Capital Improvement Program

Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Process

The development of the CIP budget is a collaborative process. Every year the Department of Public Works sends out a “Call for New Projects” which provides the City Council, Commission members and City employees with a formal means for submitting new project ideas. The projects ideas are then reviewed and prioritized for possible inclusion in the CIP.

Qualifications

To qualify for the CIP, a project must have a total estimated cost of at least $75,000 and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Addresses a particular safety issue.
• Existing maintenance efforts are no longer satisfactory to keep a facility in good repair.
• Existing facility is no longer adequate to meet the demand.

Once a project idea is submitted, it is reviewed by the Finance and Management Services Division staff for completeness and to insure it qualifies as a CIP project. It is then put into one of the 14 CIP categories.

CIP Categories:

1. Municipal Buildings and Facilities
2. Street and Streetscapes
3. Street Lighting
4. Street Lighting and Electrical System Undergrounding
5. Transportation
6. Parking
7. Sewers and Storm Drains
8. Rose Bowl Improvements
9. Parks and Landscaping
10. Arroyo Projects
11. Pasadena Center Improvements
12. Water System
13. Electric System
14. Technology Projects

Projects are then sent to the appropriate Department for review and comment. Department staff reviews each project and prioritize them as high, medium or low.

Next, each Department prepares a preliminary cost estimate for the construction or implementation of the high priority projects. After the project costs have been developed, the appropriate department recommends how the new project will be integrated with the projects that are already planned. A high priority new project may require the postponement of an existing project. The department then recommends a funding plan for each project based upon the priorities. This list is reviewed and approved by the City Manager.

Recommended Budget

A City Manager’s Recommended CIP budget is prepared and sent to the appropriate citizens’ commissions/committees for review and support. The citizen groups and the categories they review are listed below:

• Transportation Advisory Commission reviews Street and Streetscapes, Transportation, and Parking
• Recreation and Parks Commission reviews Parks and Landscaping and Arroyo Projects (Excluding Hahamonga projects)
• Hahamnonga Watershed Parks Advisory Committee reviews Arroyo Projects (Hahamonga projects only)
• Northwest Commission reviews all projects located in Northwest Pasadena
• Planning Commission reviews all new projects

At each commission meeting, as well as the Finance Committee and City Council meetings, citizens are invited and encouraged to participate in the CIP process. Before any votes of support are taken, public comment is heard and considered.

The City Manager’s Recommended CIP Budget, along with the comments and suggested changes of the citizen groups, is then presented to the City Council’s Finance Committee. The Finance Committee reviews the City Manager’s Recommended CIP in detail, considers comments and recommendations from citizens’ commissions, and makes a final budget recommendation to the full City Council. The City Council holds a public hearing to review and discuss the City Manager’s Recommended CIP. At the conclusion of the public hearing the City Council votes to adopt a Capital Improvement Program.