Budget committee adopts amended five-year capital plan after heated debate over pool placeholder and police vehicles

The Bridgeport Budget Committee voted March 4 to approve an amended five-year capital plan, advancing a package of projects including increased funding for police vehicles, a placeholder for a community pool split across two years, school roof cost adjustments and proposed improvements to community facilities.

Staff introduced a substitute version of the capital plan (exhibit 0502 2026, revised) with multiple modifications requested during recent committee and department discussions. Among the changes: a school roof cost increase that raised the city share from $315,000 to about $448,000 (an increase of roughly $133,000); the addition of roughly $500,000 for safety improvements at the Raphael/Taylor (Lighthouse) center; a proposed new library branch returned to an out year (fiscal 2029); and an adjustment to police vehicle funding, increasing the FY27 capital line from $500,000 to $700,000.

The plan also included a Board of Education request for a community outdoor pool. Staff said the overall project estimate is about $2.4'$2.5 million, that nonprofits and the board were expected to cover about 80% of capital and ongoing maintenance costs, and that the city's preliminary share would be approximately 20%.

Several members voiced concerns about placing the full city share in the near-term capital plan without finalized contracts, citing seasonal utility of an outdoor pool, maintenance and insurance liabilities and long-term bonding risks for relatively short-lived assets. "We are in New England," one member said, arguing an outdoor pool would be used only a few months a year; another cautioned that long-term bonds for vehicles and short-lived assets could extend debt service beyond the useful life of what was purchased.

To address those concerns, committee members proposed and adopted an amendment splitting the city's placeholder for the pool: $1 million in FY27 and $1.5 million in FY28 (rather than a single $2.5 million FY27 line). Committee members also moved two school roof line items into a consolidated districtwide line (about $511,000) and removed a second-year $500,000 district line.

Staff emphasized that placing a project in the capital plan is a planning step and does not authorize contracts or bonding; any contract approvals and bond sales would return to the council and the contracts committee. The chair noted that if contracts move quickly, the committee may be asked to amend the plan again to align bonding years with contract approvals.

The committee read the amended five-year totals into the record and approved the revised exhibit to be sent to the full council; staff said the revised five-year grand total was $185,616,121 (as read into the record) and confirmed the FY27 and FY28 amended totals for the record.

What happens next: contracts, procurement details and final bonding schedules must return to the council and, where required, to the contracts committee before any project funds are spent or bonds sold.