[0:00] your back. Put your hands on your hips.

[0:06] You're going to tighten up your core.

[0:08] Squeeze everything.

[0:11] And you're going to tilt your bottom

[0:12] forward. Your knees are going to be

[0:14] slightly bent, looking up at the

[0:16] ceiling. Keep everything tight. And I'm

[0:19] going to [music] count 10 9 8 7 6 5 4

[0:26] [music] 3 2 one and release your body.

[0:30] Stretch it out. [music] Relax. Take a

[0:33] breath.

[0:36] Blow it out as your hands come back to

[0:37] [music] the hip area. Hands on the hip.

[0:41] Tighten it up and tilt.

[0:45] 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 one [music] and

[0:54] release your body. Stretch it out again.

[0:56] Take a breath.

[0:58] Blow it out as your hands [music] come

[1:00] back

[1:03] tight and tilt. Five 4 3 2 one and

[1:10] relax. Stretch it out. Take a breath.

[1:15] and blow it out

[1:18] tight and tilt.

[1:22] 10 9 [music] 8 7 6 5 4 3 [music] 2 1 and

[1:31] release it. Stretch it out.

[1:34] Breathing. [music]

[1:36] And blow it out.

[1:38] Last one. Tight [music] and tilt.

[1:42] 10. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and coming out of

[1:51] that. Stretch it out. Take a breath

[1:56] and blow it out. Bring your hands back.

[1:58] We're going to open our feet no wider

[2:00] than the chair legs.

[2:03] Bend your knees slightly.

[2:05] Reach across your body. Stretching it

[2:08] out. Starting with 10. Alternating to

[2:10] the other side.

[2:13] Nine.

[2:14] Stretch it out.

[2:17] Eight.

[2:20] Seven. Using your whole body. [music]

[2:23] Six.

[2:27] 5

[2:30] 4

[2:33] 3

[2:36] 2

[2:39] and one.

[2:42] Coming back in. Make sure [music] you

[2:44] can touch the chair with the backs of

[2:45] your legs. We're going to sit down 10

[2:48] times.

[2:51] This is a fun one.

[2:54] Put your hands out to the front. [music]

[2:56] Going to take a breath and blow it out

[2:58] as we sit down. Going down.

[3:04] Take your hands all the way to the back

[3:07] like you're going to scoop up air.

[3:08] Coming back up. Take a breath.

[3:13] Blow it out as you go down.

[3:22] And breathing up.

[6:01] Welcome to the city of Periland City

[6:03] Council uh special meeting. I'll call

[6:05] this meeting to order at 4 p.m. on

[6:07] August 24th, 2026.

[6:10] At this particular time, we'll have roll

[6:12] call certification of quorum. Madam

[6:13] Secretary, I attest that all members of

[6:16] council are present.

[6:20] Moving on to citizens comments. I do not

[6:22] believe that any citizens comments uh

[6:24] were submitted at this time. Uh so next

[6:27] order of business is the new business uh

[6:30] presenting presentation regarding the

[6:32] fiscal year 2027 proposed budget for all

[6:34] funds. And I'll turn it this time to Mr.

[6:38] >> Thank you, mayor, and good afternoon

[6:40] council. So, as we normally work through

[6:43] our budget workshops, a lot of what we

[6:45] talk about is what we're not able to get

[6:47] done within a budget um or our unressed

[6:50] needs. Um but today, as I get this

[6:53] kicked off, I want to talk about what

[6:56] this budget does accomplish and the

[6:58] goals that it meets um as we head into

[7:01] this fourth uh workshop. Um so, uh first

[7:04] off, uh there was a goal to be at the no

[7:07] new revenue rate. We are actually 1 cent

[7:09] below the no new revenue rate. Um

[7:12] streets, we've identified in streets uh

[7:15] that we have additional needs. Uh but

[7:17] again this year we added an additional

[7:19] $500,000 to the street rehab and

[7:22] maintenance budget.

[7:24] Cost recovery. We completed a

[7:26] significant review of our revenues and

[7:29] our fees for better cost recovery to

[7:31] ensure that they track along with our

[7:34] increased cost to provide those

[7:35] services. uh that's been completed and

[7:38] is actually the bulk of tonight's uh a

[7:41] lot of tonight's presentation. Uh we

[7:43] went through a fund balance review and

[7:45] optimization process and analysis that's

[7:49] been completed and is baked into this

[7:50] budget where we had fund balances uh for

[7:54] the general fund uh that that backed up

[7:57] where we had fund balances and other

[7:59] funds and we've been able to utilize

[8:00] those dollars instead of having them

[8:02] sitting there on the sidelines. um

[8:04] compensation. We've been on basically a

[8:07] kind of a three-year journey to review

[8:09] each major segment of our compensation

[8:11] plans in order to remain competitive in

[8:14] the market for retention and

[8:16] recruitment. Uh the goals established

[8:18] were uh to be above market versus our

[8:21] peer cities in the public safety arena

[8:24] and those pay plans and at the market

[8:26] for our non-public safety pay plans. So

[8:29] that three-year journey where we've

[8:31] gotten to today is we've addressed the

[8:32] PD pay plan with our meet and confer

[8:34] agreement. The second year of that is

[8:37] included in this budget. Last year we

[8:39] made a big move on the fire pay plan

[8:41] based on where we are were versus the

[8:44] market. And then this year we're making

[8:46] some structural changes in that fire pay

[8:48] plan to set us up better for the future.

[8:50] Um and then we also this year completed

[8:53] our compensation study for the rest of

[8:55] our employees. Um the analysis from that

[8:58] study identified two main things. Uh the

[9:02] areas where we were below the market and

[9:05] basically what adjustment would be

[9:07] needed to keep us at the market average

[9:09] uh for for those pay plans. And this

[9:11] budget addresses both of those as well.

