Everett council rejects mayor's FY25 Capital Improvement Plan after members cite lack of prioritization

Finance staff and department heads presented the mayor's five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which aggregates projects across departments. Chief Financial Officer (Mr.) Demas told the committee the mayor asked for a broad list to spur discussion and indicated only a subset would become funded appropriations in future meetings.

Councilor Smith and others said the CIP contains many items without firm cost estimates and argued the list should be narrower and better prioritized before the council takes approval votes. "If you actually go back and look at the numbers... you bonded 1,500,000 of the 27,500,000 that was requested," Smith said, urging clearer linkage between plan and likely appropriations.

Mr. Demas and staff explained that some projects will be funded from capital stabilization or rely on grants and that feasibility and cost details are still being refined (he cited a high-school feasibility study estimate that proved higher than earlier expectations and requires additional legal and MSBA review).

A motion for favorable action on the FY25 CIP was made and seconded and taken by roll-call vote; the clerk recorded votes during roll call, and the chair later announced the CIP budget did not pass. Councilors were advised that specific projects will return to council individually as they are refined and as funding sources are identified.

Next steps: Departments will continue to refine feasibility and cost estimates; the mayor and superintendent plan to bring specific school projects back to council for formal appropriation and bond decisions.