Capital Budget Focuses on Maintaining Level Services

Capital Budget Focuses on Maintaining Level Services

The FY2026 proposed net budget provides for the operational needs of the Town and includes $11.15 million to capital investments, representing 12.4% of the total net budget. The approach to developing the budget was to prioritize the delivery of essential services, while making new investments consistent with the Comprehensive Plan (a 2021 guiding resource for the future of Scarborough) and other recent future planning initiatives. This approach is reflected within the capital budget, which is largely level services-focused (68%). New investments (32%) intend to continue toward service improvements and future planning.

Services that benefit the community and are essential to the quality of Scarborough include maintaining our roads and associated infrastructure, sidewalks, and public buildings. The Public Works department follows a thorough vehicle replacement schedule and anticipates when Town vehicles and equipment are reaching the end of their optimal usage window. A few vehicles/equipment that are requested to be replaced include a pickup truck ($65k), bucket truck ($225k), and plow truck ($235k). Each makes accommodations for cost-saving measures: reusing the sander unit on the plow truck, downsizing the replacement bucket truck from the current 25-year old one, replacing the pickup before it becomes too costly to maintain. 

Public Works also invests for some road paving and sidewalk rehabilitation. Scarborough has approximately 50 miles of sidewalk. A majority of these sidewalks were constructed in the 1990s and are in need of repairs or upgrades. The Town conducted a survey in 2021 that indicated the condition of the sidewalks throughout the town was a concern among residents. This will be year four of a ten year plan to make improvements to the conditions and accessibility of sidewalks, with an estimated total of $180k.

In addition to investing largely in maintaining critical facilities and infrastructure, the Town is still investing in added improvements. The Spurwink Road project is one area that the Town plans to continue upgrading, and Phase II is requested in the FY26 budget for a total of $600k. The Town finished Phase I of this project in FY25. The cost to do Phase I of this project came well over the initial budget for the project. Public Works worked with a consultant to value engineer the project and came up with a number of $1.9 million to move the project forward. The request makes up the remainder from $1.4 million that is already allocated for the project from a previous budget.

Drainage improvements are another upgrade intended to enhance Scarborough roads. A contractor conducted a condition assessment of the Town’s drainage infrastructure and identified segments that need repairs or upgrades. Public Works is in the process of developing a multi-year plan to address the issues.

A smaller percentage of the capital budget (9%) is allocated for future planning and design. This includes design work largely for traffic-related projects, which residents identified as major categories of Town services that should receive the most emphasis over the next two years (1: Flow of traffic and ease of getting around within the Town, and 2: maintenance of streets, sidewalks, and infrastructure). One requested project for funding is for an East Grand Avenue Roadway Design ($175k). In 2018 the Town completed the East Grand Avenue Corridor Preliminary Plan that included public forums where residents provided input to in this planning stage of the project. Funding has been unsuccessful since then, but the increase in users in the summer brings challenges in balancing the needs of motorists, pedestrians and cyclists navigating to and from the beach. It’s also a critical emergency route during winter storm events. With the influx of residents and visitors in the summer months, a Complete Streets design is needed. Another engineering design is for Lower Payne Road and its resiliency from flooding during coastal storms. It was identified as a high priority road in the Town’s recent Vulnerability Assessment, and an engineering study is needed to determine how to upgrade the road to address current and future flooding (design totals $50k).

In addition to planning for the future of select priority roads, the Town is also responding to the community’s call for trail/sidewalk network improvements. A $75k funding request for a Trails and Sidewalk Master Plan would build on the information gathered in a recent Transportation Assessment and create a clear path forward for future sidewalk and trail connections. It would identify new trails, sidewalks, and shared use paths, along with targeted timeframes for completion and funding sources.

The capital investments identified for the FY2026 budget align with the Town’s emphasis on prioritizing the delivery of essential services while taking into consideration residents’ tax bills in recent years (with the revaluation) and what’s ahead (a major investment in our schools). It strikes the balance of what’s needed and starts to lay the groundwork for the future.

 

 

FY2026 BUDGET