[9:14] Health care. Uh we had to go out to the

[9:17] market for health care this year. That's

[9:19] always uh concerning because you always

[9:21] see the the cost increases in the

[9:23] healthcare arena. Uh but we did go to

[9:25] the market. we were able to limit our

[9:26] cost increases there to 6.8% while the

[9:29] industry is typically seeing over 11%

[9:32] increases. And then uh lastly, our water

[9:35] and sewer rate increase. Uh while last

[9:38] year's modeling estimated it to be over

[9:40] 16% uh this year uh we were able to get

[9:44] that down to a recommended of 12 and

[9:45] then squeeze it even a little further

[9:47] down to just south of 10%. Um, I'll I'll

[9:50] bet with another significant incre sign

[9:53] significant increase projected for next

[9:55] year. Uh, but we're near the end of

[9:57] those large rate increases. Um, and as

[10:01] you've seen in the headlines recently,

[10:02] we're not the only ones dealing with

[10:03] those kind of increases. Um, but we get

[10:06] through next year and depending on what

[10:07] we do there, it could extend another

[10:09] year, but we we see that drop off

[10:11] significantly um in in the two to

[10:14] threeyear time frame. Um, so it's a very

[10:17] tight budget, but does accomplish much.

[10:19] And at this point, I want to hand it off

[10:21] to Rachel to walk through our

[10:22] presentation tonight. Thank you.

[10:25] >> Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor and

[10:27] Council. For today's discussion, we'll

[10:29] be reviewing some of the general fund

[10:31] revenue and then discussing the fee

[10:33] changes that are applicable to this

[10:35] budget process.

[10:38] So, similar to how we've shown expenses

[10:40] in the past, this slide shows both our

[10:42] revenue and expenses for general fund by

[10:45] the strategic priorities set by council.

[10:48] So, strong economy includes sales and

[10:50] use taxes as well as community

[10:52] development. Trusted government includes

[10:55] charges for services and the tours admin

[10:57] fee. Safe community includes EMS, fire,

[11:00] and PD. and parks's connected community

[11:04] and our sustainable infrastructure

[11:06] includes franchise fees as well as

[11:08] transfers in another way of looking at

[11:11] revenue is revenue by department. So

[11:14] fiscal year 26 projections shows the

[11:17] best estimate of revenue through the

[11:19] fiscal year while projections for fiscal

[11:22] year 27 proposed budget are usually

[11:24] conservative and take out any one-time

[11:26] funds that may be accounted for in

[11:28] fiscal year 26. Most revenue is

[11:32] considered non-dep departmental

[11:34] including property taxes, sales taxes,

[11:36] tur admin fee as well as transfers in

[11:40] departments reflect revenue for services

[11:42] they directly provide. And as you can

[11:45] see, not all departments are listed as

[11:47] some may not generate any revenue. Those

[11:50] that do are encouraged to do so on a

[11:52] cost recovery basis when possible or to

[11:54] the legislative maximum if below the

[11:56] cost recovery threshold. Fees are

[11:59] reviewed annually as part of the budget

[12:01] process.

[12:03] During the budget process, departments

[12:05] followed the council direction to review

[12:07] fees and account for cost recovery.

[12:10] Updated fees throughout this

[12:12] presentation are built into the FY27

[12:14] proposed budget and reflect legislative

[12:17] and/or cost recovery updates. Most

[12:20] proposed fee updates were included in

[12:22] the budget highlights section of the

[12:24] fiscal year 27 proposed budget book with

[12:27] a few cost recovery fees for the fire

[12:30] department added for the purposes of

[12:32] this presentation.

[12:34] When fees are being updated, the old fee

[12:36] shows alongside the proposed new fees.

[12:38] And when new fees are shown, uh they

[12:40] will be added to the fee schedule for

[12:43] approval on September 14th. This slide

[12:46] shows six animal control fees that are

[12:48] proposed to be updated for fiscal year

[12:51] 27. And the next slide shows a fee that

[12:54] is currently being charged and needs to

[12:56] be added to the fee schedule based off

[12:58] of services provided by the shelter.

[13:02] This next permit fee slide uh reflects

[13:05] things that have been listed on separate

[13:07] ordinances and may or may not have been

[13:09] charged and will now be included on the

[13:11] non-development fee ordinance and

[13:13] charged consistently as written. And

[13:15] this brings both ordinances into

[13:17] alignment and the police department will

[13:19] begin collecting fees as indicated.

[13:23] The fire department is updating EMS fees

[13:26] to increase in line with legislative

[13:28] maximums. These changes do not allow for

[13:31] full cost recovery, but do bring them

[13:33] more into alignment with that.

[13:36] Beginning in fiscal year SE 27, we're

[13:38] proposing to begin collecting additional

[13:42] fire cost recovery fees. And those fees

[13:45] are shown here, and they're applied

[13:46] based off of the services rendered at

[13:49] the time.

[13:52] The fire marshall is proposing to update

[13:54] three fees to be more in line with uh

[13:57] their addition the other fees in the

[14:00] schedule so that they're charging

[14:01] consistently.

[14:03] Parks has two updates to their parks and

[14:07] recreation niatorum fees as well as

[14:10] additional new fees proposed for the

[14:12] west perand community center. This would

[14:15] bring in new revenue as well as an

[14:17] update to the timings or new timing

[14:20] system daily use fee.

[14:23] Community development will be per

[14:25] updating their development fees for the

[14:27] first time in over five years. These are

[14:30] done on a cost recovery basis as well as

[14:33] in line with legislative changes. So

[14:35] [snorts] there are a significant amount

[14:37] of these. So if you click on those

[14:39] links, you're able to see them in more

[14:41] detail.

[14:44] There are some additional new fees that

[14:46] will be included in the update to the

[14:48] development fees and this will also come

[14:50] before council on September 14th. And

[14:53] then there are solid waste fees uh in

[14:57] alignment with our contra contract with

[15:00] Frontier. In addition to the solid waste

[15:02] fees shown here, which will be included

[15:05] on the non-development fee schedule, the

[15:08] water wastewater fees will also be

[15:09] updated as discussed during budget

[15:12] discussion number two with that 9.9%

[15:15] increase and included on that

[15:16] non-development fee schedule.

