The $50 Million Capital Plan
06 · PRIORITIZE — Series capstone. How cities decide what gets funded first, and how they pay for it. Imagine a city has identified $150 million in infrastructure needs. It has $50 million available. What gets funded? Condition is only one factor. Risk, public safety, service consequences, lifecycle cost, regulation, equity, economic development and available funding all shape the decision. This session brings together everything the series has covered, from condition data to predictive maintenance, and shows how it supports defensible capital decisions. It also looks at the funding side: federal and state grants, the changing federal infrastructure funding picture, utility rates and how stronger asset data improves grant applications. Each event becomes an Asset Mapping Intelligence Report — a permanent, searchable record of the session: the full write-up, the archived video, every audience question and answer, a practical field guide, a glossary, direct speaker contacts, and supporting material from the technology partners who took part.
Key Takeaways
- How agencies can compare competing infrastructure needs more consistently.
- Why condition alone is insufficient for prioritizing capital investment.
- How risk, lifecycle cost and service consequences can improve investment decisions.
- How stronger asset data strengthens grant applications and funding requests.
Why Attend?
Every capital plan is a decision about what does not get funded. This capstone session shows how condition, risk and lifecycle information can be combined into a framework that survives scrutiny from leadership, funders and the public.
Who Should Attend
- Public Works Directors
- City and County Managers
- CFOs and Finance Directors
- Capital Planning Directors
- Grants and Funding staff
- City Engineers
- Asset Managers
- Procurement
- Transportation
- Water and Wastewater
- Stormwater
- Facilities
- GIS
- Elected officials
Agenda
- 01 The Challenge — $150M of need, $50M available
- 02 What Do We Own and What Condition Is It In?
- 03 Condition Isn't Risk — probability and consequence of failure
- 04 Building a Common Prioritization Framework
- 05 Testing Investment Scenarios — what changes when funding changes?
- 06 Paying For It — federal and state grants, the changing funding picture, utility rates and reserves
- 07 Making the Case — communicating priorities to leaders, funders and the public
- 08 Panel Discussion + Audience Q&A
