[edit – this post has been updated with details about the origins of the Howard Ave Annex project for TPD. The original post reflected a best guess at numbers as the project was not in the TPD CIP budget, rather it was in Facilities Management.)

I’ve written about the mechanics and recent history, my first thoughts, and now we’re up to the Capital Improvement Project portion of the budget. I’ve struggled with this for the last week. Watching the workshop on Monday didn’t help. How I’d like to see the budget work is years away if it ever comes to this city.

We can put fire stations in the budget and 5 year plan and then shuffle them around year after year, saying the same things, with nothing getting built and a new 5 year plan. Meanwhile, when the Chief of Police is asked about a plan for the main headquarters, he says it is part of their 5 year plan but we don’t have the money so it’s not up for discussion now and doesn’t need to be in the CIP. Mind you, there is a $45 million dollar “Annex” in this year’s budget that started out as a $5.3 million dollar project in FY22¹. Surely a year ago they had an idea this was going to be a much larger project than what ever was approved yet it was left out of the 5 year CIP².

Shouldn’t have Council, and by extension the public been made aware of this planned expense last year when a 5 year CIP plan was presented? Which gets to what I think the 5 year plan should be³. No, Council can’t approve spending in future years, but they do appropriate funds in one fiscal year for a project that is planned out for multiple years. They did it last year for fire stations, subsequently approving a reimbursement resolution to bond 2 of the projects. Which are now proposed to be shifted out several years in the 5 year CIP. This is why the thus far failed quest for a Public Safety Master Plan (and transparency) is so important.

I’ve stated before once you pay for fixed costs like keeping the lights on and the people that make the city so great, there’s not a lot left over. And while $7.5 million might sound like a lot, when you look at the Parks and Recreation CIP it doesn’t look like much. Especially how the work is classified. There’s no clear understanding of where the work is happening⁴.

The City did a Parks and Rec master plan 3 years ago.

The Implementation Plan, which is the final step for the City of Tampa PRMP, focuses on the execution of the Vision and guiding principles through several components that are intended to define the direction of the Parks and Recreation System for the next 10-15 years and beyond.

Where’s the implementation plan and how is it reflected in the budget?

Speaking of master plans, the City also released a city wide mobility plan last year. From the Mayor’s letter in the plan’s introduction

Tampa MOVES provides the city with an equitable, data-driven approach to make our transportation system better and safer than ever before.

I’ll note, Appendix A: Prioritization Process is empty.

Where’s the data and what is the prioritization process? How is that reflected in the this year’s CIP and the 5 year plan?

I don’t expect to get answers, so, in the meantime, I’ll keep asking questions like why are there other department projects in the Facilities Building/Maintenance Department CIP and what’s the plan.

1. In the FY22 budget, there were 2 items in the Facilities Management CIP budget related to TPD—Howard Ave offices and Relocation of TPD Impound Facility and Offices over FY22 & FY23 budgets In FY23 that changed to $5.3 for just the impound facility and offices. The project disappeared in the FY24 budget. ↩︎
2. Also in the FY22 CIP 5 year plan was a $95 million project for “Public Safety Admin Building”. That disappeared the next year never to return or be spoken of. Note, it’s not in TPD CIP for that year but if you scroll down that page and look at the items alphabetically it’s there. ↩︎
3. I think the 5 year CIP plan, a state mandated document, should be a real roadmap. Every year it gets re-evaluated but Council has to approve it. ↩︎
4. Which gets into the question of what is a capital improvement and what is capital maintenance. Some departments have $85,000 line items in the FY25 CIP and then Parks & Rec has these general buckets that sound more like upkeep instead of specific parks or facility refurbishing. ↩︎