[15:20] So, as we start to wrap up the budget

[15:22] process, we'll come on September 14th

[15:25] with the budget public hearing, the

[15:27] first reading of our budget ordinance,

[15:29] tax rate ordinance, non-development fee

[15:32] ordinance, and the development fee

[15:33] ordinance, as well as the adoption of

[15:35] the 5-year capital improvement plan. And

[15:38] then on September 28th, we'll have the

[15:40] second reading of the budget ordinance,

[15:42] tax rate ordinance, non-development fee,

[15:45] and development fee ordinances. And with

[15:47] that, I'll turn it back over to Mr.

[15:48] Epson for questions.

[15:56] » Thank you, Rachel. Um, I just, you know,

[15:58] once again want to thank our budget

[16:00] team, all of our departments that are

[16:01] here and all the hard work that's gone

[16:03] into the budget up to this point. And at

[16:06] this point, ready to hand it back to

[16:07] you, mayor and council for any uh

[16:09] questions um as we wrap up the uh final

[16:12] budget workshop and head into budget

[16:14] adoption adoption next month. Thank you.

[16:18] Mr. and thank you uh Mitchell

[16:20] for that information.

[16:23] I'll look to council for any questions

[16:27] or comments.

[16:29] Oh, sorry. Uh member Kosa. Thank you,

[16:33] Mayor. Uh on the uh memo that was sent

[16:36] out page three of 27.

[16:40] Just had a question here on the 26

[16:43] estimated and then the 27. Uh it shows

[16:46] the recovery was 78 uh and 26 and then

[16:50] 84 and 27. Um is that what we're uh one

[16:57] is 26

[16:59] uh since we're almost through it. I

[17:00] assume that that's pretty accurate at

[17:02] 78% recovery.

[17:06] » Oh, there's Carrie. I didn't see Carrie.

[17:09] >> Yes. Uh those are those numbers were

[17:11] based off of our midyear projections

[17:12] that were approved in the in June. Um,

[17:15] but that's what we've been adhering to

[17:17] and we anticipate our expenses to be

[17:19] 100% of what was adopted in June.

[17:21] >> Okay. All right. And then, uh, showing

[17:23] for for the next year, albeit it's a

[17:26] forecast, we're looking at 84%. Um, the

[17:30] revenue is roughly flat to me. It's

[17:32] about,000

[17:35] difference. Um, [clears throat] the, uh,

[17:38] expenses dropped quite a bit um,

[17:41] compared to the year before. Uh so

[17:44] that's where the the percentage

[17:46] difference came in. Um as far as you

[17:48] know moving forward I know uh like we

[17:51] said before the

[17:53] uh co hit is hard and it was uh we went

[17:57] from about 105 to 55%. Um what do we

[18:01] have what are we looking at to try and

[18:03] get back up to the if you want to call

[18:05] it break even or you know 100% cost

[18:07] recovery.

[18:08] >> So we are um we're looking at a lot of

[18:10] different things. Um, one, always

[18:13] looking at our expenses and our staff

[18:14] cost, monitoring that as we go through.

[18:16] One of the reasons for the decreases in

[18:18] expenses in FY27 versus FY26 and 26, we

[18:22] had several um, HVAC units that we had

[18:25] to replace that were unexpected repairs.

[18:27] And so, that was driving up those

[18:28] expenses. So, in FY27, we expect that to

[18:30] get back down to where that average

[18:32] should should stay. And then we are

[18:35] looking at a lot of new revenue

[18:37] generating opportunities. Um we're

[18:38] looking at improving our group fitness

[18:40] classes which will drive additional

[18:42] membership revenue. Um so membership

[18:44] revenue is one of our largest um

[18:47] revenues for the facility. And then also

[18:49] in the natiatorum um our team has been

[18:52] working very strategically to start um

[18:55] I'll say playing Tetris with the with

[18:56] the use of the pool to where we can

[18:58] still offer swimming lessons and we can

[19:00] still offer members swim but we're also

[19:02] offering a lot um opening up a lot of

[19:04] opportunities for larger meets which are

[19:07] a huge revenue driving um opportunity

[19:09] for us. their decrease in revenue or the

[19:12] revenue staying about flat um was tied

[19:15] to two large swimming meets that move

[19:17] across the state throughout the year. So

[19:19] those aren't showing up in our revenue

[19:21] estimates, but those also open up prime

[19:23] weekends for new business and we're

[19:25] working to fill those spots. So when we

[19:27] budget for revenue, we base off of

[19:29] what's already on the books or what we

[19:31] feel very confident will be on the

[19:32] books. So, I anticipate those the

[19:34] revenue numbers to be even higher than

[19:36] what we've budgeted and we'll adjust

[19:37] that at uh midyear projections.

[19:40] >> Okay, fair enough. And uh I assume the uh there for a while we had seniors

[19:45] coming in here on a regular basis saying

[19:47] that they were shut out of the

[19:49] nanitorium. I assume that was all

[19:51] related to our uh rework of the HVAC,

[19:54] the deck, all that stuff that we were

[19:56] doing because we haven't seen uh seniors

[19:59] in here complain about it. Would that be

[20:01] a fair assessment? That's part of it. Um

[20:03] I will say some of our group fitness

[20:04] classes that are attractive to our

[20:07] senior members um with us trying to find

[20:10] space in the pool with that's very

[20:11] limited and so we could offer more group

[20:14] fitness classes for that demographic but

[20:16] we're just so limited on space that we

[20:18] have to be strategic about what we

[20:19] offer. So there still is an additional

[20:21] demand but as far as the facility

[20:23] remaining open and available to our

[20:24] members that has been happening.

[20:26] >> Okay. All right. Thank you very much.

