City staff says Playbook OP shows roughly $276 million gap; sales-tax options discussed

City staff told the Committee of the Whole that Playbook OP identifies a substantial maintenance and capital funding gap that will shape which projects the city can reasonably implement in the next decade.

"Typical P identifies a maintenance deficit alone of 93,800,000 over 10 years, and the total deficit is estimated at 276,000,000," City Manager Lori Curtis Luther told the committee as she framed the fiscal constraints that informed staff's recommendation.

Assistant City Manager Kate Gunja reviewed existing funding sources — general fund, CIP/MIP, enterprise funds, grants and private contributions — and emphasized two revenue levers staff expects would have the largest impact: a property-tax mill levy increase (one mill projected to generate about $5.8 million annually in the 2027 budget) and a dedicated sales-tax increment. Staff and council discussed illustrative sales-tax scenarios: staff cited that an 0.125 sales-tax increment was projected at roughly $8.8 million per year in the city's materials and that a 0.375 scenario over a 10-year horizon could approach the figures discussed in Playbook OP, though staff cautioned operating costs and personnel were not fully captured in that number.

Gunja also noted a time-limited source has supported prior investments: the county courthouse sales tax returned roughly $50 million to the city over the past decade, about $13 million of which was invested in parks and recreation; that allocation expires in 2027 and staff said the city should plan for that change in recurring capital funding.