Wilson County adopts formal Capital Improvement Plan policy, sets $50,000 threshold and ClearGov public display

Wilson County commissioners on Jan. 6 approved a formal Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) policy that sets a minimum project threshold of $50,000, requires a two-year lifespan and establishes a scoring and prioritization process for competing requests.

"We are defining that any project which has a more than $50,000 requirement and has a lifespan of two years and also becomes a county asset that we are calling that as a capital project," said the county engineer, presenting the policy and scoring approach the facilities committee had recommended.

The policy creates two components: a capital budget for the first funded year and a five-year capital program for planning. Departments will submit requests from July through November; a CIP review committee comprising the county manager's office, the county engineer—s office and the finance director will score and rank projects using an eight-criteria matrix that includes health and safety, asset improvement, funding availability and community wellness.

County staff said the threshold was raised to $50,000 after committee review; other counties use thresholds that vary from $10,000 to $100,000 depending on size and policy. Staff emphasized the plan will be public-facing through ClearGov so residents can view project requests, scoring and the five-year plan.

"It—s a huge step," County Manager Ron said, noting the county previously had no formal CIP process. Commissioners discussed whether the policy—s lifespan criterion applies to the asset rather than project timing and staff clarified the policy looks at asset lifespan when deciding CIP inclusion. Commissioners approved the policy by voice vote.

Ending: Staff will onboard department heads to ClearGov and begin collecting project requests; the county indicated the policy is intended to be revised as lessons are learned during initial use.