[20:28] And then uh on

[20:35] slide 427

[20:37] uh in our packet. It's got uh it's yeah,

[20:42] right there it shows uh the assess value

[20:45] for Brazor County, Fort Ben, Harris

[20:48] County. Um I don't know if this is

[20:49] Victor or Trent. Um but it shows Brazor

[20:53] and Fort Ben uh with basic drops and

[20:57] Harris County with increases. Uh, is

[21:01] that due to uh our our industrial stuff

[21:05] going out or going up on uh our lower

[21:08] curvy stuff? Is that a safe assessment

[21:11] in that? Because we got two counties

[21:14] going down and and one going up.

[21:20] » Your assessment is correct.

[21:22] >> Okay. And then uh as far as the the

[21:25] assess value going down, I assume is

[21:27] that the advalorum tax for the

[21:29] 2500 to 125,000.

[21:31] >> That's absolutely right. That's what it

[21:32] is. Yeah, that's about that's over 170

[21:34] million in itself.

[21:36] >> Okay, that's what that's what I was

[21:37] assuming and I just want clarification.

[21:39] Thank you,

[21:42] >> council members.

[21:44] Member K. No, member Kate.

[21:47] >> Hey, just on slide four is revenue by

[21:50] department. Oh, sorry. Thank you.

[21:54] This FY26, that column doesn't add up

[21:56] for me.

[21:59] I think it's missing.

[22:27] I missed something.

[22:30] >> Uh, I don't know. We can look into it.

[22:31] >> You can tell me I'm wrong. It's fine. I

[22:33] just

[22:34] I did. You

[22:37] member Fernandez is adding in saying I'm

[22:39] wrong.

[23:12] While we participate in this exercise,

[23:14] I'll pass it to member Byron.

[23:17] >> Council member Fernandez got it. It's

[23:19] right. Thank you. Sorry. Sorry I broke

[23:22] the meeting for a minute.

[23:23] >> No, all questions are valid. Thank you.

[23:26] >> Thanks, Levity. It's great.

[23:28] >> Thank you, Mr. U.

[23:30] back on page three of the packet that

[23:32] member Koser was talking about just just

[23:35] as kind of a note if we can that cost

[23:38] recovery goal 75% for FY26 FY27

[23:43] like to make sure we talk about that

[23:45] when we get to strategic planning next

[23:46] year to to look at what that cost

[23:48] recovery goal is moving forward because

[23:51] I think through different conversations

[23:53] we've had we want to get that cost

[23:54] recovery goal back to 100 and I think

[23:56] that's where you're headed anyway. Um I

[23:58] just want to make sure we we have that

[23:59] as a target to discuss.

[24:01] >> Sure. And just I think to clarify the

[24:03] goal never had been set at 100. I think

[24:05] at one point we

[24:08] >> got over that with the way we were

[24:10] calculating it. We did come back and

[24:12] revamp making sure we were capturing

[24:14] some of the cost to operate it that

[24:17] maybe weren't captured in the early

[24:18] years. So I'm not sure we ever got as

[24:20] high as it was stated at one point. But

[24:23] um if if the if the ask is to revisit

[24:26] what the cost recovery goal is then yeah

[24:28] we definitely get that on the

[24:30] >> on the radar. Yes.

[24:32] >> Certainly not putting forth a direction

[24:34] other than just say I want to make sure

[24:35] we talk about that when we get to

[24:38] strategic planning. Um, also just you

[24:41] guys have kind of answered this offline,

[24:43] but just for uh public record in our

[24:47] memo, it talked about under our IT

[24:49] strategic plan that there were 49

[24:52] initiatives. Um, 11 of those have been

[24:55] completed, which is great. Seven of

[24:57] those were moved to day-to-day

[24:59] operational budget functions. one was

[25:02] removed altogether,

[25:04] which leaves about 30 initiatives from

[25:06] the original IT strategic plan that

[25:10] weren't listed in the memo. As I

[25:12] understand it, there's another memo

[25:13] coming out in a couple of months that

[25:16] will more detail that. Um, and I'm

[25:19] hoping when that memo comes out, it

[25:22] details

[25:23] how much we have left because that

[25:25] original strategic plan called for about

[25:26] $26 million worth of investment over

[25:29] some period of time with

[25:33] 18 of those being taken care of. I

[25:35] assume that number would be slightly

[25:36] different, but we make sure when we get

[25:38] that memo, it kind of has that cost

[25:40] projection in it as well. Um,

[25:45] I think I had

[25:48] one other question that I had

[25:51] for Rachel. The TUR, remind me again,

[25:54] the TUR administrative fee is roughly

[25:56] about 60% of the taxable value. Is that

[25:59] right?

[26:07] It's about Yeah, it's about 60% of the

[26:09] property taxes collected in the tours.

[26:11] >> Okay.

[26:11] >> Roughly.

[26:12] >> Okay. [clears throat] Other than that, I

[26:15] just want to say thank you guys for your

[26:16] work on this budget and for coming in

[26:19] below no new revenue. That's always

[26:22] great. I know y'all put a lot of effort

[26:23] in this year at revamping the way you

[26:26] approach the budget, looking at your

[26:27] departments, making cuts where you need

[26:29] it, and so I know the taxpayers

[26:31] appreciate it, and I appreciate it as

[26:32] well. So, thank you guys.

[26:36] >> Fernandez, thank you, mayor. Uh, I

[26:38] believe slide 20 out of 27.

[26:42] Trent, can you uh maybe give a little

[26:45] bit more um how do you

[26:49] 20 out of 27 the fire department's

[26:52] proposed new fees?

[27:00] Okay. Um just a little bit more context

[27:03] on how are these fees gathered? Um, I

[27:06] see that it says similar to the existing

[27:08] emergency medical services cost recovery

[27:11] fees, but h how are we how do we gather

[27:14] that? Do we compare it to other cities

[27:16] or how do we get to these numbers?

