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Carlsbad transportation staff outline $17 million operations budget and how CIP funding is phased
Summary
Transportation staff told the Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission that the department's operating and maintenance budget for July 2025'June 2026 is $17,000,000 and described how the capital improvement program (CIP) phases funding and requests construction appropriations when projects are ready to bid.
Marielle Cairns, principal engineer in the transportation department, presented a high-level overview of the department's fiscal priorities and planned projects for fiscal year 2025'26, telling the Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission the department's operating and maintenance budget for July 2025 to June 2026 is $17,000,000.
Cairns said the transportation department manages two major city assets: the road system and the drainage system, and it uses a CIP process that shows project funding by phase rather than funding full project costs all at once. "The department's operating and maintenance budget is 17,000,000," she said, and staff emphasized that construction funding is requested separately once a project is ready for final design and bidding.
The presentation explained that the CIP includes a five-year project plan and a 15-year forecast to prioritize projects based on projected fund availability. Cairns described a multi-step appropriation approach: staff request early planning or scoping funds, then later seek appropriations for final design and, when ready, for construction.
Deputy City Manager for Public Works Paz Gomez clarified the carryforward practice: forecasted construction shown in the five-year plan is not an appropriation until the city actually requests it, but "if it was not awarded as a construction contract, then the funds would be carried forward," she said. Gomez added that the city now requests construction appropriation at the point it seeks authorization to bid, when staff have up-to-date engineering cost estimates.
Commissioners asked whether budgets approved in one fiscal year that are not spent until a later year are carried forward. Staff said appropriated funds for construction are carried forward when awarded and not spent, but forecasted amounts that have not been appropriated do not automatically roll forward. The exchange highlighted the difference between CIP forecasting and formal appropriations to be approved by City Council.
The commission received the presentation; staff noted the CIP process allows council review of construction appropriations after final design and when accurate cost estimates are available.
