Washington’s City Council will review the city’s 2018-2022 capital-improvements plan during a special meeting Monday.

City staff began discussing the CIP with the aid of a slideshow during the council’s meeting earlier this week, but did not get far with the presentation when Councilman Doug Mercer interrupted. “Mr. Mayor, I’d like to suggest we have a separate meeting to go through this. I’ve got 50 or 60 questions. I don’t think I want to sit here tonight and burden you guys with the remainder of the agenda that we’ve got with an hour of instruction with this CIP,” he said.

Mayor Mac Hodges said, “I’ve got some (questions), too.”

“I mean the CIP went from $2 million next year to $5 million. One of the goals that we set at our retreat was we want to budget to revenues. That was the No. 1 financial goal that we set for ourselves. Here we are suggesting that we’re going to spend $5 million more than we anticipated last year,” Mercer said.

Mercer said he has questions about some of the explanations for spending money on some of the proposed CIP projects. “There are a number of places in here where the explanation is because of growth or because of reliability. I’d like for someone to explain where the growth is and what the liability for the city is. I just think a second meeting would be appropriate,” he said.

The city’s capital-improvements plan — a detailed report on major building projects and significant equipment purchases scheduled for the next several years — is used to help develop the city’s future budgets. Currently, the city is developing its 2017-2018 fiscal year budget.

The city has adopted a pay-as-you-go plan when it comes to major capital expenditures, proceeding with CIP projects when the money is there, sometimes splitting a project into phases funded over several years. The council assigns priorities to CIP projects to determine when they will be funded, or if they are funded.

Capital expenditures of $20,000 or more must be included in the CIP before funding is allocated in budget, according to city policy. In case of emergencies, sometimes that policy is waived. The plan addresses major expenditures such as new vehicles, stormwater (drainage) projects, water and sewer projects and computer hardware and software upgrades or replacements. The council decides which proposed projects receiving funding, whether a project will be completed in phases and when a project begins.

The CIP includes $1.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year for improvements for the headquarters fire station at the intersection of North Market and Fifth streets. The building, dedicated March 25, 1965, has some structural issues such as cracks that need addressing.

The CIP includes $3.75 million in the upcoming budget for drainage improvements along the Jack’s Creek basin. The money would pay for the second phase of the improvement project.

The CIP also includes $26,000 for converting the former “band field” next to the Bobby Andrews Recreation Center on East Seventh Street into practice soccer fields. The site is where the Washington High School band practiced when the school was located in the East Seventh-East Eighth streets area.