[27:18] >> So, how do we come up with the actual

[27:19] fee amounts?

[27:23] And then off the fire, you got that

[27:25] Chad?

[27:25] >> Yeah, so uh these fees are kind of set

[27:30] based on what other cities are doing.

[27:33] Correct, Chief? Um, and they would be

[27:35] build through Emergon, which is the

[27:38] company that we currently use to bill

[27:39] for EMS services.

[27:44] » Okay. Um, I also want to echo um,

[27:47] Councilman Byum's uh, comments. Great

[27:49] job to the staff, everyone that put in

[27:53] um, to make this possible. we um came

[27:56] together in February or at the end of

[27:57] January at our retreat to give a um

[28:01] request for a no new revenue rate and

[28:04] y'all exceeded that. So I just want to

[28:05] say thank thank you to all those that

[28:08] made that possible. Thank you.

[28:11] >> Mayor Pim Shri,

[28:12] >> thank you mayor. Um I have a quick

[28:14] question on page three. How often do we

[28:17] look at our membership fees and increase

[28:19] those fees for RCN? Is it done every

[28:22] other year, once a year? Um when was the

[28:25] last time we increased membership fees?

[28:28] >> So we increased our membership fees last

[28:30] year and then we are following the um

[28:34] consumer price index for in regular

[28:36] increases and so as soon as our

[28:37] membership rates hit an even number then

[28:40] we'll increase we'll come back to you

[28:41] all with a proposed increase.

[28:43] >> Okay. Thank you. And then Trent, can we

[28:45] have a breakdown of what percentage of

[28:48] salaries would be allocated to fire and

[28:50] police and then what's for everything

[28:52] else in general fund? That makes sense.

[28:56] >> So the percentage of salaries dedicated

[28:58] to fire and police, I think it's around

[29:00] 679.

[29:02] >> We actually have a slide if you want us

[29:05] to display that which will show that for

[29:07] you.

[29:07] >> Yes, please.

[29:16] So you will see police at 40.8 and fire

[29:19] at 26 and a half.

[29:23] >> Okay. And then so that would leave what?

[29:24] 32 32% would just be general fund for

[29:27] all the other salaries. Correct.

[29:28] >> Excellently.

[29:29] >> Okay. Thank you. It's a good slide.

[29:31] Thanks,

[29:37] » Council Eckles.

[29:40] » [clears throat]

[29:40] >> Yes, I too would like to say thank you

[29:43] much to the staff for your hard work on

[29:45] this budget.

[29:48] When we asked for no new revenue, I knew

[29:50] that was going to be a challenge and

[29:52] then when the state went from 2500 to

[29:56] 225 on Abduren deduction, uh that put a big strain as well. So it's much

[30:05] appreciated. Uh two questions. One

[30:08] question would be on the fees for the

[30:12] fire. Uh what percentage of these fees

[30:17] do we feel like will be attainable on on

[30:20] receiving through insuranceances and and

[30:22] other needs where whereby we usually

[30:26] write off the [snorts] the unpaid

[30:28] balance of insurance. So, of the

[30:31] practicality of these fees, what

[30:34] percentage should we look look at being

[30:38] able to collect and what percentage

[30:40] would we need to write off?

[30:43] >> Um, so Emergon says that statewide

[30:46] they're able to collect about 30%.

[30:49] >> Okay,

[30:50] that's that's reasonable. And second

[30:54] question is on animal services.

[30:58] Be being a uh pet owner and some of

[31:01] these services that we we have here is

[31:06] uh far far less than services provided

[31:11] by any local veterinarian clinic. Um, is

[31:15] there any way we could look at these

[31:17] fees and not saying be exactly that of

[31:22] the private veterinarian, but we're

[31:25] staffing a veterinarian, we're paying

[31:27] their salary, paying the medication. Is

[31:30] there a way that we could look at a more

[31:35] structured fee that would correlate with

[31:38] the uh commercial entities that are the

[31:42] veterinarians in the area?

[31:44] >> So, generally speaking, um where our

[31:47] fees are coming from is through our

[31:49] contracts with the animal animal

[31:51] disposal service that we have. Uh so,

[31:54] this is this gives us a cost recovery on

[31:56] that plus a little bit of profit. I'm

[31:58] not sure. Chief, do you know the exact

[32:00] percent?

[32:02] >> I don't know the exact percent. Um, we

[32:04] can we can get you that data. I know we

[32:07] have we can get you that information.

[32:09] Generally speaking, we don't do a whole

[32:11] lot of these. Uh, Council Member Eckles,

[32:13] this is kind of more um sometimes people

[32:16] that don't have their own vet services

[32:18] and they're just they're not sure what

[32:19] to do with a deceased animal uh that

[32:22] they own. And so a lot of times we get

[32:23] them that route.

[32:25] um we have very few pets actually

[32:28] surrendered to us uh in part because we

[32:30] don't generally have the capacity to

[32:32] take that on. And then as far as the

[32:34] microchip implant, while you see that

[32:36] going down actually uh that's because a

[32:39] few years back we changed our city

[32:41] ordinance to um get rid of uh pet

[32:44] registrations as in like tags and

[32:46] there's instead a requirement for

[32:48] microchipping. And so that's kind of our

[32:50] part to help encourage our public to get

[32:52] the animals microchipped. But we

[32:54] actually do that inhouse. Uh so we our

[32:57] expense there is basically what's there

[32:59] is the fee.

[33:01] >> Okay. Thank you so much.

[33:06] » Patel.

[33:08] >> Thank you mayor. Um

[33:11] trying I'm going to take the road that's

[33:14] not popular but

[33:16] um I had asked you to provide the gross

[33:20] employee salaries or payment. And what I

[33:23] would like to do is on the budget to

[33:25] include that full um I guess for the

[33:30] past 12 months and include that. You can

[33:33] take names out but keep the positions. I

[33:36] think it's important for transparency

[33:38] that we share with our constituents what

[33:42] salaries we're paying when we're talking

[33:43] about 70% of their taxes going towards

[33:46] uh payments.

