Definition
A CIP (Capital Improvement Plan, also called a Capital Improvement Program) is a municipality's multi-year plan, usually covering five to ten years, that lists the infrastructure projects it intends to fund, with a budget, timing and funding source for each. For water and wastewater utilities the CIP is where treatment plant upgrades, sewer replacements and pump station projects first appear, often years before they go out to bid. Klarifi has structured more than 17,000 CIP line items from over 1,100 US cities. The acronym also means Carriage and Insurance Paid To (shipping), clean-in-place (process cleaning) and Customer Identification Program (banking); this guide covers the municipal budget document.
What is a CIP?
Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) are long-term budget planning documents used by US municipalities to outline capital expenditure and necessary infrastructure projects over a multi-year period. These plans serve as blueprints for the future, guiding investments in essential services such as transportation, public safety, and municipal water and wastewater systems.
How to find future projects across CIPs
Klarifi's wastewater market intelligence platform empowers users to search for CapEx projects on a line-item basis across hundreds of US municipalities:
- Explore future budget allocations and infrastructure spending trends across U.S. cities
- Search and filter thousands of planned capital projects at a line-item level
- Download verified contact information for municipal decision-makers and infrastructure stakeholders
The below interactive walkthrough can only be experienced on desktop. Please visit this page on a larger screen to see the full demonstration.
This functionality allows wastewater solution providers to fine-tune their outreach strategy - empowering them to allocate sales and marketing efforts effectively.
How Klarifi enhances and structures CIP data
Klarifi collects and processes CIP data through a robust blend of AI-powered automation and expert human validation. Our custom-built technology scans and retrieves the latest Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) and adopted municipal budgets from cities across the United States. Once identified, the documents are structured and verified using a hybrid process that combines artificial intelligence with manual data refinement to ensure accuracy and completeness. The result is a searchable, standardized CIP database - accessible directly through the City Budgets module. Try it below to explore infrastructure investments and funding priorities by city.
Why CIPs matter in water infrastructure
In the realm of water management, CIPs are critical for ensuring that aging infrastructure is upgraded before failures occur. These plans help cities:
- Allocate funds for projects like pipeline replacements and wastewater treatment upgrades.
- Coordinate efforts across departments.
- Communicate long-term strategies to residents and stakeholders.
Klarifi makes it easy to explore structured CIP data from thousands of municipalities, offering a centralized platform to track, compare, and analyze spending trends across US cities.
CIPs and State Revolving Funds (SRFs)
State Revolving Funds (SRFs) are a critical source of financing for water and wastewater infrastructure projects in the United States. Administered at the state level with federal funding support, SRFs provide low-interest loans to municipalities to help fund essential infrastructure upgrades.
Large wastewater CapEx projects, such as WWTP expansion and sewer line rehab require significant up-front investment, which can be impossible to accommodate within year-to-year municipal budgets. Here, the SRFs serve as the state's tool for letting municipalities upgrade their infrastructure.
Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) play a crucial role in this process. Many cities must have an up-to-date, well-documented CIP to qualify for SRF financing. A strong CIP helps municipalities:
- Demonstrate project readiness: SRF programs often prioritize projects that are clearly defined, budgeted, and scheduled in official planning documents.
- Justify funding needs: Detailed project descriptions and cost estimates in a CIP strengthen a city's case for SRF assistance.
- Coordinate funding strategies: CIPs allow cities to align multiple funding sources—including SRFs, local bonds, and federal grants—within a cohesive infrastructure strategy.
For solution providers, understanding a municipality's CIP can offer early insight into which projects are likely candidates for SRF funding. Klarifi's City Budgets module helps users identify infrastructure projects at the planning stage, providing visibility into upcoming opportunities and funding strategies.
Key components of a CIP
A well-structured CIP typically includes:
- A project list with descriptions and justifications
- Estimated costs and funding sources
- A timeline for each phase
- Impact assessments
- Information about the engineering firm(s) advising the city
Browse capital improvement plans by state, city and project type
Klarifi has extracted the water, sewer and wastewater line items from more than 1,200 published capital improvement plans and adopted budgets: 17,000+ projects worth about $108 billion across 580 cities in 47 states. All of it is public on the capital improvement plan pages: a page per state, a page per city with its ten largest line items, budgets, years and a link to the source document, and a page per project type, from pump stations and lift stations to SCADA, digesters, biosolids and PFAS treatment. The full line-item list with descriptions and the decision-makers behind each project is in the Klarifi platform.
