Hanford staff presents $460 million capital-improvement plan; council to refine priorities

City of Hanford staff presented a preliminary capital improvement plan (CIP) showing roughly $460 million in identified projects over the next five years, asking the City Council for direction on which projects to prioritize for the two budgeted years, fiscal 2026 and 2027.

The presentation, led by Finance Director Chris Tavares and financial analyst Alejandro Salorio with engineering and utilities staff present, laid out projects across enterprise funds (water, wastewater, storm drain, refuse and airport), internal service funds (fleet, IT) and a small number of general‑fund projects. Staff emphasized that while the plan lists roughly half a billion dollars of needs, only the first two years are funded and available for appropriation now.

Why it matters: the CIP frames near‑term capital spending decisions and signals where the council may later need to consider rate or fee adjustments, grant applications, or Measure H allocations to avoid deteriorating fund balances.

Staff described the process and timing: this is phase one of CIP review for council (round 1), with round 2 scheduled for a later meeting before operating budget reviews in May and a planned June 3 public hearing for budget adoption. The…