[33:48] Also, I would like to have this council

[33:51] consider including all vendor payments

[33:54] included in our budget for the past 12

[33:56] months. I think it's important for again

[34:00] constituents to see um who our vendors

[34:03] are and where our dollars are going

[34:05] towards either consultants, engineers,

[34:08] and whatnot.

[34:11] Um is Dan here in it? Hey Dan. Um, how

[34:16] many softwares do you guys support?

[34:24] » Uh, paid or not paid or all together?

[34:29] >> Probably upwards of 200.

[34:33] >> We have 700 employees and we have over

[34:35] 200 softwares we're supporting

[34:38] >> roughly. Yes. But

[34:41] I mean, you're talking like Adobe Reader

[34:43] and all of that.

[34:44] >> Sure.

[34:45] >> And

[34:46] >> so I guess the exercise would be Dan um

[34:49] and and maybe this is the next next

[34:51] year's budget. What are we really what

[34:55] areas can we really cut back, right?

[34:57] Especially on the ones that are costing

[34:58] us. Is there an opportunity there to

[35:01] consolidate uh some of this? or if if

[35:04] the group is really small that's using

[35:06] it, is there a way we can get them off

[35:08] if if there's cost association

[35:10] associated with it? And I guess how much

[35:12] time are you guys spending on

[35:13] maintaining it? Right. If my

[35:15] understanding is correctly, you have 14

[35:17] people in your department.

[35:19] >> Uh 20 25,

[35:21] >> sorry. Okay. Uh 25 people. So I mean I

[35:25] think it's kind of it's worth looking

[35:28] at, right? the IT software supporting

[35:30] that many software among people and what

[35:33] the usage is. So just a suggestion but I

[35:36] think it's worth looking at and maybe we

[35:38] can send that money somewhere else if if

[35:40] that's possible at all suggestion.

[35:45] Um Trent, how many I guess open

[35:48] positions do we still have that we don't

[35:50] fill on an average that we have funded?

[35:55] I don't know if someone from HR can

[35:58] speak to kind of what that rolling

[36:01] number looks like. If not, we can get it

[36:04] to you.

[36:05] >> Okay. And I guess what's the dollar

[36:06] amount attached to it and what's the

[36:08] average if it's 6 months, 12 months that

[36:10] we're rolling these positions? because

[36:12] if there are open positions that are not

[36:14] being filled, um either we need to

[36:17] eliminate those positions, um maybe we

[36:20] can take that fund and percentage- wise

[36:23] increase it for somebody else who's

[36:24] already doing that work, but maybe we

[36:26] don't need that position. So, I think

[36:28] >> I don't think we've got any positions

[36:29] that we don't fill on a regular basis

[36:31] when they become open that we move

[36:33] forward and fill those.

[36:35] >> Well, I mean, again, if it's if it's

[36:36] long enough, is it really needed? And

[36:40] again, if you don't know how long those

[36:41] positions have been open, I don't I

[36:43] don't know the answers. I'm just asking.

[36:44] >> Sure. I mean, we have those statistics.

[36:46] But the one of the things we do, um, you

[36:48] know, there's areas where we we know we

[36:50] have, uh, we need the capacity. We fill

[36:53] those positions. Um, but we do look at

[36:56] positions as they come open and and look

[36:58] at them from a standpoint of, uh, do we

[37:00] h still have that need? Um, is there a

[37:03] greater need elsewhere? Can we better

[37:06] employ that somewhere else or in a

[37:08] different way? um when we have positions

[37:10] come up. So, we don't just automatically

[37:12] say yes every time. We're just going to

[37:13] fill these positions without thinking

[37:15] about um what we're doing and and how

[37:18] our business is changing and what our

[37:19] current u most pressing needs are.

[37:22] >> Okay. And and again, I guess the

[37:25] question that goes back to that position

[37:26] being open or or uh exposed or unfilled

[37:30] for however many is two months or six

[37:32] months. Um I guess the salary on that

[37:35] position would go to your fund balance.

[37:38] Correct.

[37:39] >> If it's unutilized.

[37:40] >> That's correct.

[37:41] >> Okay. So, I guess what's that balance

[37:44] for last fiscal year that we have

[37:46] position these positions or the

[37:48] departments able to use that money for

[37:49] some other line item?

[37:51] >> So, we do not allow that to be used for

[37:53] some other line item by the departments.

[37:55] Uh usually um that's accounted for as we

[37:58] go through the budget amendments dealing

[37:59] with uh like this year. You know, a lot

[38:01] of years we've had where we have salary

[38:03] savings that is um if we have any

[38:06] overtime expenditures that are necessary

[38:07] somewhere, they help cover those. Um or

[38:10] they fall to the fund balance and and we

[38:11] utilize them through a budget amendment

[38:13] process or with this year um with some

[38:17] uh very tenured employees uh retiring,

[38:20] there are the the acrrual payouts, which

[38:22] we haven't traditionally budgeted the

[38:24] full amount of those and we've always

[38:26] used salary savings to pay those out. So

[38:29] this year, I believe we pretty much used

[38:31] all that for those uh those u long

[38:35] tenure employees that left the city. Um

[38:38] and I think and so looking at that how

[38:40] that worked this year, we're actually

[38:42] building some more of that into the

[38:44] budget to make sure where we have known

[38:45] retirements and things like that. We're

[38:47] budgeting for that, not relying upon

[38:49] salary savings to do those things. Okay?

[38:51] >> But we do not, you know, we just don't

[38:53] allow those to be used in any way. they

[38:55] go towards those sort of things or they

[38:57] come back through the budget process.

