The Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Capital Program consists of the following components:
- Authorized Capital Program
- Capital Improvement Plan
Authorized Capital Program
The Authorized Capital Program provides multi-year authorization to spend on program costs where funding has been secured and the Metropolitan Council has given final approval to proceed. It is the total amount of all past and present approvals from the Met Council for the specific project.
The 2026 Authorized Capital Program consists of the previously approved Authorized Capital Program; plus the authorization of new programs, authorization of adjustments to existing programs, and the deletion of completed and closed-out programs. The changes from the previous year are summarized below.
| 2026 Summary of Authorized Capital Program Changes |
|
| Previous Authorized Capital Program |
$1,839,194,757 |
| Adjustments to Existing Programs |
$ 135,514,757 |
| Closed Projects |
$ (43,959,990) |
| New Projects |
$ 246,636,754 |
| Total All Changes |
$ 338,191,521 |
| Approved 2023 Authorized Capital Program |
$2,177,385,981 |
Capital Improvement Plan
The Capital Improvement Plan is the six-year capital investment plan. The Met Council has not given final approval to these investments. These proposed investments and the year that we anticipate asking the Met Council to move them into the Authorized Capital Program is summarized below.
The Capital Improvement Plan identifies programs and projects that preserve assets, provide capacity for growth, or improve the safety, efficiency, or quality of existing service. The plan is guided by the 2040 Water Resources Policy Plan, the Wastewater System Plan, and the Met Council Customer Level of Service, which sets expectations for organizational performance, communication, project coordination, and economic outcomes.
Capital Program
The Capital Program consists of the Authorized Capital Program plus the Capital Improvement Program. Table 10 (PDF) from the Met Council’s 2026 Unified Budget summarizes the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services 2026-2031 Capital Program.
Capital Budget and Projected Expenses
The Capital Budget is the amount from the Authorized Capital Program that is expected to be spent in that given year. It cannot be exceeded without formal Met Council action. The adopted Metropolitan Council Environmental Services 2026 Capital Budget is $406 million. As depicted below, the projected capital expenses for the 2026-2031 timeframe are $3,113 million. The projected expenses are utilized in the development of the debt service numbers in the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Capital Finance Plan.
For more information on the Capital Programs budget, please see the 2026-2031 Capital Program summary.