The Role of the Finance Officer in Planning and Evaluating Capital Projects

When engineers plan a new capital project, they tend to delay the involvement of the finance officer. As a result, projects may be far along in the planning or even in the design process before funding is identified. In assuming a greater responsibility for leadership in this role, the finance officer can help position the jurisdiction to consistently make decisions aligned with overall goals and objectives. Centralized oversight can decrease the competition for funds between projects and help ensure long term plans are followed to achieve the best outcomes for the jurisdiction and its citizens. The finance officer can also expand the capital improvement program to be not just a project-funding exercise, but rather a strategic plan that aligns projects to overall jurisdictional goals and strategies and works to complete projects that encompass the right scope at the right time.