Lynchburg presents $26–30 CIP priorities, launches interactive dashboard

Lynchburg city staff on Feb. 25 presented the proposed capital improvement program (CIP) for fiscal years 2026–2030 and demonstrated a new public dashboard that allows residents and council members to view proposed projects, funding sources and locations.

The CIP presentation, led by Chief Financial Officer Donna Witt, outlined how staff balances pay-as-you-go cash funding, lines of credit and bond financing, and how grant funding is maximized for transportation and other projects. Witt said the first-year appropriation proposed for 2026 is a mix of 67% line-of-credit-funded transportation projects, 12.8% cash and 20% grants; across 2026–2030 the mix is roughly 60% line of credit and 21% pay-as-you-go, subject to annual rebalancing.

The city manager said the work session is meant to brief council ahead of a fuller CIP work session on March 11, and to invite technical questions in advance so staff can return with answers.

Why it matters: Witt told council the CIP focuses on three priority areas—public safety, education and quality of life—and highlighted three major programs in the plan: approximately $60 million identified for school projects (to be prioritized by council and the school board), a public library renovation and a replacement of Millard Park pool. Witt noted the pool has lost “over 800,000 gallons” in the last two summers and said the pool replacement is being considered to last 20 years.

Key program and funding details: Witt described the city's approach favoring cash funding for short-life maintenance projects, and using long-term debt (line of credit or bonds) for projects with expected lives of 20 years or more (major buildings, full roof replacements, major transportation projects). She said the city maintains a debt policy that keeps debt-service spending within 10% of expenditures and total debt under 4.5% of assessed real-estate value.

Witt reviewed major projects flagged in the 2026 year: court facility needs for the general district court, building maintenance backlog after limited maintenance appropriations in 2025, a planned transfer station appropriation in anticipation of Campbell County not expanding a neighboring landfill, multiple transportation projects that rely on VDOT grants, downtown streetscape and water replacement projects (distinct funds), parks and recreation maintenance and repairs including Millard Park pool, and several school projects including playground modernization and career and technical education improvements. She said some large projects (e.g., Bedford Avenue bridge, Main Street streetscape) have seen inflation-driven cost increases.

Dashboard demo: Sean Conway of data analytics demonstrated a public CIP dashboard that includes guided, summary and detailed views. Features shown include an interactive map of project locations, filters by ward, fund and service area, project lists and single-project detail pages, and a five-year funding schedule. Conway said the dashboard will be publicly linked and that staff will publish how-to materials and a public link the next day. Conway said the detailed view includes all five years of the CIP and the ability to filter by fund type (line of credit, pay-as-you-go, grants) and by project activity (construction, design, equipment).

Next steps and public engagement: City staff asked council to send technical questions to the city manager by March 6 so staff can prepare answers for the March 11 work session. Witt emphasized the 2026 appropriation is the only year formally appropriated now; the rest of the CIP is a plan that staff will rebalance annually.

Ending: Staff said the CIP work session on March 11 will include a deeper dive into projects and funding; the dashboard will be posted publicly and staff will continue to refine the data and public materials.