[38:59] >> Yeah. And that's fine. Um and and I know

[39:02] we're buying I think what is it 43

[39:04] vehicles I read. Right. Um and I'm going

[39:08] to last year or year before I had

[39:10] mentioned considering doing EVs for

[39:12] certain departments, right? Uh we have

[39:15] this new um maintenance uh I guess

[39:19] building we built out there. Um, and

[39:23] again, I know in Houston they do use a

[39:25] lot of hybrid uh vehicles for

[39:27] inspections and co code enforcements.

[39:30] Um, and I know we end up always buying

[39:32] trucks. It seems like for most of our

[39:34] um, so if there's an opportunity, uh, I

[39:38] think it'll be worth it. I think it'll

[39:39] be, again, I know there will be some

[39:41] cost incurred for charging stations and

[39:43] stuff to put those in there. Uh but

[39:45] since we have a new facility, I hope

[39:47] that we have the uh power and and again

[39:50] it's a long-term plan, but I think it's

[39:51] worth looking at it. [snorts] Um

[39:53] >> I think we can look at that, but we we

[39:54] have vehicles that sit at multiple

[39:57] locations every evening. We have

[39:58] vehicles that go home. So I think that

[40:01] we've got to consider that as far as,

[40:03] you know, going to that type of vehicle

[40:05] [snorts] and and it wouldn't be just

[40:07] putting the infrastructure in at the new

[40:08] fleet services facility. It' be every

[40:10] building we have.

[40:11] >> And I guess that that's a fair point. We

[40:13] can we can ask.

[40:14] >> Yeah, I mean it's uh I think it's 10

[40:16] grand per charger to put it in overnight

[40:18] charger. So um I guess that's my take on

[40:22] this. I think it's uh worth looking at

[40:24] it. But the other other thing I'll tell

[40:26] you, Carrie, I know we a couple of

[40:28] council members mentioned cost recovery.

[40:30] Uh the goal is 100, but I guess you're

[40:32] not including capex on that. that's just

[40:35] breaking even to operate that buildings

[40:38] down there in Nitorium and the uh

[40:42] >> it doesn't include any of the capital

[40:43] cost and it also doesn't include any of

[40:45] the cost of some of the programs that

[40:46] happen in the facility such as our

[40:48] summer camps um basketball leagues uh

[40:51] pickle ball leagues. Once you add in

[40:52] those you're adding if they if we were

[40:54] to have to pay to rent space for those

[40:56] you're looking at about $460,000

[40:59] in additional cost.

[41:00] >> Yeah. And I think and I think I want

[41:02] council to kind of understand that um

[41:05] you know Carrie mentioned HVAC is I

[41:08] guess you just had it repaired right?

[41:11] >> Yes.

[41:12] >> Uh but that that cost is going to

[41:14] probably come due and remember Byron you

[41:17] can probably tell us better but I feel

[41:19] like HR every 7 to 10 years you got to

[41:21] rip them out and and start it over. Uh

[41:24] and I think we should make it a point

[41:26] with all departments to say you need to

[41:28] budget just like we do with the motor

[41:30] pool funds and stuff like that. Same

[41:32] thing with the niatorum to say hey you guys need to put the capex

[41:36] consideration into your budget and start

[41:39] budgeting this right we got lucky with

[41:42] the Periland ISD paying for to exit the

[41:45] contract. That's why we were able to

[41:47] correct me if I'm wrong $3.5 million.

[41:49] >> That's correct. So, we were able to use

[41:51] that, but otherwise that would have been

[41:53] a hit on our P&L, right? Um, and so, and

[41:57] I think, you know, one of the big costs

[41:59] when I look at this, it's it's kind of

[42:02] one thing I would ask you, Trent, again,

[42:04] I know we got the meet and confer for

[42:06] the police and we're going to do with

[42:07] the fire. Um, what is that five-year I

[42:11] guess what I would ask you to do and

[42:14] what this council should understand is

[42:15] what a stress test looks like, right? Um

[42:19] what does it look like if if let's say

[42:22] we do have another recession and the

[42:24] values plummet and we have all these

[42:26] agreements out there and the percentage

[42:29] are guaranteed what does that stress

[42:31] test look like for us right and and I

[42:34] think it's very it would be uh

[42:36] irresponsible of council to just look at

[42:39] one year today and not consider what it

[42:41] does it look like in three and five

[42:43] years and so what I would ask you is to

[42:45] do a stress test on this like what's the

[42:47] worst case scenar scenario and what does

[42:49] that worst case scenario looks like,

[42:51] right? Um, if we're going to consider

[42:53] dropping the 90-day uh funds um to let's

[42:58] say 75 days, right, fund balance, well,

[43:02] does a stress test hold up? And that

[43:04] that's really important to kind of

[43:05] consider that. Um, and and I know we're kind of celebrating that we went

[43:10] below no new revenue tax uh rate and

[43:13] that's great and I appreciate that. Um,

[43:17] but I don't think any of us really

[43:18] realized there was going to be 120. At

[43:20] least I did not. And I'll take

[43:21] responsibility that this new $125,000

[43:25] um uh exemption businesses were going to

[43:28] get were going to be that impactful for

[43:30] our community. So, you know, we can we

[43:33] can go around and say, "Hey, we reduced

[43:35] your tax from last year, but just keep

[43:37] in mind your tax bill is going to go up.

[43:40] The tax bill is going to go up on

[43:41] everybody." So, um, a couple of other

[43:44] things. Trent, um, you know, I do

[43:48] appreciate, um, the staff getting market

[43:52] salary and that's I don't have a problem

[43:54] with that, but does that mean that they

[43:56] are above 50 percentile? I guess are

[43:59] they above 50 or they below 50?

