[0:08] Good evening. >> tonight's invocation. >> will be given by pastor.
[0:10] felix bomb. Rain of. Grace way church. >> pastor. Come on up. And then
[0:18] everybody let us pray. Heavenly father. We acknowledge. You as a father. Father of.
[0:25] >> all creation. And today we bow before you. We ask that. Your name be hallowed in our
[0:33] lives, in our families, in our city your name your glory be seen and honored in every heart
[0:39] and every life. We ask lord today that your kingdom come your rule, your will be done in
[0:49] this city of round rock and the lives of every member of the council and all the council
[0:56] officials. Let your will be done in every city and every home that your will be done in
[1:01] our schools that your will be done in our nation. Lord pray that you will give us this day
[1:10] as the mission begins you would give wisdom to your sons and daughters as they deliberate.
[1:16] as they answer questions we ask do you guide them by the spirit of wisdom and your will will be
[1:22] established and guide their thoughts. We pray lord that you will forgive every sin, every
[1:28] iniquity, every unrighteousness, every injustice and you will guide
[1:33] from every error, deliver from every evil. Lord, we pray that your glory be seen over this
[1:41] city. Guide this city with your watchful eyes that be provision for everything that is not
[1:49] available humanly that you will give divinely divine wisdom, divine guidance in all things
[1:56] in every way. We just thank you today for the opportunity to meet and to seek advancement of
[2:03] this city. We pray you will help in every areas and that your name alone be glorified
[2:09] and you bless your children as they continue to serve the city and your purpose in this
[2:14] city with thank you we love you our god in jesus mighty name amen. Amen.
[2:19] >> thank you carl. >> space bike. City council. >> meeting to order and please
[2:23] call the roll. Mayor morgan here. Mayor pro tem montgomery here. Council member. Lee here
[2:31] .council member. >> flores here. Council member fleming here. Council member
[2:35] ortega here. Council member stevens here. I don't know if you're able to stand with me
[2:39] for the pledges. I pledge allegiance. To the flag. Usa, to. America and to the
[2:49] republic. For which it stands one. Nation under. God, indivisible.
[2:53] >> justice for all. Honor the. >> texas one a pledge of allegiance.
[3:01] >> to me. Texas one state. >> 100 indivisible. All right. Citizen communication. Any
[3:17] system wishing to speak during citizen communication. Guardian item.
[3:19] >> on. Or off. >> the agenda may do so after completing the required
[3:22] registration card. All comments must be no more than three minutes in length per. Section
[3:28] 2-265 of the code of ordinances 2018 additions any comments? Guard arms not on the post gym
[3:32] may not be discussed or respond to by city council person state law. All right. I have two that
[3:39] are not on any agenda item mitchell snyder.
[3:57] there's no. Such thing. As success without a successor. Is a phrase.
[4:03] >> that I learned at. 3826 wheeler. >> avenue baptist church. Uh.
[4:07] >> houston. >> texas 77004. We're reverend doctor. Marcus de. Cosby was my
[4:14] pastor. And with. >> that he also taught that you can.
[4:16] >> have a three point alliterative alliterative. Message so you can.
[4:20] >> start. It all. >> with uh, you know, bebe. Or uh, r or whatever. You can
[4:25] help. So with. That I. >> came up. >> with the. Phrase there is.
[4:28] no such thing as success. Without a. >> successor.
[4:31] >> without a struggle. And without a system. So in this last uh, two.
[4:37] >> minutes and. 18 seconds. >> I just want to talk about systems and um. You know, you
[4:41] can see systems everywhere. There there it's it's everything. Uh, you can look up
[4:46] at the sky at night and uh, you'll see a. Solar system. Um. >> you can look at the ground.
[4:52] the dirt and get bitten by. Ants and uh, you can go out. >> but it's actually a system.
[4:56] you weren't. >> destroyed by chance. You were.
[4:59] >> bitten by. >> a system. Or you can look to your. Left.
[5:01] >> you can look to your right. And you can see a. Political system. And um. But yes,
[5:08] systems. Are neutral. They're not good or bad. >> it's like a weapon. And so.
[5:14] the person I wanted to. Hurt person. >> I wanted to honor. With
[5:17] that. >> uh. That talks about. >> systems works.
[5:19] >> not a person. You ever read the dharma? You ever seen it? It's it's pretty decent. It's
[5:25] got some good. Things and so. On. >> the back is as. Far as.
[5:28] >> I got. Uh. >> the word dharma refers to the. Inherent characteristic.
[5:33] of something. So this isn't. Praising jesus. But it does speak about some things.
