The Recreation Centers of Sun City West governing board on Jan. 10 reviewed a proposed fiscal year 2025–26 capital improvement plan totaling $5,493,288 that the Budget and Finance committee forwarded for discussion.

The package includes $190,000 in new capital, $2,068,000 in repair-and-replacement (R&R) for recreation departments, $2,700,000 in R&R for golf and landscaping, and a $520,000 allowance for unplanned needs. The allowance includes a $130,000 increase for information technology requirements compared with previous years.

The budget matters because the plan sets priorities for major multi-year projects and equipment replacements across the association’s recreation, golf and landscaping operations.

Among projects over $50,000, presenters highlighted a proposed full repaint of the Palm Ridge pool interior at $75,000; shade canopies for Beardsley mini golf to restore shade lost when trees were removed; and a series of recreation facility equipment replacements, including new bowling pinsetters and comprehensive bowling-center upgrades.

"The new GSX's are top of the line," bowling presenter Gary Zarek said of planned replacements for 30 pinsetters, noting parts for the current 20‑year‑old machines are becoming hard to find and that new units require about four months to ship from Hungary. Zarek said the plan is to replace half the lanes at a time so the center can remain partially open during installation.

Zarek also described other bowling‑center work that would address systems not replaced in decades, including subway ball tracks, gutter systems, lane lights, bumpers and graphics. "If we do this all together next summer, the bowling center will be finished for many, many years to come," he said.

Golf and landscaping items include a planned regrassing of two Johnson greens in April 2026 at a cost of $337,459, phase one of the Stardust irrigation and turf‑reduction project for $236,221, and a new pump station tied to that project budgeted at $300,000. Equipment replacement plans call for 22 golf‑maintenance units (total $826,364) and a separate request to replace 30 fleet golf carts to lower the fleet's average age.

Pat, a golf operations presenter, said the program would bring the fleet’s average age down to about six and a half years by replacing 30 carts that date from 2013–2015. When asked about resale or trade‑in value for replaced carts, staff said recent sales have yielded about $1,600 per cart in proceeds—more than EZ‑GO trade‑in allowances.

The budget also includes recreation‑department items such as tennis‑court windscreen replacement at R.H. Johnson ($75,000), cardio equipment replacement at Koons Fitness Center, and a $70,000 electronic scoreboard that remains in the requested list pending completion of related club arrangements.

Budget and Finance committee chair Director Novello said the committee will hold a more detailed review at its Jan. 21 meeting and that modeling and long‑term projections discussed with the association’s investment manager, CapTrust, will inform committee recommendations to the governing board.

Board members praised staff for the level of review and for deferring some items to preserve funds; Director Hurley asked staff to quantify the savings from deferred replacements for the committee's next meeting.

The board did not vote on the CIP at the workshop; directors were invited to the Jan. 21 Budget & Finance meeting for a full committee discussion before a future board decision.

Ending: The Budget & Finance committee will present a fuller recommendation to the governing board after additional modeling and after the Jan. 21 committee session. Interested owner‑members were invited to observe those open meetings.