San Diego Budget Review Committee Meeting on FY2016 CIP Infrastructure - May 5, 2015
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San Diego Budget Review Committee Meeting on FY2016 CIP Infrastructure - May 5, 2015
This special budget hearing, known as "Infrastructure Palooza," was held on May 5, 2015, to review the city's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for Fiscal Year 2016. The meeting included reports from the Independent Budget Analyst (IBA), an overview of the state of the CIP, the consolidated multi-year capital plan, and the proposed FY2016 CIP budget. Council members and the public discussed infrastructure needs, funding gaps, and specific projects across the city. The hearing was part of the previously adopted CIP streamlining and transparency policies.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch: Expressed confusion about the source of $23 million in the budget, questioned the Mission Bay Park Fund allocation, and alleged money is being hidden. She referenced a lawsuit and urged transparency.
- Antonio Martinez (San Diego School Board president, San Isidro Community Planning Group): Stated that District 8 received only 2% of CIP funding last year and called for more equitable funding. He advocated for the San Isidro library and Cesar Solis Park, and requested progress reports per Council Policy 000-32.
- Josie Hamada (retired teacher): Supported the new San Isidro library, noting it has been promised for 20 years and urging its funding.
- Felipe Nuno (Ocean View Hills/Otay Mesa Park and Rec chair): Advocated for the Pacific Breaches (now Cesar Solis) Park, stating it was promised 13 years ago for over 5,000 homes. He noted the project is 80% funded and asked for the remaining 20% from general fund.
- Ronnie Taylor: Supported the same park, asking for accelerated funding for his granddaughter.
- Martha Welch (second appearance): Criticized library funding, specifically Mission Hills Library, and again claimed money is hidden.
- Kathleen Higgins (San Diego Municipal Employees Association): Supported Article 73 in the MOU to ensure city employees perform appropriate work, and announced MEA is adopting the Cobb building for improvements.
- Andy Hanshaw (San Diego County Bicycle Coalition): Advocated for bike infrastructure, noted no funds allocated for minor bike facilities in FY16-17, and emphasized the need to meet climate action plan goals.
- Nicole Burgess (Bike Walk San Diego District 2): Urged funding for safe bike facilities, specifically Nimitz Boulevard, and called for more protected bike lanes.
- Ben Maza (San Isidro resident): Supported the new library for the community.
Discussion Items
- IBA Report (Sarah Miller): The IBA summarized infrastructure financing issues. The city's first multi-year capital plan identified $3.9 billion in known capital needs and $2.2 billion in available funding through FY2020, leaving a $1.7 billion gap. Not all assets are included (e.g., sidewalks, full street repair, pure water program, parks master plan). The mayor committed to dedicating 50% of new revenue growth to infrastructure, resulting in $44.9 million in new general fund for CIP in FY2016. Key expenditures include street repairs, SAP Enterprise Asset Management module, sidewalks, condition assessments, and facilities maintenance staff. The city plans to ramp up CIP spending to $450 million annually, requiring significant hiring (99 new FTEs in public works).
- Infrastructure Branch Overview (Stacey Lometico, ACOO): The branch includes Environmental Services, Public Works, Public Utilities, Transportation and Stormwater, and the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) program. Key goals: advance pure water program, pave 300+ miles of streets in FY16, begin CNG fueling station construction, implement CIP process improvements, and complete additional assessments. The ADA compliance office was moved to the ACOO to take a more holistic approach.
- State of the CIP (James Nagelvord and Marnell Gibson, Public Works): Reviewed performance in first half of FY15. Awards: 50 construction contracts (78.1 million), 68 professional service agreements (21.2 million). Average 86 calendar days to award a contract. Street overlay: 39 miles completed. Water mileage: awarded 10.49 of 30-mile goal; sewer: awarded 9.14 miles. SLBE/ELBE participation at 28.49%. Delays noted, e.g., Otay Mesa Road project due to EOC compliance issues. Challenges with one-dig approach on 25th Street. Staff discussed benchmarking, centralizing data, and process improvements.
- Multi-Year Capital Plan (MYCP): The plan categorizes needs into Category 1 (health/safety/mandates) and Category 2 (maintain service levels). Total needs: $3.9 billion; available funding: $2.2 billion; gap: $1.7 billion. The $2.2 billion is primarily from utility rates, lease revenue bonds, TransNet, Prop 42, and FBAs. The plan does not include many assets like new parks, seawalls, or the full OCI target of 70 over 10 years. Council members discussed the need for longer-term planning (10-20 years) and service level targets.
