One of the largest capital project funding resources is System Development Fees (SDFs), which are charged to new growth at the time building permits are issued. By state law, SDFs may only pay for the cost of projects associated with new growth and those projects must be identified in the adopted Infrastructure Improvement Plan (IIP)which can be found here. 

Grants are available for various types of projects through different sources and governmental agencies. If capital grants are listed as the funding source, the project will not proceed until the grant is awarded. Grant funded projects may also require Gilbert matching funds, which should be clearly stated in the project description. Additionally, grants are taken to Council for the approval of application and acceptance of grant funds if they are:

1. Federally funded, or
2. Over $25,000, or
3. Requiring Gilbert to hire additional staff, or
4. Requiring Gilbert to continue to fund grant personnel or other costs beyond the term of the grant, or
5. Requiring matching funds.

Grants may be listed as “federal funds”, “state funds”, or other governmental agency name as the funding source.

Operating revenue which consists of general, streets, water, wastewater, environmental services residential or commercial and environmental compliance funds may fund certain one-time projects. Operating revenues come from a variety of sources, depending on the fund. General Fund is mostly comprised of tax revenues. The Enterprise Funds are mostly comprised of revenues from user fees. 

These funding sources will be listed as the infrastructure category + fund (i.e. general fund, water fund, etc.). 

General, streets, water, wastewater, and environmental services and compliance funds have
established replacement funds which can be identified as a funding source for certain one-time
projects. These funding sources can be used only when replacing or repairing current rolling stock
and/or infrastructure. 

These funding sources will be listed as the infrastructure category + repl fund (i.e. wastewater repl fund).

Improvement Districts have been used to a limited extent as another financing and constructing method. Benefited property owners form a special taxing district to repay bonds sold specifically for construction of public improvements in a defined area.

Borrowing for construction through the issuance of long-term debt continues to be necessary to construct large scale projects. Repayment of debt is through property taxes for general obligation bond projects, operating revenue for non-growth-related projects, and SDFs for growth-related projects. 

Bonds are issued in several forms. State law requires voters to authorize General Obligation (GO) and Revenue Bonds through an election because the debt is secured by the taxing power of the local government. Wherever General Obligation Bonds or Revenue Bonds are referenced, it includes specifics as to whether it is an existing authorization (date specific) including the issue date if the bonds have been sold or new authorization (future bonds). 

In November 2021, voters approved a General Obligation Transportation Bond, to fund transportation improvement projects, vital for sustaining and alleviating traffic concerns throughout the town. The first portion of these bonds was issued in 2022. The remaining authorization will be used and additional bonds issued as the cash flow is needed. The bonds were not issued all at once to reduce the amount of interest paid while the projects are in progress.

State law authorizes other forms of debt to be issued without voter approval. These alternate financing sources include Public Facility Municipal Property Corporation (PFMPC) and Water Resource Municipal Property Corporation (WRMPC) bonds. Each MPC has a board made up of citizens who have authority to authorize bond issuance.

Developers contribute toward costs of capital projects when the construction is of direct benefit to their development. In some cases, funds are contributed toward a project from private sources as well.

These sources are described as developer (if required) and private (if voluntary).

For brevity, funding sources have been combined and labeled as ‘Miscellaneous’ in the project sheets detail. This typically refers to a one-time revenue source that is being applied to that particular project. For example, the sale of surplus parks land being applied to a project that is constructing a new park. For further clarification additional details have been added to the project information section of the project sheet when ‘Miscellaneous’ is listed as a funding source.

Projects that have been identified in various planning efforts (Parks and Recreation Master Plan,
Water/Wastewater Integrated Master Plan etc.), but are more than ten years in the future and do not
have funding identified. These projects will need to secure a funding source before they may be
considered for inclusion in the ten-year planning period of the Capital Improvement Plan.