[5:39] >> that are similar. To that. Uh. >> but you.
[5:43] >> can see systems everywhere. Uh, bruce lee had a. System, uh, for. Fighting.
[5:47] >> uh. >> jeet kune do. So the art of. Intercepting fist and it's
[5:52] it's. >> a. Whole conglomeration. >> of things. Another person
[5:55] that had a. System uh, kobe. Bryant have you. Ever heard of the mamba mentality? It's it's
[6:00] amazing if you. Ever need an inspiration, if you ever. Want to.
[6:03] >> uh. >> you know, be. Motivated to. >> fight through whatever pain.
[6:05] >> you're going through. He talks. >> about how.
[6:07] >> the dream. Is not that like you. >> get. Success the. Dream is.
[6:11] >> not the dream. No, the dream is when you're in. Complete pain. And you still rise up and
[6:16] you still. Keep going. That is the dream right there. It's not about. Like, um you.
[6:19] >> know, ribbons. And titles and all this other stuff. It's about like a pain. So you must
[6:24] have. A struggle within your system. Um, and then. Finally I. Just wanted to mention, uh.
[6:28] scott adams. I don't know if y'all any of y'all are. Old enough. To have watched or.
[6:32] read, um, delivered. But it's. >> it's an. Amazing like. >> you. Know, cartoon. It's
[6:36] funny about. Politics or you know, office politics. But then. His main message through
[6:41] his life that I got. Was that like. Systems over goals you have to have a system and.
[6:46] >> to. The day that he died he. Was he. >> could barely breathe. He
[6:49] still went out like a gangster. He's still. >> went out.
[6:52] >> like a. Real tough guy and still being positive and giving. Everything that he had.
[6:56] thank you. >>, carlos balderas. Good evening.
[7:04] >> I come before you today because of the isn't being made in washington concerning title
[7:08] six and eeo title six has not been repealed but the current administration has moved away
[7:14] from disparate impact an important tool for examining policies that appear in neutral
[7:19] paper but produced unjustified discrimination effects. Now why should this matter to citizens
[7:24] of real rock? Because because title six touches on institutions and services
[7:28] people depend on every day to make sure that things are not including discrimination or
[7:33] that poses any type of financial burden on people. These areas involve education,
[7:39] hospitals and health care, public transportation and city projects. The other thing
[7:45] I want to touch on is uh, eo and the administration's um emphasis on merit. Now let me
[7:52] be clear merit itself is not the problem. People should be hired promoted because of their
[7:56] quality qualifications and capabilities. The danger comes when government treats the work
[8:02] merit as an as it eliminates the need for subverts first of all rights um the protections
[8:07] for generations americans have always relied on epo and women have relied on minorities have
[8:13] relied on it uh the elderly have relied on it. People with disabilities have relied on it
[8:19] all the system merit based does not automatically make the system fair if the if the
[8:24] criteria determining merit applied is it is applied inconsistently then we're going
[8:29] to have a whole lot of discrimination being had merit an equal opportunity should
[8:34] work together not compete against one another. So so the council member what we're as
[8:39] we're looking uh for council number 22365 is a couple action items which I have handed to
[8:45] you all but I'm just going to touch on two right now. The other one you can read later.
[8:49] one of them involves the city's reaffirming of title six making sure that anything that we do
[8:55] as a city does not place any type of discrimination with regards to me the decisions are
[9:00] made as well as looking at making sure that there's not a high level of financial burden
[9:04] placed on people because of that. The other um the other part of that is know making
[9:09] sure that or some level of use applied um and on top of that making sure that decision
[9:16] makers um we require decision makers to document what actually means when making
[9:22] employment decisions objective qualifications, experience performance skills and job
[9:26] related requirements not subjective standards that can conceal discrimination. We
[9:31] should be able to believe merit and civil rights um at the same time a person should not
[9:36] receive a job simply because they racer sex but neither should a qualified american
[9:42] lose an opportunity because of race, sex, um sex, age, disability, national origin or
[9:46] any of the characteristic of. Um protected by the law. So rights has been rough has um
[9:52] should not change every four years um equal opportunities not lower the standard of merit
[9:57] it helps ensure equal opportunity uh equal americans good for opportunities to meet
[10:02] the standard. But you. Talk real quick um get us go.. >> the other. Topic I want to
[10:09] raise um. Is the thing regarding uh got to school road as got a school road has
[10:14] widened now there's been uh high level of congestion on um on that area in the morning in
[10:20] the afternoon and along with that you see hundreds of uh cedar ridge high school
[10:24] students walk in those corridors. Uh, of course there's no guardrails in and
[10:28] sidewalks, which creates a little, uh, risk for some of the students. There are other
[10:32] issues of accidents that could occur. My my, uh, request is that we reach out to cat metro
[10:38] to maybe see if there's opportunities to provide those students with some public
[10:43] transportation on those corridors going east and west to help hopefully, um, remove
[10:48] some of the congestion that students are placed in on the sidewalks. That could be an
[10:51] added risk, especially when you have a high level of traffic flow going on east and west of
[10:56] kind of school road now thank you very much. Thank you carlos. All right. That's all I
[11:03] have for items not on the agenda. Anyone else wishing to speak? All right.
