Capital priority refers to the ranking of proposed capital projects based on importance, urgency, and strategic fit when resources cannot fund all requested projects. Prioritization frameworks consider factors like asset condition (is existing infrastructure failing?), growth pressure (is new development requiring new infrastructure?), council strategic priorities, grant eligibility (can we leverage external funding?), and public safety. Prioritization involves difficult choices—a community centre supporters want may compete with a road reconstruction engineers say is urgent. Transparent prioritization criteria help explain why some projects proceed while others are deferred, bringing accountability to capital allocation decisions.