By Eric Jay Toll
Capital improvement plans are the lists of projects authorized for construction by public agencies. No construction project can take place without first going through the CIP process approved by the elected officials—or in the case of Arizona Department of Transportation, the State Transportation Board.
There is no single method used by public agencies to plan capital projects. ADOT and a number of cities of all sizes use five year rolling budgets that allocate and prioritize capital needs and spending. Others look at the process one year at a time. Gilbert uses a pay-it-forward approach. In any event, funding sources are limited and challenged, maintenance and preservation are taking more of the available dollars, and creativity abounds.
