Littleton committee reviews 2024 spending from voter-approved 3A sales tax, requests project-level plan

Littleton City's 3A oversight committee met May 20 to review staff's annual report on spending from the voter-approved 3A sales tax and to request more project-level information and forward-looking plans before sending its advisory letter to city council.

The committee reviewed a staff-prepared 2024 spending report that shows $8.8 million in 3A capital spending last year and identified major line items including about $1 million in personnel charges, roughly $3.4 million for pavement management, $700,000 for transportation and bridges and transfers of about $1.3 million into internal service funds for IT and fleet replacement. Kevin Orson, the city's budget manager, told the group staff met the March 31 deadline for the draft report.

Committee members said they want clearer ties between personnel counts and near-term projects, an explicit five-year project list that links appropriations to planned work, and narrative context for categories such as Safer Streets and fleet replacement.

Staff presentation and numbers

Kevin Orson, budget manager for the city, said the packet was prepared to follow the committee's charter and that the draft report was delivered by the March 31 deadline. He summarized 2024 spending and the items the report must include, and showed the committee line-by-line categories and the projects page-by-page. Orson said staff is proposing a change in how the program measures capital project management overhead: “we are proposing... changing it to the revenue instead of the expense because the revenue is more consistent year over year,” a change meant to smooth planning across multiyear projects.

Brent Soderlund, director of public works and utilities, and other public-works staff outlined that many large projects are multiyear efforts (for example, Quad Road and the Mineral/Santa Fe corridor) and that personnel charged to 3A include employees spending time on planning and design for projects that will be constructed in later years. Soderlund said the department is launching an internal project-management platform to improve real-time reporting of project status and expenditures: “We are working on an internal initiative for a project management platform internally, so, we'll'll be kicking that back off in a few weeks,” he said.

Key budget figures and policy choices discussed

- Total 2024 3A capital spending: $8.8 million (staff breakdown provided in packet). - Personnel: about $1.0 million charged to 3A in 2024; staff noted some positions are allocated across multiple funding streams and that allocations are reviewed during budget development. - Pavement management: roughly $3.4 million expensed in 2024; staff said pavement management is a multiyear program with a target near $6–8 million per year in the longer-term plan. - Safer Streets Littleton: $800,000 shown in the packet (about $1.1 million if personnel within the program are included). Staff told the committee much of that total reflects pilot supplies, temporary traffic treatments, vehicles and two new full-time positions added to the program. - Internal service capital transfers: about $1.3 million moved to IT and fleet replacement funds in 2024. - Facilities and building upgrades: amounts shown in the packet included $800,000 for facilities capital maintenance and $200,000 for building construction upgrades. - 2025 revenue projection: staff said they estimate about $12.5 million in 3A revenue for the current fiscal year. - 2025 appropriations: the packet shows approximately $26.1 million appropriated in 2025 (staff explained appropriations exceed expected immediate spending because money is often reserved for contracts and multiyear projects). - Unallocated fund balance / debt reserve: staff said roughly $8 million of the fund balance is being reserved for future debt service tied to potential certificates of participation (COP) to accelerate large projects.

Questions, concerns and requested follow-up

Committee members repeatedly pressed staff for a forward-looking, project-level breakdown that links the appropriations on the 2025 table to specific projects and anticipated spending years. Members said that without that tie it is hard to explain personnel charges that appear in the 3A fund and to answer citizens asking why a portion of the fund is held in reserve.

Staff agreed to provide additional materials before the next meeting, including: - A by-project list showing which appropriated amounts in 2025 are intended for which projects and approximate timing. Staff indicated such a list can be pulled from the CIP and the council retreat packet. - A narrative tying key FTEs and personnel charges to specific major projects (for example, staffing working on Mineral/Santa Fe, Quad Road, or the service center). - A one- to two-paragraph status update on Safer Streets summarizing pilot work, the program's structure and what would define a permanent solution. - A high-level fleet replacement narrative (staff noted the city has many vehicles past typical replacement windows and has a draft multiyear replacement schedule).

Members said they wanted these items to support the committee's advisory memo to council and to be able to respond to public questions about pace of spending, the share of revenue being used for personnel, and the city's use of debt to accelerate work.

Staff remarks on debt, pacing and grants

Staff described COPs (certificates of participation) as a tool the council is considering to accelerate several large projects and said debt would be issued only when projects are sufficiently ready; the group discussed reserving fund balance to cover initial years of future debt service. Staff also noted that the city expects substantial grant funds to cover portions of projects coming to construction in 2025 and 2026 and that 3A monies are often used for required local matches.

Where the committee landed and next steps

Committee members expressed general support for staff work to date but said they are not ready to finalize the advisory memo without the follow-up materials. Staff committed to distributing supplemental materials and a draft memo ahead of the next meeting. The committee scheduled a follow-up discussion for late May and asked staff to provide the requested project-level tables, the CIP linkage, the fleet narrative and the Safer Streets summary in advance.

Ending

The committee will reconvene after staff circulates the supplemental documents and a draft advisory letter; members will review the materials and provide edits before staff submits the committee's advisory memo to city council.