CIP scaled back; dockage-fee increase redirects $2.3M to public safety and $817K to docks

Nate Ramsey, deputy director for engineering and public works, told the Assembly Finance Committee the FY27 draft capital-improvement program (CIP) prioritizes maintenance and repair over new construction and that a recent dockage-fee increase will produce roughly $3.3 million for FY27.

"Approximately 76% of that is going towards identified maintenance and repair of infrastructure needs," Ramsey said while walking members through the draft CIP allocations, explaining that maintenance-focused projects dominate the sales-tax-funded CIP and that the manager's FY27 draft reduces new project spending to match anticipated lower sales-tax revenues.

Why it matters: the proposed FY27 CIP reflects a policy shift in reaction to the sales-tax shortfall: staff said the CIP would be about $4.4 million smaller than otherwise projected, and most sales-tax-funded CIP dollars would go to maintaining existing streets, utilities and public assets rather than new projects. Ramsey emphasized that coordinating street work with utility repairs reduces rework and overall cost when both systems must be replaced.

Dockage and passenger-fee details

- Dockage fees: staff reported the dockage-fee increase taking effect this season is expected to generate about $3.3 million in FY27. Of that total, roughly $2.3 million is being applied to general-government costs tied directly to cruise ships and passengers (police, fire, streets, downtown services) and $817,000 is retained by Docks & Harbors for port operations and services.

- Marine passenger fees: a consultant-driven reallocation increased the aggregate MPF allocation to public services by about $348,000; some individual line items changed up or down after the consultant's allocation method was applied.

CIP composition and prioritization

Ramsey told the committee that departments submit project requests and the engineering department coordinates them against available funding; unscheduled funding remains for aspirational or grant-dependent projects. Staff noted that if the 3% temporary sales-tax revenue were to change on a future ballot, the funding plan and priorities would be reconsidered.

Assembly members pressed staff about trade-offs between new projects and maintenance; staff cited the increased maintenance share as a deliberate effort to prevent deferred-maintenance backlogs from growing and to reduce costly rework when crews must reopen streets to reach failing utilities.

Next steps

The committee will review the CIP in subsequent sessions and the draft CIP resolution will return to AFC and the full Assembly during the formal budget process. Members and staff signaled they would prefer to hold new construction where possible and focus resources on infrastructure preservation until revenue forecasts stabilize.