by BRAD ROLLINS
After the first round of winnowing 61 department head requests totaling $19,768,200 for capital improvement projects, the Kyle City Council, three hours into a workshop last night, had eliminated exactly: None of them.
That’s part of the process, interim City Manager James Earp told elected officials, during what he said was the first time the council has reviewed proposed CIP expenditures before he recommends a municipal budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
“It’s very different from the way the city of Kyle has ever approached this process before,” Earp said.
After being briefed on each of the requests – ranging from $5 million for the Burleson Street reconstruction on the high end, to $1,300 for a Waterloo toolbox on the low – council members affixed color-coded dots to cards representing each project arrayed on the wall of a City Hall conference room. In that process, each of the projects drew at least one council vote so all were left in the mix. In fact, the list grew with the council members’ addition of $6 million for reconstructing Bunton/Goforth Road and an annually recurring $100,000 to fund sidewalk construction and repair.
With Earp facilitating, council members then organized each of the cards in order of priority in five funding categories: those projects to be paid for with general funds, general debt, utility funds, utility fund debt and impact fees.
Among construction items, council members identified projects related to outfitting a $3.5 million new library, for which the city has already issued debt and awarded a construction contract. But officials still anticipate the need for $667,000 in furnishings, fixtures and equipment and $200,000 for infrastructure such as sewer and water lines to serve the Meyer Street site. Those requests topped the council’s priority list, followed by council member David Wilson’s sidewalk reconstruction fund, the Bunton/Goforth and Burelson Road reconstructions and a new police headquarters, estimated to cost about $3.5 million.
Other big-ticket items under council consideration include $96,272 to replace two police patrol vehicles; $250,000 for a Gradall to clean creeks and storm drains; $250,000 for the annual street resurfacing program; $5 million for a new waste water main to open a large part of southern Kyle to sewer service; $480,000 and $250,000 for a two-phase sewer line rehabilitation program; and $2.2 million as Kyle’s contribution to the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency, a project intended to secure future water supply.
With its $73 million debt load and two years consecutive years of tax increases, restraint was clearly an undercurrent of Tuesday’s workshop, especially for four council members and a new mayor who have been elected in the last five months in part on questions about the city’s fiscal health and tax rate.
Residents, however, can likely expect another tax increase if early indicators hold true. The city will need to add about two cents to its 42.4 cent per $100 property tax rate to raise the $4,665,778 it will need to pay service on existing debt, according to figures distributed last night to council members. Meeting the city’s obligation to the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency this year hypothetically translates to 16 cents, which generates about $135,000 for each cent. City council members are considering funding it by issuing debt through the utility fund, a mechanism that could potentially impact water rates, but not the property tax rate.
Proposed Capital Improvement Program expenditures
The Kyle City Council is narrowing a list of 61 capital improvement requests from department heads – plus a few of their own – for possible funding in the 2010/2011 budget. A look at the projects, categorized by city department:
Library
Shelving: $6,484
Microfilm Reader/Printer: $7,500
Disc Repair Machine: $5,000
Website Redesign: $10,000
Library FF&E: $667,000
Vehicle: $20,000
Police
Patrol Vehicles/ Equipped (2): $96,274
Digital Telephone System: $25,000
Coban AV Interview Room: $6,800
Desktop PCs (5): $15,000
Patrol Vehicle/ Equipped: $48,137
CID Vehicle: $24,000
Crash Reconstruction System: $11,000
Personnel Perform Mgmt System : $12,000
Police Headquarters : $3,500,000
Public Works
½ Ton Pickup: $25,000
20’ Utility Trailer: $3,000
Riding Lawn Mower & Equip*: $10,000
8x10 Shoring: $8,000
Skid Steer w/attachments*: $90,000
Push Camera w/DVD equip: $16,000
6x12 Enclosed Trailer: $6,000
¾ Ton Pickup: $30,000
Concrete Planar: $4,500
4-6 Ton Roller: $35,000
Gradall: $250,000
Pump House Rd: $102,000
Old Hwy 80 12” Water line: $90,500
Well 3 & 4 CL2 Analyzers: $16,000
Kohls Electrical: $20,000
Well 3 Electrical Upgrade: $20,000
CL2 Scales Yarrington/Lehman: $10,000
Abandon Barton Lift Station: $95,000
Annual Street Resurfacing: $250,000
30,000 lb 4 Post Lift: $18,000
Tire Changer: $7,600
Wheel Balancer: $5,000
Waterloo 41” Toolbox: $1,300
9,000 lb Rolling Jack: $6,000
Misc Tools: $10,000
½ Ton Pickup (shop): $25,000
Sewer Line Rehab: $300,000
PW Building PH II: $60,000
Burleson Road Recon: $5,000,000
Effluent Takeover: $100,000
HCPUA Infrastructure: $2,235,707
Waste Water – South: $5,000,000
New Library Infrastructure: $200,000
Sewer Line Rehab Ph II: $450,000
Information Technology
City Website Redesign: $20,000
Backflow Prevention: $15,000
Network Redesign: $6,000
KPD RMS: $450,000
Inventory Control – SB: $5,000
Security Camera PW: $6,000
FlexNet: $905,000
Interactive VRS: $126,210
Wireless Network I: $7,500
Vehicle: $25,000
Disaster Planning: $10,000
Wireless Network II: $7,500
Parks
Gregg/Clark Softball Improve: $10,000
Gregg/Clark Playscape Borders: $8,000
Gregg/Clark Playscape 2-5yo Feature: $24,000
Plum Creek Preserve Architecture : $25,000
Plum Creek Preserve Ph I Develop: $55,000
Pool Slide Replace: $45,000
* List does not include council member-sponsored projects added at the June 8 workshop including a reconstruction of Bunton/Goforth Road and a fund to repair sidewalks.
