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.
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.
