Tempe previews nearly $2 billion in five-year capital requests, flags bond and staffing constraints

Municipal Budget Director Robert Baer told the Tempe City Council that departments have submitted nearly $2 billion in project requests for the five-year Capital Improvement Program and that staff will prioritize projects based on funding availability and organizational capacity.

Baer emphasized the CIP is a planning document: only the first year is adopted, but the five-year plan helps council and residents see long-term capital needs. He walked the council through the packet layout, which includes program summaries, funding-source breakdowns and project detail pages showing descriptions, estimated budgets and operating impacts.

Staff identified key constraints that will shape recommendations: legal limits on property-tax growth tied to general obligation bond capacity, debt and coverage ratios needed to preserve bond ratings, available cash across special revenue and enterprise funds, and whether city engineering, procurement and finance staffing can support project delivery. Baer said a cross-departmental team will score and prioritize CIP projects and that initial recommended capital projects will be presented on March 23.

No formal approvals were requested at the work study session; the presentation served to familiarize council and the public with the proposed projects and the tradeoffs staff will consider when assembling a final recommended CIP for council review.