Capital Improvements Committee

2023 CIP Meeting Schedule - This years CIP Meetings will be held in the Town Hall Conference room. 

CIP Meetings will be available for public viewing on Town Hall Streams, https://townhallstreams.com/towns/newboston

Overview:

The Planning Board is authorized by the local legislative body (town meeting) to prepare and amend a recommended program of municipal capital improvements. To help accomplish this, the Planning Board appoints a subcommittee known as the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Advisory Committee to develop the recommendations. The CIP Committee is made up of one Planning Board member, two Finance Committee members, one Select Board member and three at-large citizens.

Annually, the CIP Advisory Committee reviews capital needs and recommends a program of capital improvement projects over a six-year period. The primary purpose of the CIP Advisory Committee is to aid the Select Board and the Finance Committee in their consideration of the ensuing annual budget.

  1. In order to be considered for CIP participation the item must:
    1. Have a cost greater than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00).
    2. Have a useful lifespan of greater than two years.
  2. Trade in and/or sale recoveries anticipated for current year budget items must be represented in the Project Worksheet and Submission forms.
  3. To stabilize the 6-year schedule new projects will not be accepted for that time frame unless the majority of the Committee considers the item to be of an emergency nature.
  4. Departmental projects will be prioritized, as follows:
    1. Committed Funds (e.g. bond payments and items mandated by law)
    2. Life Safety (e.g. Fire/Police items)
    3. Infrastructure (e.g. Roads and Bridges)
    4. Community Services and Facilities (e.g. Libraries, Recreation items)
  5. Capital Reserve Funds may be proposed for items of greater than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00).

There are several benefits to having a Capital Improvement Program:

  1. The Capital Improvement Program provides an important link between broadly stated planning goals and specific capital appropriation requests.
  2. The CIP process is an initial vetting and balancing of identified capital needs conducted by citizen volunteers.
  3. The CIP process encourages cooperative project planning. Major capital projects are forecasted within a flexible framework designed to distribute the tax burden attributable to capital expenditures over time thereby contributing to a stable tax rate.
  4. The CIP process helps make voters aware of proposed improvements that may be of particular interest and about major proposals that will likely come before future town or school district meetings.
NameRepresentingTerm Expires
Fred Hayes

CIP Chairman

2026

Matt Beaulieu

CIP Member At-Large

2025

Jennifer Allocca

CIP Member At-Large

2026

Board of Selectmen Representative

Peter Hogan

Planning Board Representative

Kenneth Lombard

Finance Committee Representative