Planning for capital development and improvement at the Elk Grove Park District can be a complex combination of demands, financing and the long range plans for the District. The Park District has prepared a capital plan that establishes the priority projects for the budget cycle. Input to the plan includes projects that were not funded in the last budget cycle and are still a priority to the organization, plus new requests for projects that are physically and financially feasible. Input and requests come from a variety of areas within the District, including the Recreation Department, Parks Department, IT Department, Facilities Department and the Youth Athletics Leagues. The number of worthy projects generally far exceeds available funds. Therefore, funding priorities become an important part to the capital planning process.
The Elk Grove Park District utilizes the following criteria to assist in determining the priority of a requested project.
- Health and Safety Issues
- Impact on Operating Funds/Reduces Expenses
- Code Compliance
- Potential for Revenue Generation
- Previous Commitment
- Potential for Additional Outside/Alternate Funding
Capital planning can be an intense process of information gathering, reviewing, analyzing, planning and budgeting. Project requests are reviewed for feasibility, transformed into projects and given priority or rejected. In this process, feasibility reviews ensure that appropriate values and agreed upon criteria establish the direction for long-range planning and build on the Park District's Mission and Vision Statements.