[44:03] The the goal on our compensation plan

[44:05] outside of public safety was to set our

[44:08] plan basically at the market. So our our

[44:11] midpoints are at the market. Our our

[44:14] starting point is generally at the

[44:17] market and our top end is generally at

[44:18] the market. So at any point during

[44:20] anyone's career based on their

[44:22] experience where they fall in that they

[44:24] should be basically um at or near the

[44:28] market. Okay. Well, and I guess for me,

[44:31] um, what I would also ask in most

[44:34] businesses, and I know we're not in a

[44:36] business here, but if we don't consider

[44:39] it, uh, there should be a cap on

[44:41] everybody's salary. There should be a

[44:43] certain point, you got to put a cap on

[44:44] the salary. Um, and I think it it's it's

[44:49] important if you're going to look at

[44:50] this long term, um, that we're very

[44:53] clear on you can't have

[44:57] certain people, and this is why I want

[44:59] that, uh, the pay that we have paid. We

[45:02] I think our city does well. I think we

[45:05] pay fair. Uh, and I think it's important

[45:07] for constituents to be able to see what

[45:08] we have paid. Um, and the reason I say

[45:12] that is, um, we cannot continue to

[45:15] always go up 3 or 4%. Because a

[45:18] compounding will kill us in the future.

[45:20] It won't be our problem, but it will be

[45:22] the next council or maybe the third term

[45:24] council's problem to deal with. Uh,

[45:27] especially with this uh, meet and

[45:28] confer. So I think I know this is a

[45:32] maybe too late of a game but I think it

[45:34] is very important that we have this

[45:36] discussion and I would like to kind of

[45:38] get a feedback on council on uh to be

[45:40] able to approve including vendors

[45:44] payment and um salary payments that we

[45:46] paid to our employees. Thank you.

[45:50] >> Thank you for those couple things there.

[45:53] Um so um we do include the pay plans in

[45:57] the budget. So that does show the range

[45:59] by position

[46:02] and I while if we want to share the

[46:04] information on vendor pay I think we can

[46:06] find the appropriate way to do that. I'm

[46:08] not sure it's a something to attach to

[46:10] the budget. So yeah. Yeah. I think look

[46:13] again my point is we talk about

[46:16] transparency all the time. And you know

[46:19] I think even I was shocked when I saw

[46:21] last last year year before when you

[46:24] first gave me the um the payment right

[46:27] for what we have paid our our our team

[46:30] and which is fine but I think it's

[46:32] important to understand that that what

[46:34] people do make with the city. I think

[46:36] it's important. I think it's important

[46:38] for our constituents to be able to see,

[46:39] hey, people are getting paid pretty

[46:41] well. Um, so I have and again, there's

[46:44] nothing to hide in the city. Show it,

[46:47] right?

[46:48] >> Member Patel, I understood. I think your

[46:50] points are well received. I know I trust

[46:53] that Mr. Eper will find an appropriate

[46:56] way to deliver the information as

[46:59] requested based on uh the concerns. Um,

[47:03] I know we're talking about budget, so

[47:05] we're concerning uh our taxpayers and

[47:09] residents. Um, and I think the

[47:11] conversations that we're having are um a

[47:15] result of the situation that we find

[47:18] ourselves in and that uh as mentioned in

[47:21] an earlier budget discussion that the no

[47:24] new revenue rate is not sustainable

[47:27] because there are other factors

[47:28] impacting uh our city services. And I

[47:32] think your points are wellreceived,

[47:34] member Patel, as well as every other

[47:35] member up here. So, as we move forward

[47:38] in uh potentially the next adoption or

[47:41] the adoption, um I think going into the

[47:44] next next year in the strategic planning

[47:47] session, uh we're going to have to make

[47:50] some really really important and

[47:52] difficult decisions on behalf of the

[47:54] residents here uh for us to continue to

[47:56] deliver the quality of life and quality

[47:58] of services that we expect.

[48:01] um all points said and um really well

[48:06] taken and I hope and we acknowledge the

[48:08] work the staff has put in. So at this

[48:11] particular time I don't think there are

[48:13] any other comments or suggestions. Um so

[48:17] with that being said um we can move on

[48:20] to the next item um on the agenda which

[48:25] is uh believe

[48:28] executive session

[48:37] happy to do that. that leaves us 15

[48:39] minutes and if we're not able to finish

[48:40] then then we may um recess that meeting

[48:44] and come back if there's time after the

[48:46] joint public workshop

[48:48] >> or uh we'll do that at the end. Um but I think that's a question for city

[48:54] council um if if we think I think y'all

[48:56] know what I'm intending to talk about uh

[48:59] whether 15 minutes is sufficient time to

[49:01] do that. I'm seeing two or three head

[49:03] nose head and shakes not nods which is

[49:08] why I'm asking the question.

[49:09] >> Okay. I'm looking at I'm trying to count

[49:12] as well. It looks like there's some

[49:14] consensus. Member Kade

[49:18] got three

[49:20] executive session.

[49:21] >> Do you want to do the exec session now

[49:24] uh and then come back?

[49:26] >> Three nos.

[49:27] >> Okay.

[49:29] Are we gonna

[49:30] >> Well, I didn't answer.

[49:31] >> We're not gonna we're not going to have

[49:33] time. So, I think the right

[49:35] >> one remember because of that's only one

[49:38] next.

[49:40] >> Our next meeting starts at five. So,

[49:42] >> I would just wait.

[49:43] >> I would wait until

[49:44] >> I would go ahead and wait.

[49:45] >> Okay. So, that we don't have a consensus

[49:47] to move into executive session. And so

[49:50] uh at this particular time

[49:51] >> so uh I would recommend that we recess

[49:53] instead of adjourn so that we preserve

[49:55] the possibility

[49:57] if the JPH doesn't take as long as we

[50:00] want we can come back to that item

[50:02] before the 6:30.

[50:04] So recess this meeting

[50:08] instead of adjourning it and then that

[50:10] preserves that possibility.

[50:12] >> Okay.

[50:13] >> I appreciate your recommendation Mr.

[50:16] province. And at this particular time,

[50:18] uh, we will recess the special meeting

[50:21] for the city of Periland at 4:44

City Council Special Meeting - Aug 24 2026

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