How one city has maintained or increased its budget for 20+ years

Solution

Using Cartegraph’s operations management system, the Public Works Department can inventory street information, perform and record inspections, establish OCI ratings, predict and prioritize repair needs, and determine budgets.

“The data is all at our fingertips on a map,” says Cory. His team can easily prepare reports that support budget requests by specifying how the funds will be used for proactive, preventive maintenance that extends pavement life, reduces expensive reconstruction, meets OCI targets, and saves costs over the service life of the pavement. The city also uses the public works software to determine the value of its public infrastructure for annual financial report audits.

RESULTS

“Our budget doesn’t get cut,” says Cory. “The reason it doesn’t get cut is because our council has a lot of confidence in the numbers. If Cartegraph says we need $4 million to maintain our OCI, then the council says, ‘That’s what it has to be.’ They understand we can’t have brand-new streets covering the city, but they also understand the value of keeping our streets in good condition to save money down the road.”

“Our budget doesn’t get cut. The reason it doesn’t get cut is because our council has a lot of confidence in the numbers."

The same data used to generate budget proposals also helps the Public Works team efficiently respond to residents’ inquiries about plans to improve their streets. “When you can quickly pull up the 5-year plan and let them know when you’ll be working on their street, people are satisfied,” explains Cory.

Staff can knowledgeably communicate maintenance schedules several years out and explain priorities and how they might be impacted by budget changes.

“Having that data makes it easier,” Cory adds. “Not just for me, but for our elected council body too. They can take that message when they go campaigning—explaining that we have a pavement management system; this is how much we spend every year; here’s how we spend it and when your street will be worked on. Being able to give that information back to our residents is powerful.”