GFOA of the US & Canada

Preparing a Long-Term Capital Plan and Budget: March 17-18, 2014

Group-live course
Prerequisites: None
Course level: Intermediate
CPE credits: 16
Time: 2 days, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (both days)

 
Who Will Benefit
This seminar is designed for individuals who are directly involved with preparing a jurisdiction’s capital improvement plan or capital budget. It will cover GFOA best practices in identifying and communicating capital needs, developing a long-term capital plan, prioritizing projects, and preparing and monitoring a capital budget.
 
Program
Managing an effective capital planning program is essential to the long-term financial health of any organization. This session will focus on the finance or budget officer’s role in the overall capital planning and budgeting process. Governments face many challenges in infrastructure and asset management, and meeting those challenges requires finance officers to coordinate capital planning with other actors inside and outside the organization. This session will provide attendees with the skills and information they need for preparing an effective capital plan, including how to identify needs, determine appropriate service levels, and prioritize projects. Also covered will be strategies for effectively communicating with engineering and operations staff, determining appropriate funding mechanisms, identifying public-private partnership opportunities, facilitating community outreach and participation, and linking capital plans with overall organizational goals, master plans, and community priorities.
 
Seminar Objectives

• Identify the finance office’s key responsibilities in an effective capital improvement planning process
• Learn how to identify capital needs
• Learn how to communicate with operations staff
• Analyze approaches to selecting, timing, rating, and prioritizing capital projects
• Estimate and analyze capital projects
• Design a capital financing strategy
• Prepare a capital budget document that is consistent with long-term capital improvement plans
• Evaluate and monitor capital project expenditures

Recommended Reading

• An Elected Official’s Guide: Economic Development
• Priority-Setting Models for Public Budgeting (GFOA Budgeting Series, Vol. 4)
• Capital Project Planning and Evaluation: Expanding the Role of the Finance Officer (GFOA Budgeting Series, Vol. 8)