County proposes new Department of Transportation and Capital Construction, outlines $1.56B six-year CIP and FY27 appropriation requests
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Summary
County Executive and staff proposed merging capital construction functions into a new Department of Transportation and Capital Construction (DTCC) to improve delivery and accountability; OMB presented a proposed $1.56 billion six-year CIP and requested roughly $149 million in FY27 appropriations for advancing projects including fire station work, a public-safety training center, judicial center plans and major transportation projects.
Prince William County leaders on Tuesday outlined a proposed reorganization to create a Department of Transportation and Capital Construction (DTCC) and presented a $1.56 billion, six-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) proposal that would advance multiple priority projects.
County Executive Shorter and Transportation Director Rick Kenizales said the reorganization would consolidate capital construction delivery now spread across multiple departments (Transportation, Parks & Recreation, Facilities) into a single department responsible for design, right-of-way, utility relocation, construction and facilities implementation. Staff said the change is intended to improve efficiency, accountability and public transparency; the proposed new structure would add staff from Facilities and Parks into DTCC and create one new position (Deputy Director of Capital Construction) while keeping the Department of Transportation intact.
Mandy Spina (Transformation Management Office) described the people-focused process used to design the reorganization: four parallel teams addressed structure, change management, technology and logistics; 63 employees from 12 departments participated in planning; staff emphasized post-implementation support and metrics.
OMB Director Dave Sinclair presented the FY27 proposed CIP: a $1.56 billion six-year program funded largely by debt and multiple revenue sources. For FY27, staff requested approximately $149 million in capital appropriations to advance projects. Key elements highlighted:
- Fire and rescue: an ongoing apparatus replacement program funded by the fire levy ($12 million per year) and station projects including Station 27 (under construction; scheduled for 2027 completion) and Station 30 design (estimated $37 million) with Station 3 and Station 2 replacements in later years.
- Public-safety training center: a roughly $30 million project with construction bids anticipated in March and work to begin in May.
- Judicial facilities: audiovisual upgrades requested ($1.5 million appropriation) and a proposed $200 million Judicial Center expansion to add 12 courtrooms; the Bennett School Building would be demolished and memorialized in the new facility design.
- Social services and shelter: homeless navigation centers east and west (design and construction timetables reported) and a proposed 40,000-square-foot juvenile services center expansion with a current project estimate of $60 million (staff recommended a $5 million design appropriation in FY27; staff said they are not assuming state reimbursement).
- Parks and facilities: increased cash-funded investment in existing parks ($5 million/year proposed versus $2.5 million previously), final appropriation for Neabsco District Park construction and a $220 million proposed civic building and parking garage to reduce leased space dependency (staff requested a $20 million design appropriation for that project in FY27).
Sinclair emphasized debt-service tradeoffs: NVTA 30% revenues (about $23M/year) are constrained in part by existing obligations (approximately $5.8M to VRE local subsidy), and staff proposed using NVTA fund balance to cash-fund certain mobility referendum projects to save an estimated $50M in interest costs over 20 years while preserving annual NVTA capacity for transportation priorities.
Supervisors asked about metrics, organizational charts, hiring timelines for the new deputy director position (funding for the executive director already approved previously), and the net operating impact of CIP projects. Sinclair said KPIs will be developed with performance staff and that operating/debt-service impacts for each CIP project will be published in the proposed budget documents to be released later this week.
What's next: staff will provide an updated organizational chart and more detailed KPIs and will bring any necessary budget requests and implementation items to the board during the FY27 budget process and as design contracts and procurement items are ready for board approval.
