San Diego officials plan to spend $5 million analyzing how to prioritize overdue renovations and repairs to the city’s 1,600 buildings, many of which only get attention when emergency repairs are needed.

The goal of the analysis, the first of its kind in a decade, is to shift toward more preventative maintenance so problems can be fixed before they become more severe and expensive.

The new analysis was prompted by a city audit late last year that found officials have been underestimating San Diego’s infrastructure funding shortfall by about $1 billion by ignoring hundreds of minor maintenance needs.

The infrastructure shortfall, which rose to $6.5 billion last winter, would be closer to $7.5 billion if the auditor’s $1 billion estimate is accurate.

That audit found that while best practices suggest government agencies should spend 30% of facilities maintenance money on repairs and 70% on preventative maintenance projects, San Diego spends 87% of its facilities maintenance money on repairs and only 13% on preventative maintenance.

Hal Leggate, the city’s deputy director of facilities maintenance, said this week that the new analysis will play a crucial role in making sure the city spends taxpayer money wisely and keeps the public safe.

“Facility condition assessments are truly a critical tool for the city to have a clear and current understanding of what is needed to ensure that all buildings remain safe and reliable,” he said.

Councilmember Kent Lee said the city has put itself in a bad spot by relying on the last facility condition assessment, which was conducted between 2014 and 2016.

“Our existing assessments are aging, and at some point they’re not going to be relevant,” Lee said.

Without updated information, it’s nearly impossible for city officials to make smart decisions about which projects to prioritize, officials said.

The city’s independent budget analyst agreed that the analysis is crucial but also stressed that San Diego needs to spend much more on building maintenance and doesn’t currently have the money to do so.

Voters last November rejected a proposed one-cent sales tax increase that could have provided hundreds of millions of dollars for city infrastructure upgrades.

The audit said that although San Diego should spend about $143 million a year on building maintenance based on best practices, the city typically spends about $30 million.

City officials said the analysis will provide a road map for prioritizing repairs to the city’s buildings, which have been valued at more than $7 billion.

The timing is particularly crucial because much of the city’s infrastructure has outlasted its lifespan because it was built during the population boom of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The City Council’s budget committee voted 3-1 Wednesday in favor of the new analysis, with Councilmember Vivian Moreno casting the “no” vote.

Moreno said she fully supports the new analysis, which she called “a long time coming.” But she said the city can’t afford $5 million for an assessment of buildings when city library branches are being closed some days because of budget cuts.

All city branch libraries are closed on Sundays and many are closed on Mondays, thanks to a budget deficit of more than $300 million that San Diego faced last spring.

City officials told Moreno there is no money for the assessment in the budget for the ongoing fiscal year. Officials said they are locking a contract in place in case money becomes available this fiscal year or next fiscal year.

Without a contract in place, the city would have to conduct a request for proposals when money does become available — a process that could take as long as a year.

The contract, which needs final approval next month from the full council, is with Kitchell CEM Inc.

None of the $5 million will go to Kitchell until the city gives the green light.