City outlines plan to centralize asset management and build a finance plan

The Public Works Committee received a progress report on the Citywide Asset Management Strategy (CAMS), which aims to standardize how the city inventories, prioritizes and finances maintenance and capital investments across bureaus.

Tate White, deputy director at the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, described the governance structure: a core group plus three working groups focused on (1) investment prioritization and risk, (2) service outcomes and community trust, and (3) data, systems and digital capabilities. White said the core group will synthesize working-group recommendations into a concise strategy and that recruitment for a citywide asset manager will start next month.

White and other staff highlighted that most of the city’s asset value and data maturity sit in Public Works bureaus, while several bureaus lack defined asset programs. The presentation identified high-risk portfolios (for example, wastewater collection and pumping) where increased capital investment is recommended, and described how risk matrices will guide targeted spending.

Councilors pressed for a district-level breakdown and an inventory of all city-owned land and facilities; staff said a consolidated inventory is a priority but that bureau-by-bureau differences and resource constraints mean it will take time to complete. City Administrator Lee and other presenters said the strategy would be used to inform future capital and bonding decisions and that a finance plan will follow later in the year once the asset manager and city engineer roles are in place.

Councilors emphasized equity and asked that underinvested neighborhoods be prioritized; staff agreed to include district-focused outputs and to present prioritization criteria alongside the strategy. Several councilors recommended scenario-based quantitative risk modeling to estimate tail risks under extreme weather or other events and asked for clearer estimates of the portfolio and facility counts.

Staff said the first full iteration of the strategy will come to Council in the fall and that the underlying finance plan will follow by year-end; working groups expect to finalize recommendations in July. Committee members asked for an actionable, bureau-by-bureau list of the highest-risk assets and clearer timelines for inventory and implementation work.

The committee took the update as informational and directed staff to return with additional detail on inventories, district-level data and the proposed implementation timeline.