WACO, Texas — As the City of Waco plans for 2023, an interactive budget tool will help the city gather feedback from residents.
The city's Capital Improvement Projects, also known as a CIP, is now online and ready for use.
Nicholas Sarpy, the Director of the Office of Budget Management for the City of Waco, said it's a chance for the public to weigh in and be a voice for the future.
"I think it's important that we know what the public has to say and what their sentiments are their feelings are. It's stuff that we're certainly going to do moving forward when it comes to the 2023 budget process in our operating budget," Sarpy told 6 News. "I think it's really important to get that feedback and have that understanding that these are the things that matter to people so we can budget better and more appropriately."
A CIP is any major improvement to city facilities and infrastructure. According to their website, projects are varied, so some may require years of planning and construction while others may be completed in a shorter timeframe.
The 2023 fiscal CIP budget totals $50 million dollars with $24 million of that already spoken for , which includes two fire stations, a new park at the old Floyd-Casey site, Cotton Palace improvements and the Speegleville Bridge Addition.
Sarpy said there are three major categories the public has to choose from in giving their feedback on police, parks and streets. He said items up for discussion include city street improvements, a police crime lab and two new parks are on the list. One would be located in the Chapel Road area and the other in Dean Highlands.
"Projects that have been submitted or have been considered as part of development processes in the past," Sarpy explained. "The police ones were included as part of the fiscal year 2022 budget and so we funded them as far as design goes for '22 but now it's a matter of prioritizing which is most important going forward for 2023 and beyond."
As for the parks, Sarpy says they have come up in discussion and were part of feedback received in the past, especially Dean Highlands which was mentioned by residents as part of the American Rescue Plan process.
All feedback received will be made available to the City Council and the decision on how the funds are spent rests solely with them, according to Sarpy.
"Ultimately, it's a City Council's decision on what we fund in our CIP," Sarpy explained. "We will present all the information we get from the balancing act simulation and what people are saying and what they are hearing from their constituents."