Sebastian council adopts six‑year capital improvement program, shifts some sidewalk and airport match costs

The City Council of Sebastian adopted a six‑year capital improvement program (CIP) covering fiscal years 2026–2031 that lists projects and funding sources across departments. Mister Gannon, a city staff presenter, said the FY2026 CIP total is $12,479,308 and outlined how projects are grouped by department and funding source.

Why it matters: the CIP sets the city’s multi‑year capital priorities and identifies the funding sources — including grants, local option gas tax, discretionary sales tax and airport reserves — that will pay for major public works, airport projects and street and waterfront improvements.

Staff highlighted two adjustments from earlier drafts. Gannon said the city moved $120,000 in sidewalk repairs out of the general fund and into the local option gas tax fund to better align funding sources. He also said the airport had previously relied on a healthy reserve; council requested that certain grant‑matching dollars be shifted from discretionary sales tax funds to airport reserves, which appears in the FY2026 projections and contributes to an expected near‑term airport fund deficit.

The CIP lists a six‑year total of about $46.2 million, with approximately $12.5 million budgeted for FY2026 and about $4 million in grant funding expected in the next fiscal year (approximately 31.9 percent of the FY2026 CIP by staff calculation). Major FY2026 items highlighted include street work ($3.1 million), terminal apron expansion ($1.1 million) and taxiway construction and rehab projects (nearly $987,000 for one listed taxiway project), which together make up a large portion of next year’s planned capital work.

Gannon said page 40 of the CIP packet breaks the CIP down by department, function and funding source; staff invited council questions and there were none from the public at the time of the hearing.

Action taken: the council approved resolution R‑25‑33 adopting the six‑year CIP. A roll call vote recorded affirmative responses from council members present and the motion carried.

Context and caveats: staff emphasized that funding for the CIP relies on multiple sources and that moving projects between funds (for example, sidewalk work to local option gas tax) changes near‑term preservation scheduling. The shift of airport match dollars to airport reserves reduces reliance on discretionary sales tax for those items but shows a larger airport deficit in FY2026 projections. Specific grant awards, timelines and detailed project schedules will be implemented through department work plans and grant agreements.