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Planning commission backs staff prioritization for FY2026 capital program
Summary
Town staff asked the commission to recommend priorities for 36 proposed capital projects; commissioners approved the staff-recommended prioritization and will forward it to Town Council. Staff estimated roughly $27 million in capital spending in FY2026 and about $86.5 million over five years.
Town of Bluffton planning staff presented the town’s proposed fiscal year 2026 Capital Improvement Program and asked the Planning Commission to recommend project priorities for Town Council’s budget process.
“About $27,000,000 in capital funding for FY ’26,” Kimberly, a town planner, told the commission as she described 36 proposed projects and 25 projects rolling into the next fiscal year. Staff identified projects to be substantially complete this year and highlighted new priorities including a New Riverside Barn Park event pavilion and May River Watershed impervious‑restoration projects near local schools.
Staff framed the commission’s role as recommending whether each new project should be classified as priority 1 or 2 for council consideration; financing questions such as use of bonds are managed later in the budget process by finance staff. Commissioners asked whether projects had been removed from prior lists; staff confirmed certain projects were taken off in earlier cycles and noted that items requiring school‑district agreements (three school‑related projects) were shown as priority 2 pending formal intergovernmental agreements.
Commissioners also discussed the staff criteria used to evaluate projects, including statutory mandates, fiscal and budget impacts, health and safety effects, environmental outcomes and relationship to other projects. Kimberly said the town has a CIP story map and project data sheets posted in the agenda center to help the public locate and review projects.
A motion to adopt the staff’s prioritization recommendation for Council consideration carried unanimously. The commission’s vote sends the prioritized list to Town Council for the formal budget and appropriations steps.
