By J. Graber | Scottsdale Progress
Scottsdale Public Works Director Dan Worth recently gave the city council a grim view of what a project costs these days and it wasn’t very pretty.
Capital improvement projects that are part of the 2019 bond this year have run $25 million over what was projected, forcing officials to cover the shortfall from the General Fund.
And it gets worse from there.
Bond projects that are in the works right now are expected to run $39.4 million over budget over the next three years.
The main culprit: inflation.
For example, the cost of roadway and pedestrian improvements on Main Street from Scottsdale Road to Brown are projected to rise 36% above estimates over five years.
“It’s Valley-wide, it’s nationwide,” Worth said. “I’m hearing from our colleagues that they’re suffering some of the same issues. I’m hearing a lot from the industry, the design consultants and the larger contractors that a lot of them are going out and commissioning studies of their own to take a look at what some of the supply issues and costs issues are doing.
