Prince William County presents $1.04 billion CIP after Route 28 removal; new fire stations, courthouse expansion and navigation centers highlighted

Prince William County budget staff on Feb. 26 presented the proposed FY2026'FY2031 Capital Improvement Program, saying the dispatched packet still included the Route 28 Bypass but that after the Board removed that project the bottom-line dispatched amount shown in the packet is about $1,040,000,000.

Matthew Cornelison of the county's Office of Management and Budget told the Planning Commission the CIP is the county's six-year plan for facilities and infrastructure and stressed the link between capital debt and the annual operating budget that pays debt service. He said funding sources include debt, general fund, NVTA, fire levy revenues, proffers and American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Key capital items called out in the presentation include:

- Fire and rescue: a dedicated program that commits $4.0 million a year of fire-levy funds for renovation and replacement of stations, plus a four-station build/rebuild cadence within the six-year window. Cornelison said Station 30 design is programmed to begin in FY26 with a $3,000,000 appropriation and construction-ready occupancy estimated in January 2027. The debt for new stations will be supported by the fire levy.

- Judicial Center expansion: a two-phase expansion that starts with a roughly 450-space parking garage. Cornelison said a $35,000,000 appropriation in FY26 is proposed so procurement can proceed; construction of the garage is scheduled to begin in November 2027, after design work supported by an existing $16,300,000 appropriation.

- Public Safety Training Center: design near completion for an expanded training campus in Nokesville, with construction scheduled to begin later in 2025 and an opening in March 2027.

- Homeless navigation centers: the Homeless Navigation Center East remains in the program with design and construction timing noted; a new Homeless Navigation Center West was added this year with a $4,000,000 FY26 appropriation for land acquisition and initial design.

- Parks and maintenance: the CIP includes voter-approved bond projects and a new recurring parks capital program ($2,500,000 in FY26, then $5,000,000 per year thereafter) for improvements to existing parks. The Building & Facilities capital maintenance program continues at roughly $4,000,000 per year, with an additional $1,200,000 in the current fiscal year directed to Parks for projects, producing $5,200,000 total for building/facilities and parks maintenance in FY25.

- Landfill and environmental: the county is moving into a phase 4 infrastructure push at the landfill with roughly $12,400,000 appropriated in FY25 and $3,300,000 in FY26 to complete the necessary infrastructure for moving operations to the undeveloped portion of the site.

- Transportation and Route 28: Cornelison said the original dispatch included the Route 28 Bypass; the Board has since voted to remove that project, which reduced the six-year total by about $200 million. The $200 million of debt capacity tied to the Route 28 project remains visible in the five-year plan until the Board decides whether to reallocate that capacity to other transportation projects. He listed potential debt-support sources including NVTA 30% revenue, a potential future commercial-and-industrial tax, and transient occupancy tax, but noted some expected sources are currently directed to other obligations and therefore are unavailable.

Cornelison summarized FY26 appropriations in the dispatch at about $125,500,000 and said the county will establish a CIP steering committee to review capital delivery year-round rather than episodically. He closed by pointing to the public hearing schedule and the Board adoption date in April.

Why it matters: the CIP establishes multi-year commitments of debt and capital funding that shape construction of public safety facilities, courts, parks and transportation; several large appropriations and design starts in FY26 would begin procurement and project delivery steps that create multi-year operating and debt-service impacts for the county.