Title
a. Receive the Draft County of Monterey Capital Improvement Program Five-Year Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2025/26 through 2029/30;
b. Provide recommendations on unfunded capital projects to prioritize for funding in the FY 2025/26 CIP work plan.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Capital Improvement Committee:
a. Receive the Draft County of Monterey Capital Improvement Program Five-Year Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2025/26 through 2029/30;
b. Provide recommendations on unfunded capital projects to prioritize for funding in the FY 2025/26 CIP work plan.
SUMMARY:
The County of Monterey Capital Improvement Program Five-Year Plan (CIP) is a planning document that includes capital projects managed by the Public Works, Facilities and Parks Department (PWFP), Natividad Medical Center (NMC) and technology upgrade project managed by Information Technology Department (ITD). NMC manages its own funds for capital projects and is included in the County CIP for reference only. Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) is not considered a department of the County, and PWFP does not report on MCWRA projects. PWFP reached out to MCWRA for a copy of their capital projects plan. The plan was not available at the time of writing this report.
Infrastructure projects with a value over $100,000 and a useful life of more than one year are included in the CIP. Both funded and unfunded projects are reported in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26. Funded projects are incorporated in operating and capital budgets. Unfunded projects are presented to the Capital Improvement Committee (CIC), Budget Committee (BC) and Board of Supervisors (Board) for prioritization should funding become available. The projects and costs identified for FYs 2025/26 through 2029/30 are intended to illustrate priorities and the magnitude of future funding needs.
DISCUSSION:
The CIP sets forth public projects essential to maintain and improve County public facilities and facilitate the orderly implementation of the County General Plan. Each year, the CIP is updated and reviewed considering County needs, priorities, and available funding. A long-term CIP provides several benefits:
- Prioritizes needs and establishes an orderly basis for sound budgetary decisions
- Focuses attention on both mandated and community goals, needs, and capabilities for best use of public funds and establishes a long-term plan to address future needs
- Improves the likelihood of obtaining State and Federal financing assistance for projects
- Encourages project coordination between the County and public agencies which serves to reduce scheduling conflicts
- Permits private enterprise to relate and/or align their projects to the CIP
FY 2025/26 Funded Projects (FY 2025/26 Work Plan)
Projects with sufficient funding planned for FY 2025/26 are included in the CIP as “First Year - Funded” projects. PWFP staff does not rank or score these projects as they are not competing for discretionary funding. The majority of funding for these projects is held in either Fund 404 Capital Projects Fund or Fund 002 Road Fund. Departments may also hold specific project funding such as grant funds in their own department budgets. The CIP Executive Summary in Attachment C includes a summary of the number and total cost of First Year - Funded projects currently reported to PWFP. The Draft CIP is a point-in-time snapshot of the capital project work plan. Some projects underway in the current FY and expected to close by June 30, 2025 may extend in FY 2025/26 due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather or supply chain issues. The project list will be updated in coordination with departments and the CAO Budget Office as the fiscal year progresses. The final list of projects will be presented to the Board in June as part of the budget adoption process.
FY 2025/26 Unfunded Project Requests
Unfunded projects which departments wish to have considered for discretionary funding in FY 2025/26 are included in the CIP as “First Year - Unfunded” projects. These projects range from an identified need with no formal scoping or cost estimating to projects with professional programming, scoping, and estimating, which provide more accurate cost estimates. For project funding requests without formal scoping and estimating, departments have three options in preparing their project requests:
Option 1: Departments may reference historical data from previous projects to develop an estimate or use a standard square foot cost calculator provided by PWFP as part of the CIP update process to create a potential project budget. Departments may engage PWFP Project Managers through a Reimbursable Service Agreement (RSA) to review the CIP request and historical costs. These estimates are known as Rough Order of Magnitude estimates (ROMs). ROMs vary significantly from actual costs. To account for the many unknown factors in a ROM, a cost estimate will typically include placeholders of 20% design/engineering, 20% construction management and 35% contingency based the County’s cost estimating procedures. Depending on the urgency of the project, the Board may elect to award funding based on a ROM to quickly initiate work, with staff providing updates on project estimates and actual funding needs as the scope is better defined.
Option 2: Departments may request a smaller amount of funding be allocated to projects prior to full funding, so that more accurate scoping and estimating can be done which may include engaging services of specialized consultants. This provides the Board with a more realistic project estimate for full funding consideration in subsequent years. PWFP Project Managers generally recommend this process for larger or specialized work.