- FY2016 Proposed CIP Budget (Ben Bitalia and Marnell Gibson): The proposed CIP budget is $338.3 million, with an additional $192 million in anticipated funding (including $120M from capital bond three), totaling ~$530 million. Funding sources: General Fund ($29.3M for watershed, CAD, Bayside Fire Station, streetlights, sidewalks, etc.), TransNet ($18.8M), FBA ($12.6M), DIF ($17.8M), water ($119M), sewer ($113.3M), pure water ($15.7M), Mission Bay ($6.3M), etc. Nine new projects and 68 continuing projects. The underfunded projects list was presented, with a request for authority to transfer savings from completed projects. Award-winning projects were highlighted.
Key Outcomes
- The committee will reconvene on Friday, May 8, 2015, to continue discussions and receive follow-up information.
- Staff will provide status updates on specific projects, including the San Isidro Library, Otay Mesa Road, and various District 4 projects.
- The multi-year capital plan will be updated in fall 2015, with a potential extension to 10 years.
- For the Bayside Fire Station, $5 million in general funds and $15 million from DIF will fully fund the project, with construction expected to start by early 2016 and completion by fall 2017.
- Cash management reforms will be implemented to expedite project delivery and reduce delays.
- The committee will consider interim solutions for Ward Canyon Park (community garden or dog park) and continue to advocate for funding equitable distribution across districts.
Meeting Transcript
I will note for the record that Council President Leitner, Councilmember Cole, Councilmember Kate, Sherman, and Alvarez and Emerald are present. We'll hop into our non-agenda public comment. Good morning, Martha Welch. Last night didn't speak on the um district attorney, um city attorney. Um lawsuit was five five hundred uh five um um f um five um five hundred no million five million five for uh okay this is hard. Ms. Welch Genie It's okay. Um five um million five five okay it's f a million five million point five it was under um Jane Doe in Spanish on the midterm of on March uh March 2nd I was here and it was uh twelve million point four. It's a lawsuit with uh with the governor. Don't forget has a check. And I don't and also on CC, eleven million. I saw the twenty-three is all coming all on the budget again. I think this would I think that's where it's coming because if you feel if you add a bit, it's about twenty f um twenty-three point million. But those check. I don't see I see all on the budget this morning, you got twenty-three million. It's it it's always coming up all over the place. Last time is missing park a fund. Last time I saw it in in a meeting. So I don't know where it's coming from because it was uh it's on the last time it was Mission Bay fund, and they're again five point million, but now it's over here. I see in it later on we'll talk mission bay fund, which is about eight point, which is about six point four means the park fund will get two point eight two point eight million about that way, unless the park fund, the park department, which I gave them the the the charter number five, which shows they get a hundred percent in the mission bay mission bay park, which might be a lawsuit with the park department. We'll have that'll come out uh all the way out because the park department's very misty about that, which is later on today, of course. But that is that's the main question. What is the the true value of the mission Bay Park Fund? What does the park department get? The the two point one, the twenty-five percent, or a hundred percent. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Welch. Uh, that's all of our non-agenda public comment. Any committee member comment at this time? Seeing none, any city attorney, IBA, or mayoral comment. Very good. During this morning's session, we will begin with a report from the independent budget analysts regarding their analysis of the proposed CIP budget, and then we'll turn to the departments, beginning with a brief overview from our infrastructure and public works deputy chief operating, uh, followed by an update from our public works department regarding the state of our CIP program and an updated on the consolidated multi-year capital planning report, followed by an overview of the proposed FY16 CIP program budget by fund type, basically infrastructure or Rama. Uh I uh encourage you all to ask any questions that you may have. Staff will have an opportunity to return to this committee if necessary with follow-up information on Friday, May 8th. Uh, these CIP hearings are opportunities for us to have additional public involvement on the CIP process. Uh, and here the hearing is also part of our previously adopted CIP streamlining and transparency policies. Uh, of course, we can't have a conversation without turning to the chair of our infrastructure committee, uh, Mark Kercy, who's going to start off with some general comments. Mr. Kirsty. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I am very uh excited about infrastructure Palooza today. Um I think all of us should be very proud on what uh this council and the mayor and city staff have been able to accomplish uh over the past couple of years. The first thing we had to do was admit that we had a problem in this city with infrastructure, and it was a very big problem. We had not been investing enough in the city's infrastructure, and it was actually falling apart more quickly than we could fix it. We had not been doing enough long-range planning for our capital projects, and in many cases, we did not even have an accurate catalog of the condition of our assets. So we went to work, and two quick years later, we finally have something significant to show uh for everybody's collective efforts. We completed much needed condition assessments, we passed the bond for 120 million dollars in infrastructure funding, put together the city's first ever multi-year capital plan, which we'll discuss today. We've updated over a dozen facility financing plans, improved the efficiency of our public works department, dedicated half of all new revenues and the out of the general fund infrastructure, and created the neighborhood input policy to make sure that neighborhood input is a permanent part of how we prioritize infrastructure projects. And we have not been just investing in the brick and mortar projects, but also in our ability to track, maintain, and develop finance strategies for the future through enterprise asset management. The mayor's proposed budget builds upon the foundation that we have all laid.
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