City staff told Aurora council on April 12 that long‑term capital needs across public safety, transportation, libraries, parks and other systems total in the hundreds of millions and that a new public engagement effort — “Build Up Aurora” — will gather resident priorities and funding options.

The task force, city staff said, will collect public feedback, pair that input with capital master planning, and package financial recommendations for council consideration about a year from now.

Why it matters: The city presented Build Up Aurora as a strategic, city‑wide review of aging and underfunded infrastructure that aims to match priorities with sustainable funding sources and avoid incremental, uncoordinated fixes.

What staff told council
- Laura Perry, deputy city manager, said the city’s capital improvement master plan shows about $700 million in unmet critical capital project needs. The task force’s work will include community engagement, education and financial analysis and is expected to culminate in public recommendations in roughly one year.
- City staff are collecting public input through Engage Aurora, statistically significant polling and a series of community events; early events scheduled include June 7 (Aurora Town Center), June 28 (Southeast Rec Center) and July 12 (Aurora Highlands).
- The task force has met monthly and is moving from education and orientation to the evaluation and input phase; staff plan subcommittees focused on project types (transportation, parks, etc.) in early 2026.

Staff emphasized the engagement goals: raise public awareness of what “infrastructure” covers (police and fire facilities, streets, parks, libraries and more), gather broad and representative feedback about priorities, and build long‑term community support for durable funding strategies.

Council questions and context
- Council members asked about campaign restrictions if a measure goes on the ballot; staff reminded council that state law restricts city staff from advocating for ballot measures once the issue is on the ballot.
- Staff said the Build Up Aurora site will host materials in multiple languages and will provide downloadable collateral for council members to use in outreach.

Next steps
- Public engagement events scheduled across the city this summer and a statistically significant poll are under way; task force recommendations and financial options are expected to be presented to council about a year from the workshop.

Speakers
- Laura Perry, deputy city manager (presentation start ~s:2401)
- Kim Stewart, communications director (presentation start ~s:2782)
- Monica Burton, 76 Group consultant (presentation start ~s:3104)

Clarifying details
- City estimate of unmet critical capital project needs: approximately $700,000,000 (presented by staff).
- Task force meeting cadence: fourth Thursday of every month; public engagement events scheduled June–July 2025 with a larger outreach window through the summer and a convergence of findings in September–October 2025.

Proper names
- Build Up Aurora; Engage Aurora; 76 Group; Aurora Town Center; Southeast Rec Center.

Topics
- primary: infrastructure-funding
- topics:[{"name":"infrastructure-funding","justification":"Public engagement and capital master planning for unmet infrastructure needs and possible funding options.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":1.00,"depth_score":0.80,"opinionatedness":0.05,"controversy":0.30,"civic_salience":0.85,"impactfulness":0.85,"geo_relevance":1.00}}],

Discussion vs. decision
- Discussion points: inventory and prioritization of capital needs; public education and engagement; timing and structure of task force recommendations.
- Direction: staff to continue public engagement via Engage Aurora, scheduled events and polling and to return with consolidated recommendations and financing options within roughly one year.

Searchable_tags:["BuildUpAurora","capital-planning","infrastructure","public-engagement"]