Option 3: Departments may use internal funding sources to complete scoping and estimating in coordination with PWFP Project Managers. As with Option 2, this provides the Board with a more realistic project estimate than ROMs can provide.
PWFP conducted the standard unfunded project review and scoring process based on life/health/safety criteria which were initiated in FY 2017/18. Additionally, unfunded projects have been ranked for potential benefits to disadvantaged communities utilizing a Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) scoring criteria. Beginning in 2018, staff have incorporated this additional score to look at projects from a community benefits lens in addition to health and safety needs. The CIC places an emphasis on projects benefitting targeted geographical areas, such as disadvantaged communities which may qualify to leverage grant funding. Road and bridge projects are not scored since these types of projects are mostly funded with Road Fund revenue and follow the County General Plan.
Prioritizing Unfunded CIP Projects
In October 2024, the Board adopted a resolution establishing five capital projects as priority for funding. The report also directed staff to bring the current unfunded project scoring system to the CIC for review. In November 2024 the Board adopted a resolution prioritizing the following capital projects for funding:
Seaside Community Benefits Office Replacement (Project scope under review and revision).
New Bradley Library and Resiliency Center (Staff recommends allocating Measure AA funds).
King City Courthouse Parking Lot Repaving (Funded in previous Board action).
South County AG Commissioner Facility Development (Staff recommends funding to further develop scope).
Pajaro Mansion Campus (Funding requests to be submitted in FY 2024/25).
Mental Health Rehabilitation Center (Constitution Parcel) (Pending funding recommendations from CAO Budget Office).
With funding options identified for all Board priority projects, staff reviewed the over 90 unfunded project requests remaining in the CIP. Historically, discretionary funding from Fund 478 - Building Depreciation has been the main (if only) source of funds allocated to unfunded capital projects. While a portion of these funds have been used towards new construction projects, PWFP-Facilities staff makes its funding recommendations for the year with an emphasis on addressing deferred maintenance needs.
The list of unfunded projects recommended by PWFP-Facilities for prioritization is based on information available to staff at the time of writing. PWFP is currently working with a consultant to develop Phase I of a Facilities Master Plan which may highlight other County locations for investment; however, staff is confident that the funding recommendations made for Schilling and Laurel Yard campuses will remain necessary regardless of the Facilities Master Plan findings, as both locations will see County occupancy for years to come.
Next Steps
PWFP requests the CIC receive the Draft CIP and provide its recommendations for prioritizing the unfunded projects. The unfunded capital projects prioritized by the CIC will be presented to the Budget Committee (BC) for fiscal review and potential funding sources. Capital project requests are not included in department augmentation requests for FY 2025/26. All capital project funding requests are routed through the CIP. The CAO Budget Office will use recommendations from the CIC, BC and any Board comments at the Budget Workshop to incorporate project funding (as available) into the draft budget.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
PWFP worked closely with County departments to identify capital needs, related costs, and funding sources. The Departments were encouraged to attend the CIC meeting and upcoming Budget Workshop to speak on behalf of their projects.
The BC reviews capital funding and makes recommendations on funding identified priority projects in addition to those projects included in the recommended budget. The Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled to review and determine if the proposed Draft CIP conforms to and is consistent with the Monterey County General Plan in May 2025.
FINANCING:
The CIP is funded by multiple funding sources including local, state, and federal grants, Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA, or Gas Tax), SB 1, Measure X, impact fees, and capital funds. PWFP staff costs allocated to prepare the CIP this FY are budgeted in Fund 404. No financial impacts result from receiving this report or referring the recommended capital projects for FY 2025/26 to the Annual Recommended Budget process for consideration by the Board of Supervisors. Available cash flow is considered when determining the timing and implementation of individual projects.
Prepared by: John Snively, Administrative Operations Manager (831) 759-6617
Reviewed by: Florence Kabwasa-Green, Chief of Facilities
Reviewed by: Lindsay Lerable, Assistant Director of Public Works, Facilities and Parks
Approved by: Randell Ishii, MS, PE, TE, PTOE, Director of Public Works, Facilities and Parks
Attachments:
Att A - Proposed FY 2025/26 Capital Project Work Plan
Att B - Complete List of First Year - Unfunded Projects
Att C - Draft CIP FY 25-26 through FY 29-30