City of Houston officials announced the details of the $14.5 billion, five-year capital improvement plan, or CIP.
The overview
At a June 17 special budget and fiscal affairs meeting, city staff presented the preliminary draft of its CIP for the next five fiscal years, starting with fiscal year 2024-25 and running through FY 2028-29.
A majority of the CIP—$11 billion—will be spent on enterprise programs, which cover aviation facilities, storm drainage systems, street and traffic control, wastewater, and water. Over $3.9 billion will be spent on wastewater treatment facilities followed by $2.2 billion for water utility systems.
The proposed plan is an approximately $3 billion increase from when the CIP was last updated in June 2023.
Zooming in
Beyond wastewater and water, the CIP allocates $2.8 billion to expand, update and maintain the airport system, the second-most expensive category in the proposed plan. The city's airports have been slated to receive the following amounts:
- George Bush Intercontinental: $2 billion
- William H. Hobby: $638 million
- Ellington Field and Spaceport: $127 million
The proposed plan includes allocating $138.5 million to Hurricane Harvey recovery projects to repair municipal courts and police facilities, $40.7 million to build a new city animal shelter facility, $20.1 million for a new Fire Station No. 40, and $225 million for fleet and technology enhancements.
The majority of projects are funded by revenue bonds, which are a class of municipal bonds to fund public projects and repay investors with income generated from the project.
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The last city of Houston bond election was in November 2022. Voters approved all seven propositions for a total of $478 million.
Next steps
Houston City Council was anticipated to approve the CIP on June 26. However, the vote was delayed until July 3 to give council members time to complete any CIP amendments before final approval.