[11:09] >> staff presentation z considered presentation department update from human
[11:14] resources department. Come on up, sandra. Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm here
[11:26] to report to you that the hr department is more passionate than. Ever to serve the people
[11:32] that. >> serve this great community. Our team loves.
[11:37] >> to serve with heart. We look for. >> different. Ways to partner
[11:40] with all. The departments and have positive. Interactions with employees. We come to
[11:44] them. And by the way. They're sitting. Right there those two. Roles supporting me. The h.r
[11:51] team shines. >> under pressure. They step. Up and make change happen. I
[11:56] want. >> to. Thank each. >> one of. Them for their
[11:58] commitment to great customer service and their focus on employee experience. I do have
[12:04] two. People that. >> I would like to. Recognize my name michelle reyes, my.
[12:08] assistant director. This woman has elevated this. Department to another level. Her
[12:13] leadership in operations has. Been instrumental and the key. To our wins this year tyler
[12:20] jarrow, my h.r. Manager, he. >> gives me peace. Of mind. And he manages. Benefits and
[12:25] compensation and. Serves as a as administrator. His knowledge and dedication help us offer
[12:32] our employees the best. Resources available and. >> they have one less thing to
[12:36] worry about and can focus on their work providing services. >> to our citizens. So thank
[12:41] you all. Our mission. Comes to life through serve. It's reflected in how we. Support
[12:51] organization. Engage our people, lead with respect. Listen to their voices. And
[12:56] empower them to succeed. Thanks. >> our current this is a
[13:09] workforce snapshot. Our current headcount. Is 1770. Employees that's composed of. Part time.
[13:17] full time. Temporary and seasonal. We have a workforce that has a healthy mix of newer
[13:23] talent and experience employees. Our workforce is relatively young but
[13:29] experienced an average age of 41. Combined with an average tenure of 8.1 years suggests
[13:37] that employees are building meaningful careers with the city, not simply just passing.
[13:41] >> through.. >> so roughly. 70% of the workforce has less. Than ten
[13:46] years of service. That's important. >> to note. It suggests that
[13:51] the city. Has brought in a. Significant amount of. Newer talent while maintaining a core
[13:57] group of long tenured employees who carry valuable institutional knowledge. At the
[14:02] same time, we have more than 200 employees with 15 or more. Years of service. That creates
[14:08] both an opportunity and responsibility for us developing our newer employees
[14:14] while making sure we capture the knowledge and experience of our long tenured employees.
[14:22] that's why retention, leadership. Development. >> succession planning and
[14:27] knowledge is crucial to transfer that to continue to be important areas of the focus of
[14:33] hr. Year. Today we have 19 employees. That have retired. More importantly. 21% of our
[14:43] work. A regular workforce is retirement eligible. That is, more than 1 in 5 employees. Our
[14:51] responsibility is to be prepared by identifying critical positions and
[14:56] developing internal. Talent for hr. Workforce planning is about ensuring we have the right
[15:02] talent ready when those transitions occur. And as you can see um on the retirements
[15:11] year to. Date fire. Police and public works are the highest ones. Same with eligible to.
[15:17] retire you have those three bigger. Departments up there. Another indicator we monitor
[15:28] closely is employee turnover. Year to date we experience 93 separations with an average
[15:34] monthly turnover of 9.5%. While turnover is normal part of any organization, we look beyond
[15:42] the number to understand where are we losing talent, why employees are leaving and.
[15:48] whether they're trends we need to address. The national average for the. Public sector
[15:53] is. 1.5 and this doesn't exclude education. And so right now uh we're doing pretty well
[16:00] and we're trending to be under the national average. Attracting qualified
[16:11] candidates. Require us to go beyond simply posting a vacancy waiting for applicants. We're
[16:17] taking a more proactive approach meeting candidates in the community, straining our
[16:23] presence in social media, developing internship and school partnerships and
[16:27] building our future talent pipeline. At the same time, we're focused on telling our
[16:32] story and positioning the city as an employer of choice not just a place to find a job
[16:39] but a place to build a career and serve our community. Attracting talent isn't only
[16:47] about whether we recruit it's about why someone chooses us. People want more than a job.
