Major capital improvement projects are on the horizon for Plant City if next fiscal year’s budget is adopted, which includes allocating funds to maintain the city’s utility system, improving travel on roads throughout the city, sprucing up park spaces and enhancing the quality of life for residents and businesses.
With more projects on each department’s wish list than revenue to fund them, it can be a challenge prioritizing the most pressing concerns. “Several factors go into prioritizing projects, with safety and quality of life being at the top of the list,” said City Manager Bill McDaniel. “We have infrastructure projects that have impacts on safety within the community. These could be issues with stormwater, providing or maintaining clean drinking water or addressing problematic roadway intersections where crashes may be common.”
Projects that address quality of life issues follow close behind safety projects. “Road resurfacing, park upgrades and playground replacements and expansions are examples of quality of life projects,” he said.
Safety and quality of life are only two factors used to determine which projects are addressed “These are only two examples out of many project types that we manage on an ongoing basis for the city,” he said.
Sometimes the cost of a project far exceeds the city’s ability to fund it in any given year. In these cases, funds are earmarked and carried from one year to the next. “That’s why we engage in five-year capital project planning to set aside incremental funding toward larger projects that aren’t time critical in the here and now,” said McDaniel. “We can shorten or extend that five-year window as funding and priorities necessitate. These would be top priority projects.”
Key Projects
Capital improvement projects, and other projects, in the proposed budget include:
1. Investing $4.3 million ($4 million generated from the dedicated 1.0 mill property tax and $300,000 from a Community Development Block Grant) to continue resurfacing arterial roads, neighborhood streets and sidewalks. A portion of the funds, $1.25 million, will be appropriated to improvements to the heavily traveled South Collins Street, including drainage improvements and intersection improvements at Grant and Prosser streets. This project will be in the design phase in 2024 with construction planned in 2025.
2. From the General Fund, $775,000 will be used for cemetery improvements, including resurfacing cemetery roadways, providing funding for the cemetery administration building, purchasing additional land and initiating the design and development of a columbarium (a structure for the public storage of funerary urns).
3. Community Investment Tax funds will be used to add $250,000 towards the construction of a new Planteen Events Center, $250,000 toward construction of a recreation athletic events barn, $225,000 to improve public parking lots, $400,000 toward playground improvements and $50,000 in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements. Rowena Mays Park will be rebuilt, providing the city its first outdoor pickleball courts. A splash park will also provide the city an outdoor water-based recreational space, along with outdoor fitness center, skate park, pump track and other amenities. The new tennis center facility will open in the fourth quarter of 2023. Opening around the same time as the tennis center is the Tournament Management Facility in Ellis-Methvin Park. The new facility will not only provide working space for officials but will also include concession space, restrooms and an observation deck for parents and others to view the playing fields.
4. The Water/Sewer Fund will address infrastructure improvements using $4.89 million to repair lift stations, replace generators, pumps, water storage tanks, meters and force mains to improve water quality and capacity while providing a more efficient system. An additional $600,000 will be used to evaluate sustainability and resilience of the City’s Water Reclamation Facility and $1.5 million to upgrade the reclaimed water storage tanks.
Solid Financial Record
Proof of solid financial management is reflected in the fact that the city holds an Aa2 bond rating from top rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service.
The Finance Department received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) for the seventh consecutive year. The award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. In addition, the GFOA also awarded the city the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and its first-ever Popular Annual Financial Report Award.
The city’s sound financial position is also evident in its debt burden. It will make the final debt payment on two outstanding loans for the construction of City Hall and the renovation of the Police Department Complex in Sept. 2024. The only other outstanding debt for the City of Plant City is associated with the construction of the Water Reclamation Facility which was secured in 2008. The final debt payment is due July 2028.
The first public hearing on the budget will be September 11 during the CRA meeting after the commission meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. The final public hearing to adopt the budget will be on September 25. To learn more about the budget visit plantcitygov.com.