Milpitas outlines $245 million CIP plan for 2026, highlights library elevator, storm drain and rescue vehicle projects

Milpitas city staff presented a proposed five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) at a special City Council study session on April 2, recommending about $245 million in projects across multiple categories and asking council to provide direction to bring the plan back for adoption.

The city’s engineering division manager, Lee Hawk, told the council the FY26–30 CIP package includes 148 projects with an estimated total cost of about $245,000,000 and that staff recommends funding 37 projects in the coming fiscal year, representing roughly $38.7 million in programmed activity. “The five‑year capital improvement program that is brought forward tonight consists of 148 projects with the proposed budget of $245,000,000,” Hawk said.

Why it matters: the proposed FY26 portion would fund a mix of infrastructure upkeep and multiyear capital work while largely using dedicated enterprise and grant funds rather than new general‑fund transfers. Councilmembers pressed staff on what portion of the recommended FY26 CIP comes from the general government CIP fund; staff said $2,460,000 of the $38.7 million is funded from the general government CIP fund and the remainder is from restricted sources such as gas tax, water and sewer capital surcharges, and grant awards.

Key recomme…