[16:54] becoming an employer of choice isn't one initiative. Or a benefit. It's the entire
[16:59] employee experience. It's about competitive. Compensation and benefits. Strong leadership
[17:06] coming from city council members and. >> our. Leadership team,
[17:10] opportunities to grow employees ,having a voice and creating a culture where people feel
[17:16] valued and connected to our mission. The city around rock offers something very powerful
[17:21] the opportunity to make a direct impact. To the community that we serve. Our goal is not
[17:26] simply to attract people to a job. We want to attract people that have a career for a
[17:31] purpose. Year today we received more than 20,000 applications and welcomed 531 new employees
[17:42] to the organization. While attracting candidates is important, we equally focus on
[17:47] creating opportunities for people who are already here with us. We promoted 72
[17:52] employees this year. Which speaks directly to the commitment to developing
[17:57] employees and providing opportunities to build a career here at the city. Recruiting
[18:04] great people is only the beginning. Once they're here we have to invest in their growth
[18:10] and give them the tools to be successful. This year we're really expanded our focus in
[18:15] learning and development. We're taking a more intentional. Approach identifying. Learning
[18:20] needs across the city, strengthening our. Supervisors. >> customizing training on
[18:26] needs of. Individual teams and expanding opportunities for our future workforce through
[18:31] internships we've also expanded e-learning for compliance training, allowing us to reach
[18:37] more efficiently and consistently well. We've been very busy but each of these
[18:44] efforts is an investment in our people and for the future of this organization. Investing in
[18:52] our employees goes beyond the professional development. It also means supporting them
[18:56] during the for the overall health, wellness and quality of life. This year we continue to
[19:01] focus on employee engagement through. Wellness events. Educational workshops and
[19:06] webinars that give employees tools and resources to support their well-being. Our focus
[19:11] moving forward is not simply to offer great. Benefits, but. To make sure that our employees
[19:16] understand them, that they value them and have the tools they need to make the most of
[19:22] them. Our onsite clinic is another way we're investing in our employees and families. It
[19:30] provides convenient access to quality care, encourages preventive health and reduces
[19:35] time away from work. It's a benefit that supports both the well-being of the workforce and
[19:40] the long term sustainability of our health plan. Raw care clinic has had a 1823 patient
[19:49] visits so far this year 788 people. Accessed care. And 140 of. Those were.
[19:56] >> new patients. Our utilization rate is trending upwards from previous years.
[20:04] supporting our employees also means to make sure that they have a safe workplace that we
[20:09] proactively manage the risk associated with delivering those services to the city. We
[20:15] continue to monitor workers compensation claims closely not only the number of claims but
[20:20] they're occurring and the types of injuries we're seeing. Our most common injuries continue
[20:25] to be strains cuts, punctures and scrapes, slips, trips and falls. Understanding those
[20:31] trends allow us to focus on our safety efforts one of the strongest indicators of the
[20:37] overall performance of our workers compensation program is the experience modifier. Html
[20:43] risk pool compares our loss experience against thousands a municipality that ensures a 1.0
[20:51] modifier represents average performance. Anything above 1.0 indicates losses. Above
[20:57] average. Our modifier is 0.30. The lowest modifier html offers. Even more
[21:05] significantly, we maintain the lowest possible. Modifier for the last. Five consecutive
[21:09] years that strongly reflects the safety practices. Practices.
[21:14] >> claims management. >> and commitment. >> of our departments and
[21:17] employees to maintaining is safe workplace. We accomplish a lot but there are a few
[21:25] initiatives I'm especially proud to highlight. One of our biggest accomplishments was
[21:30] implementing a new performance management system citywide. This was this was a year in the
[21:36] making and collaboration between hr and it team. We moved away from an outdated
[21:43] process. And introduced a more modern consistent approach one that gives a better foundation
[21:48] and meaningful feedback, accountability, employee development and performance
[21:53] conversations. We also continue looking at how we can stream the overall employee
[21:59] experience. And retention strategy. For the first time, employees received a total
[22:04] compensation statement at their home and a note from the city manager thanking them for
[22:09] their dedication and their commitment. The statement shows the full value of what the
[22:14] city of round rock. Invest in them. Not just their paycheck. But the total benefits and
[22:18] compensation. We also strengthen the safety net of our employees by adding paid
[22:25] parental leave and enhancing our long term disability benefit. Both are designed to
[22:30] provide greater support during significant. >> life transitions. Everything
[22:38] we talked about today leads us to where we're going next. Our workforce continues to change.
