City of Portsmouth Seeks Public Input for Capital Improvement Plan for Fiscal Years 2025 - 2030

The Portsmouth City Council, Planning Board and Planning & Sustainability Department invite the public to provide input on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Years 2025 to 2030 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2030). Residents are asked to submit projects for consideration in the next CIP by September 15, 2023.

The CIP details a six-year schedule and financing strategy for accomplishing necessary public improvements and meeting the City’s infrastructure needs. The Planning Board oversees the development of the CIP, which supports the Board’s responsibilities to prepare and amend the City’s Master Plan (https://portsnh.co/masterplan).

Residents are encouraged to visit the City’s CIP webpage (https://portsnh.co/cip) to review the current CIP, full background on the CIP process, and this year’s CIP review schedule. The Citizen Project Request form can be filed online using the City’s OpenGov portal.

CIP projects are based on capital needs identified by federal and state mandates or regulations, facility and infrastructure assessments and studies, planning priorities (related to implementation of the Master Plan or related studies), and policy priorities based on direction provided by the City Council, and citizen requests.

To be suggested via the Citizen Project Request Form, capital improvement projects should be major fiscal expenditures that fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Land acquisition; (e.g., a new park area);
• Construction or expansion of a public facility, street, utility or public infrastructure (e.g., a new sidewalk or new pickleball court);
• Rehabilitation of a public facility or public infrastructure provided the cost is $50,000 or more (e.g., improvements to the outdoor pool);
• Design work or planning study related to a capital project or implementation of the Master Plan (e.g., recreation needs study);
• Any item or piece of equipment, non-vehicular in nature, that costs more than $50,000 and has a life expectancy of 5 or more years; or
• Replacement and purchase of vehicles which have a life expectancy of more than 5 years or cost more than $50,000.

The City’s CIP needs have always exceeded the availability of funding. Therefore, the City follows a prioritization process that establishes clear, concise guidelines for project selection and provides an objective process for ranking projects. This provides decision-makers a guide for the best use of available funding.

Project justification criteria include:

• Identified in planning document or study;
• Addresses public health or safety need;
• Alleviates substandard conditions or deficiencies;
• Responds to federal or state requirement;
• Improves quality of existing services;
• Provides added capacity to existing services;
• Reduces long-term operating costs;
• Provides incentive to economic development; or
• Is eligible for matching funds.

All project requests are reviewed by the appropriate City Department and shared with the Planning Board CIP Advisory Committee for consideration in this years or future year’s Capital Improvement Program.