Planning Commission recommends six-year CIP totaling $390.1 million to City Commission, staff cautions funding is not guaranteed

The Battle Creek Planning Commission voted Dec. 17 to recommend the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for fiscal years 2027–2032 to the City Commission.

Barb Daring, budget officer in the finance department, presented the CIP as a planning and prioritization document that does not itself authorize spending. The CIP lists 225 projects totaling $390.1 million; staff noted $189 million are shown with an identified funding source and $201.1 million are shown without an identified funding source.

Commissioners pressed staff on what “funded” means in the document. A staff speaker explained that marking a project as “funded” in the CIP indicates an identified funding source but does not guarantee an appropriation: “we're indicating that a funding source is available, not that the TIFFA board has taken action to fund that specific project,” the staff response said in the hearing.

Several commissioners urged that the transmittal to the City Commission clarify which projects have funding committed versus those that merely have an identified potential source. Commissioners also raised housing and brownfield redevelopment as priorities; one commissioner asked that the housing project line on page 29 be advanced toward implementation rather than remain a planning placeholder.

After discussion, the Planning Commission voted to forward the CIP as its recommendation to the City Commission. The recommendation will be considered by the City Commission during the annual budget process; staff reiterated that project-level funding still requires separate budget approvals and, where applicable, actions by partner entities (for example, BC TIFFA) and boards that manage identified funding sources.

Ending: The Planning Commission closed the public hearing and approved the 2026 meeting schedule before adjourning for the year.