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The Capital Improvement Plan describes the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District´s plan for financing library materials acquisition, facility construction, improvements and equipment acquisition and replacement. The Plan explains what projects are proposed, how much they will cost and how the District will pay for them.
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It is the District´s policy to capitalize expenditures greater than $1,000 for equipment purchases and facility improvements with useful lives greater than one year. A Capital Plan provides the District with a road map to:
- Assess capital needs
- Identify funding sources for those capital projects/programs that will enable the District to meet the increasing demand for library services
- Establish priorities among projects to make the best use of District financial resources
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In conjunction with the District´s operational plan and preparation of the annual budget, each Branch and Department is required to submit a capital request. The requests include the capital requirements to ensure progress in meeting the District´s goals and objectives.
The consolidated capital requests are evaluated on a District-wide basis and rated according to the following categories of need:
- Public health or safety, mandated programs, Board of Trustee irrevocable commitment and phase completion
- Service Delivery, fiscal impact, leverage
- Maintenance or replacement, project interdependence, consequence of forgoing the project, conformance with plan/policies
Primary consideration is given to capital projects which are necessary to eliminate safety or health hazards, mandated by law, essential to comply with irrevocable commitments by the Board of Trustees, essential to complete a project phase, or deemed to have a very high positive economic impact. Secondary consideration is given to projects which are justifiable through a cost-benefit analysis, significantly improve service delivery, leverage funding from other sources such as federal or state reimbursements, or require urgent maintenance.
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The primary sources of funds for the District´s operating budget, the General Fund, are ad valorem (property) taxes and intergovernmental revenues, which primarily represents the Consolidated Tax. In combination, these sources represent approximately 95% of the Fiscal Year 2007-08 General Fund budgeted revenues.
General Fund: The General Fund finances the day-to-day provision of library programs and services such as books and other materials, computers, salaries, landscaping and janitorial contracts, etc.
Capital Projects Fund: The Capital Projects Fund finances the costs associated with major maintenance and repair of the District´s facilities and equipment.
The four main projects in this Fund are:
- Integrated Library Systems Replacement Program
- Technology Replacements and Upgrades Program
- Building Repair and Maintenance Program
- Capital Construction Program
Grants Fund and Gifts Fund: Used to account for expenditures with restrictions, such as funds received from federal, state or other grants, or to honor the intention or request of a person or institution making a gift or donation to the District.
Other revenue comes from charges for services, fines and forfeits, investment income and other miscellaneous revenues.
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In the past, voters approved the issue of bonds to build new libraries to keep pace with growth. The voters chose not to approve a bond issue in 2003, and subsequent research by the District found that while area residents supported the District, they did not want new taxes levied to pay for new facilities to accommodate the growth. Area residents felt the District should limit expansion of new facilities to those that could be "afforded" within existing revenue streams.
As a result, the Board of Trustees has encouraged lean operating practices with the intention that any resulting savings will be "banked" to fund major maintenance renovations of existing facilities and the addition of new facilities. These prudent operating practices, coupled with the ordinary growth in revenues that accompany the growth experienced in the region, have resulted in the District being able to save enough money to tackle the projects in the Capital Improvement Plan.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, the District was able to transfer $1.7 million from the General Fund into its Capital Projects Fund, and for FY 2007-08, the District has budgeted to transfer $13.5 million to its Capital Projects Fund.
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When it comes to new buildings and/or renovations, there are three main areas of concern:
- The District´s ability to maintain any new facilities without eroding resources for existing facilities
- The recent escalations in building materials costs
- Consideration of recent efforts to constrain tax revenues that support state and local government services
During the 2005 session of the Nevada Legislature, a property tax cap was adopted that essentially limited the increase in taxes to 3% for owner-occupied residential property and to 8% for all other properties.
New growth comes into the tax roll at full taxable value. It is new growth that has largely driven the increase in property tax revenues for the District which would otherwise be limited by the cap.
Beyond that, there is a continuing effort by citizen groups to further reduce growth in governmental expenditures. While any initiative limiting taxes would not become effective for at least five years because such an initiative must be approved twice by the voters, it is possible that the Legislature may choose to act to limit taxes in a manner to keep expenditure-constraining measures within the purview of the Legislature.
The District has carefully planned its major maintenance and facility expansion program with this fiscal environment as a backdrop. Capital improvement planning anticipates that the District will be able to transfer additional funds from the General Fund to the Capital Projects Fund, at least through the horizon of this analysis. This approach will enable the Trustees to expand facilities within the limits of available resources.
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 Minimum Level of Expenditure For Items Classified As Capital Projects. General Fund.
Minimum Level of Expenditure For Items Classified As Capital Projects. Capital Project Fund.
Minimum Level of Expenditure For Items Classified As Capital Projects. Gift Fund.
Minimum Level of Expenditure For Items Classified As Capital Projects. Grant Fund.
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