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Houston city officials estimate that the budget for citywide projects and improvements over the next five years will cost an estimated $17.9 billion, up from 2026’s estimated $16.7 billion.
Officials also estimate that fewer projects will be taken on during that time due to rising costs.
Explained
Finance department officials presented the proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to the Budget & Fiscal Affairs committee meeting June 8.
The plan is a rolling five-year plan of forecasted projects and can change based on budgets, funding and priorities.
The CIP looks at four components of the city:
The plan contains some projects that may be in previous years’ plans due to them being multi-year projects, such as the East Water Purification Plant.
The details
Projects under the public improvement program include Hurricane Harvey recovery projects, which will improve municipal courts for $185 million and police facilities for $13.5 million.
It also includes fire station improvements for over $26.5 million, city vehicle fleet for $246 million over the next five years and technology enhancements for $22.8 million.
Finance Director Melissa Dubowski said that the increase in cost escalation is part of the reason for the increased budget.
“We see increases for materials and services, and we're still facing supply chain issues, along with tariffs,” she said. “It will cost more to deliver the same projects that we currently have in the CIP, and so that will limit the new projects that are being added for the report, and it will reduce the quantity that we attain.”
Dubowski said they are estimating spending $1.28 billion on storm drainage over the next five years, including for neighborhood drainage, stormwater detention and Lake Houston Dam Spillway improvements.
What else?
Amendments to the proposed plan will be due June 12, and council is scheduled to vote on the plan between June 17 and June 24.
