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DISCUSSION: |
This proposed $4,651,500 amendment to the 2021 Capital Budget includes two categories of requests: 1. Increases to the project budgets ($3,901,500) Funding for six Capital projects in the Authority’s approved 2021 budget. The additional funds requested would come from a combination of State funding appropriations, positive carry forward budget, and higher than projected fund balance. 2. Additional budget authority ($750,000) Request for two new capital projects that have been funded through State funding appropriations and grant requests. Increases to Existing Project Budgets The FrontRunner Forward project is budgeted at $2.5M in the 2021 adopted budget. This proposed amendment would add $2.5M, for a total 2021 capital budget of $5M, to advance the FrontRunner Forward program objectives. During the 2021 Utah State Legislative session, $200M in bonding was authorized and another $100M from one-time state revenues was appropriated to double track strategic sections of the FrontRunner commuter rail system to allow for enhanced speed, frequency, capacity, and increased reliability. The increased 2021 budget authority will allow additional strategic analysis, outreach, and design to occur this year to help expedite project implementation over the next several years. Additional funding for this project budget will come from the one-time state appropriation of $100M. The Building Remodel/Reconfiguration approved project budget for 2021 is $100,000. An additional $365,000 is requested to be added to the budget to make improvements at the Meadowbrook facility (upgrades to the men’s and women’s locker and rest rooms, and conversion of the first aid room to a unisex restroom) and to reconfigure the records management area at the Mobility Center to include shelving, computer scanning stations, and air conditioning for climate control. The additional funding for this project would come from positive carryforward budget, and fund balance resulting from re-aging the capital program. The Safety General Projects budget for 2021 is $100,000. An additional $77,000 is requested to complete an additional four safety projects that the safety department has identified as priority investments. These include: • Fix flooring in the Jordan River Service Center (JRSC) parts room that has buckled due to last year’s earthquake ($35K) • Updating the battery rooms at JRSC and Midvale to extend the sprinkler system, insulate wiring and widen the doors to accommodate cell pallets ($10k) • Power upgrades to hot work zone at JRSC to eliminate electric cable running across truck shop ($8K) • Installing a fall-arrest system at Warm Springs to increase safety for mechanics working on the top of the trains ($24K). The additional funding for this project would come from positive carryforward budget, and fund balance. The Corridor Fencing project budget for 2021 is $50,000. An additional $50K is requested for additional fencing priorities. There is a long list of areas where fencing along the UTA corridor will improve safety by reducing trespassing and eliminating close calls. The Safety Department prioritizes areas each year to use the allotted funds. Safety has identified three additional areas they would like to accelerate and complete this year based on operator concerns. These include chain and pole delineations at the West Valley and South Campus TRAX stations, and corridor fencing north of the Draper FrontRunner Station. The additional funding for this project would come from positive carryforward budget, and fund balance. The Non-Revenue Service Vehicles project budget for 2021 is $1.5M. Service fleet vehicle replacement is an ongoing need. The past few years, this project was unbudgeted or under-budgeted. In addition, system expansion projects have resulted in the need for additional support vehicles. This year, the Vehicle Department is catching up on the non-revenue service vehicle needs backlog. Replacement prioritization is based on vehicle age, mileage, condition, and duty cycle. An additional $480K is being requested to address the highest priority needs in 2021. This additional funding will reduce the existing backlog and the ongoing budget in the adopted five-year capital plan should be sufficient to sustain the non-revenue fleet replacement going forward. The additional funding for this project would come from positive carryforward budget, and fund balance. The Capital Contingency project budget for 2021 was $2M. This past March, a portion of the contingency budget ($429,500) was moved to the FrontRunner Paint Booth Construction project through a technical budget adjustment and the remaining Capital Contingency Budget is now $1,570,500. This request seeks $429,500 to restore the Capital Contingency budget to the 2021 adopted funding level of $2M for future technical budget adjustments through the remainder of 2021. The additional funding for this project would come from positive carryforward budget, and fund balance. Additional Budget Authority for New Projects The S-Line Extension Project was not included in the 2021 adopted budget. During the 2021 Utah State Legislative session, $12M in bonding was authorized for construction and improvements to the S-Line Streetcar facilities. This proposed amendment includes adding $600K for the new S-Line project to start the initial transit analysis and conceptual design work for the construction project. The final design and project construction budgets will be presented to the Board for consideration as part of the 2022 Budget request and proposed 2022-2026 five-year capital plan this fall. Funding for this project will come from state bond authorization. The 5600 West Project was not included in the 2021 adopted budget. Moving the project forward is needed as part of a larger agreement with UDOT for the Mountain View Corridor. A new project budget of $150K is being requested to initiate work on the 5600 West/Mountain View Corridor transit project. Specific tasks could include cost estimating and travel market analysis. The project was submitted for a TTIF funding grant this year and is also being submitted for a federal grant opportunity. If selected, TTIF and/or federal grant funds will be used to start initial project design activities this year, with construction programmed in future year capital budgets. If not selected for either grant opportunity, this project will be put on hold until alternate funding sources have been identified. Budget Amendment 1 would incorporate all the proposed capital budget changes in both categories as outlined above and summarized in the table below. After presentation of the proposed Budget Amendment 1 to the Local Advisory Council at their June 2, 2021 meeting, a resolution to adopt the amendment will be presented to the Board of Trustees at a subsequent Board meeting. |
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FISCAL IMPACT: |
1. Increases to the project budgets for six Capital projects in the Authority’s approved 2021 budget will add an additional $3,801,000 to the 2021 Capital Budget. Of that amount, $2.5M will come from the State legislative appropriation for FrontRunner and the remaining $1,401,500 will come from positive carryforward and new local (UTA) revenue sources. 2. Additional budget authority for 2 projects will add $750,000 to the 2021 Capital Budget. Of that amount, $600K will come from the state bond authorization and the remaining $150K will come from TTIF or federal grant funds. |