Mt. Lebanon’s capital improvement plan for next five years is available for review. A public hearing is scheduled for the Monday, October 10, 8 p.m. commission meeting and adoption of the budget is slated for the Tuesday, December 13, meeting.

Capital improvements are typically one-time major expenditures. Although the plan covers a five-year period, Mt. Lebanon publishes a new plan each year to reflect the changing needs of the community. This year’s plan includes projects for infrastructure, facility or equipment that have a gross cost of $72,573,870 over the five-year period. A number of the projects are funded in whole or in part by grants, debt issuance, user fees and contributions. The net tax cost for the program totals $20,915,570.

There are 21 projects included in the 2017 program, with costs of $11,644,410 and a net tax cost of $4,010,960. Major projects proposed for 2017 are $2.31 million for required sanitary sewer work, $2.1 million for street reconstruction, $2.75 million for the first phase of the public works facility improvements, $1.715 million for ice rink replacements, $550,000 for a fire truck replacement and $440,000 for storm sewer management improvements.

The 2017 program also includes replacement of public works equipment ($351,700), various park improvements ($746,900) and a variety of equipment purchases and other smaller projects.

The Capital Improvement Program is posted on the municipality’s website, www.mtlebanon.org under “Official Documents” and is also available for review at the library and municipal building. In addition, the plan is available in an interactive format through Mt. Lebanon’s OpenLebo platform.

Mt. Lebanon’s municipal operating budget process begins to take shape in the summer, as department heads work with the finance department on their requests for service. The municipal manager then prioritizes the requested services and recommends funding as many as are possible with the projected revenue. In 2016, 187 of 296 service levels were funded, for a total of $39.1 million.  The Manager’s Recommended Budget is available at www.mtlebanon.org and at the municipal building and library on November 1.

Mt. Lebanon Commission will hold budget workshops at 6 p.m., Thursday, November 3, Monday, November 14, and Wednesday, November 16, in the municipal building. There will be a public hearing at the Tuesday, November 8, commission meeting and the commission will vote on the budget at the Tuesday, December 13, meeting.