Page 245 - FY 2025 Adopted Operating Budget and Business Plan

Capital Improvement Program Return to Table of Contents

Identification of Needs
The needs for new capital improvements are identified in many different ways:

• calls from citizens,
• City Council priorities,
• inventory reviews,
• the various city-wide master plans,
• new development needs, and
• economic stimulation needs

To facilitate citizen input, The City of Arlington utilizes the Citizen’s Bond Committee (CBC), regular town hall meetings, and the
Capital Budget Executive Committee.

The Citizen’s Bond Committee brings Arlington residents directly into the capital improvement process by facilitating a face-to-
face meeting between City staff and citizens. Citizens are selected for the committee by the City Council through an application
process. Once selected, the Committee is given comprehensive information regarding City priorities on capital improvements,
as well as recommendations from staff. City staff then takes input on needs identification and even offers tours to capital
improvement sites. The CBC met in 2023 for the City’s next bond election. The 2023 Bond election was voted on and approved
by the voters in May 2023.

The City’s Capital Budget Executive Committee consists of directors of departments that utilize bond funding and representatives
of the Finance Department and the City Manager’s Office. For a more detailed description of the Committee, please see the
“Capital Budget” section on the next page.

Citizen Bond Election

After stakeholder input is gathered, a comprehensive list of capital improvement projects is identified. As necessary, a bond
election is held in May or November to allow the general public to vote on the City’s ability to sell general obligation bonds to
fund this list of projects. The result of the election is a specific dollar amount in general obligation bonds and certificates of
obligation that the City is authorized to sell. The City will then use this authorization to sell bonds each year, within the constraints
of the City’s financial policies, until the authorization has been exhausted. The City held a bond election on May 2023, which
gave authorization to sell $278.3 million in general obligation bonds. The City currently has $229.4 million in remaining
authorization from the 2023 Election and $16 remaining from the 2018 bond election.

Capital Improvement Plan

The Capital Improvement Plan represents a three- to five-year fiscal plan that prioritizes and schedules all projects included in
the bond elections. Through discussions with City staff, Council, and citizens, the Capital Improvement Plan considers the
appropriate timing of the construction of projects, the City’s ability to facilitate the construction, financial constraints in repaying
indebtedness, and the increased cost of operation and maintenance. The Capital Budget is derived, on an annual basis, from
the Capital Improvement Plan. Because the Capital Improvement Plan is affected by changes in Arlington’s economy and is
revised annually, it should be viewed as a working document.

Capital Budget

Each year a capital budget is presented to City Council for approval. The Capital Budget provides the city staff with budgeted
funds and authorization to begin or continue working on capital projects that were programmed year-by-year on the Capital
Improvement Plan.

FY 2025 Adopted Budget and Business Plan 236 City of Arlington, Texas