, sewers, buildings and parks over an extended period of time. The schedule is
based on the priorities for the various needs and desires of the local community, coordinated
with the community's ability to pay for them. These priorities are guided by the community's
Master Plan, and the input of the City's boards and citizens.
There are several advantages to having a capital improvements program:
1.
It ensures that the public facilities and the traffic circulation portions of the
Master Plan will be carried out.
2.
It calls attention to deficiencies in the community and promotes action to correct
them.
3.
It facilitates cooperation and coordination between various municipal
departments as well as between local governments.
4.
It ensures that each project is accomplished in an appropriate time frame
related to its anticipated need.
5.
It ensures that funds will be provided and allocated in a logical manner.
6.
It protects long-term project and financing needs from being adversely
affected by short-term pet projects.
While a capital improvements program must be viewed as a dynamic planning process, which
will need to be modified from time to time based on changing circumstances and availability
of funding sources, the decision to add a new project or change the relative priorities of
existing projects should always be subject to justification in terms of the overall goals and
strategies of the program.
Types of Capital Improvements
The term "capital improvements" generally refers to the construction, expansion or
renovation of physical facilities which are relatively large, expensive, and permanent in
nature. Smaller communities often include the purchase of major equipment as well as
facilities. Capital improvements are normally projected to have several years of useful life,
and typically require financial planning which involves more than one fiscal year, such as
saving up funds over several years, or paying off bonds over several years. There are four
basic kinds of capital improvements
25BCIP-01-CIP.DOCX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CIP 101
