Fitchburg mayor proposes $156 million 10-year CIP focused on maintenance, removes multimillion-dollar BRT extension

Mayor Julio presented the city's proposed 2027—2036 Capital Improvement Plan at the Finance Committee special meeting on June 22, describing it as a 10-year roadmap whose first five years are the most fully vetted. The mayor said the plan does not authorize spending but sets expectations for future financing, debt issuances and infrastructure priorities and is shared with Moody's investor services and other stakeholders.

The mayor and finance staff emphasized rising project and equipment costs and a fiscal approach that prioritizes replacing and maintaining existing assets over adding new ones. The proposal shows roughly $156 million programmed across departments for the next decade, with public works, roads and utilities comprising the largest shares.

Key edits announced by the mayor included removing a previously programmed bus rapid transit (BRT) extension to Lacy Road (an item the mayor estimated at about $10 million) and delaying or removing several other expensive projects, including a proposed covered basketball court (about $2 million) and a neighborhood hub that had been in earlier plans. The mayor also said she reduced the proposed emergency command unit from $1.5 million to $500,000 after discussions with public safety leaders.

Finance Director Misty Dodge walked committee members through the CIP packet (301 pages) and three change reports that list new projects, updated costs and timing adjustments. Staff noted that the plan assumes 2.5% net new construction and that the city adjusted its long-standing inflation assumption for replacement funds from 3% to 2% in this draft, which finance staff described as a calculated risk intended to balance the CIP with levy constraints.

The plan increases the city hall renovation allocation by $4.85 million and adds $600,000 to the Kids Crossing playground project, among other line-item changes. Staff stressed that years 6—10 are placeholders intended to signal broad priorities rather than fully designed projects. Project pages include detailed funding-source tables that combine borrowing, property-tax supported capital, grant matches and contribution lines.

Misty Dodge also described two dedicated financing pools: a capital grant-match fund seeded with one-time fund balance to preserve matching capacity for awarded grants, and an expenditure-restraint incentive account that has recently declined in state aid and is currently supplemented with one-time fund balance (staff called that approach a temporary mitigation of a structural funding concern).

Next steps: the committee held a public hearing scheduled at the council meeting on June 23. Council members may submit amendments to the mayor's proposal through July 6; a subsequent public hearing and the council's adoption vote are scheduled later in July. At the committee meeting's conclusion, the finance committee moved resolution R-13726 (the proposed CIP) for consideration in council and voted to recommend it in committee.

The committee did not finalize spending authority; specific projects will be authorized through subsequent budget and borrowing steps and any council amendments.