The Delaware City Council has approved its latest five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) — with a rather large caveat.

Speaking to the council during Monday’s meeting, Director of Management, Budget, and Procurement Alycia Ballone called the 2025-29 CIP “unique” because two separate plans had to be prepared to account for both possible outcomes of the City’s tax levy that voters will decide in November.

In a memo to the council, City Manager Paul Brake said, “The 2025-29 plan truly is a ‘tale of two CIPs.’ It depicts in two separate plans the crossroads the City is facing with the November election. The first scenario depicts the worst case — remaining at the status quo with a 1.85% income tax rate with a 50% credit. The second scenario presents the best case — a successful levy increasing the income tax rate to 2.30% and the credit increasing from 50% to 65%.”

For years, the City has warned of the eventual ramifications of an additional source of revenue not materializing in the coming years as it falls further behind in funding necessary to maintain the growing community. Those warnings have been reflected in several editions of the CIP leading up to this year, and the 2025-29 CIP paints a picture of the now dire circumstances and the City’s desperation to get the tax levy approved.

The CIP shows a negative forward balance in the General Fund for each of the final four years of the plan, starting with a negative balance of $1,743,778 in 2026. The negative balance is projected to grow to $1,904,522 in 2027 before approaching $3 million in 2028 and 2029.

“The guidance for the levy failure is the same guidance that we’ve had the last several years,” Ballone said. “We prioritize projects and equipment based on the safety of the public, the workforce, if they have outside funding, if they’re absolutely necessary to maintain any operations, or if they would cost a lot more if we were to push them out.”

With a successful levy, the CIP projects no negative balances, and Ballone said the City would be able to “actually plan out some improvements over the next five years.”

Among the most notable differences between the two plans involve street and park maintenance and impacts on the police department and cemetery.

Should the levy fail, street maintenance will be limited to grant-funded projects only, and only grant-funded projects that require a minimal funding match from the City. No resurfacing projects would be done, nor would the City be able to afford trail maintenance.

With the additional funding from the levy, the City would be able to maximize available grants, meet the Ohio Department of Transportation’s paving schedule for state and federal routes, add an additional $4 million in local street resurfacing, and implement trail maintenance.

For the city’s parks, a CIP without additional funding would include backlogged playground replacements and court improvements only, the annual cost to get the pool in working condition, and funding for new fields being limited to park impact fees.

Levy funds would allow for field and court improvements at Smith and Mingo parks as well as filling gaps in the existing trail network, the renovation of Jack Florance Pool, and the renovation of the Mingo Park Indoor Recreation Center.

Limitations to the Delaware Police Department would include routine equipment replacement requests only, use of the dated evidence storage facility, and a reactive repair strategy for the Justice Center plumbing and structural issues. If additional funding is available, the CIP includes a new evidence storage facility, police fleet and equipment upgrades, and renovation of the 30-year-old Justice Center for growth in the police and court operations and to resolve plumbing and structural issues.

For more information on the CIP and the pending tax levy, visit www.delawareohio.net.

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.