SIMCOE, ON – September 30, 2015. As Council begins its deliberations regarding the 2015 Capital Budget and Ten-Year Capital Plan, I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide some background and context. These documents cover hundreds of proposed projects to address renewal, maintenance and repair of essential infrastructure throughout our communities and new initiatives to support and accommodate growth and economic and community development.
The 2015 Capital Budget in Context
- The proposed 2015 Capital Budget totals approximately $51 million consisting of $32.6 million of General Capital Fund projects and $18.4 million of Water & Wastewater Capital Fund projects.
- This is considerably higher than the $33.5 million 2014 Capital Budget, but is comparable to the $48.5 million 2013 Capital Budget.
- There was a deliberate effort in 2014 to reduce both the number and dollar value of capital projects to enable some “catching up” on capital projects of previous years that were still in progress.
- Staff have attempted to limit the number of projects again in 2015, but a number of projects, particularly roads, bridges and infrastructure renewal projects, have significant price tags attached to them.
Status of Current Capital Projects and Capital Budget Performance
- Currently in 2014 there are some 188 active capital projects that are works in progress.
- The total budget value of these projects is approximately $121 million and about half has been expended to date.
During the past 3 years:
- 494 capital projects have been completed within budget at a total cost of $78.7 million, which is $15.4 million under budget.
- 180 capital projects have been completed at a total cost of $42 million, which is $4.3 million over budget.
- In total, that adds up to 674 capital projects completed at a total cost of $120.7 million and $11.1 million net under budget.
- A further 57 projects worth $3.8 million were cancelled.
This represents a solid track record by Council and Staff in planning, establishing budgets and managing capital projects. Notwithstanding this solid record of good performance across 674 capital projects, there are projects that the municipality will have difficulty establishing budgets for due to complexity and/or changes in scope following detailed design and market response during the tender process. There are a handful of such projects in the 188 capital projects that are currently active.
A. Keith Robicheau
County Manager