[22:44] hr must continue changing with it. Our focus isn't simply responding to today's needs. We
[22:50] must anticipate what our organization and workforce for tomorrow. The next chapter
[22:56] centers on four things being workforce ready developing our team. Modernizing how we
[23:03] deliver hr services and using data to make better workforce decisions. As we close, I want
[23:13] to thank mayor and council members for your continued support and investment in team
[23:19] round rock. Your commitment to the employees give us the opportunity to grow and succeed
[23:25] and to continue providing excellent service for our community together we're not
[23:30] only building a stronger work workplace but we're building a stronger round rock. Thank you.
[23:35] all right thank you sandra anybody have any questions or comments councilmember stevens.
[23:41] thanks sandra for that. And you've got to two new people relatively new people.
[23:45] >> in. Charge I think. >> you like doing a. Fabulous job. Um it's great to.
[23:49] >> see you both here. Um I do have two questions. So our interns do you track. How many
[23:56] .interns come. >> through an internship and then actually.
[24:00] >> turn. Around and apply for a job. Even if it's not like a specific number like 25% of
[24:06] them? 10%. >> well, I can tell you with this last internship I think
[24:11] there's about three okay. And there was like 19 of them so it's pretty good. Yeah really
[24:16] good yes. And then also I appreciate that. Total compensation uh statement that
[24:20] you did for the first time I think that it's really important for employees to see
[24:25] their total value, you know. Not just a dollar on a paycheck. And I'm just curious
[24:29] since it's the first time doing it how the. Feedback has been. Um, from.
[24:33] >> the employees. So far what I have heard and when people have told me it's been great they
[24:40] loved opening that get in it at. Home was. A different experience the way it was
[24:44] presented it was like in a big envelope. And it was colorful and beautiful city of round
[24:49] rock pictures and then just having that note from the city manager really thanking
[24:54] them for their efforts and then really being able to break in. You can see like if somebody
[25:00] took a vacation how much they got paid for that for their sick leave for their overtime
[25:05] and then. Get a total picture of. The real uh total compensation that you received
[25:11] from the city, you know, including benefits. I think. That's very important. I be
[25:15] curious. You already have a very, um. High retention rate. I'm just curious if there's any
[25:20] trend. Going forward. Um, related to. Employees seeing their. Whole the whole package.
[25:25] so I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember ortega. Yeah I like. To ask the
[25:32] same almost. Same question. Here in. Reference to uh, internships. Uh, you're saying
[25:36] you're going to try to increase that number? Did I. >> hear that correctly. Of
[25:41] internships right. Well, we're trying to increase the people that we can hire from the
[25:45] internships but yes, we would love to have more this year we've expanded the internship
[25:49] program and my team just met with me and told me, you know what else they want to do for
[25:56] next year and they have really great ideas. I think the um the state or the nation is going to
[26:05] look at our program because we're thinking outside the. Box on how we can prepare them.
[26:09] we're even having orientation with the mentors that are going to have interns. To also train
[26:17] them on what an internship is and what they should be getting out of it. So I'm excited about
[26:22] that. Well thanks. >> for that and thanks for mentioning mentors because I'm
[26:25] a big proponent about mentors I think we all should be mentors um, to serve one way or another
[26:32] though. Because uh. They're they're the key to success in my in my idea. But the program
[26:38] you presented today was absolutely. Good right on. So I appreciate that in the hard
[26:43] work your department has put together on this. Thank you. Thank you.
[26:47] >> any other questions on the staff. Questions? >> councilmember fleming. I
[26:54] respect. Y'all's group. Um, it's so important for the health of the organization. And
[26:59] city. So I know y'all work really hard and appreciate everything you do. I just had.
[27:01] >> a quick. Question some of numbers person but when we were looking at the. Um turnover.
[27:06] rate and it was low but it said like seasonal. Was really about a third of the employees I
[27:11] think it was over 500 versus the 1700 employees. So do you. Look at.
[27:15] >> them differently for turnover? Is it year to year. >> or. Are you just removing
[27:19] them completely? How do you look at that. At turnover it's a monthly rate but we only take
[27:24] in consideration regular employee so that would be full time and part time. So seasonal
[27:29] wouldn't be included? No because they're just here for the season.
[27:32] >> that's why I. >> was. Wondering okay. Well thank you. Do you have a
[27:38] question? Um. >> mayor pro. >> tem I didn't have a
[27:41] question. I just wanted. To, uh. Let sandra. And the team know that. 72 promotions to.
[27:47] date is phenomenal. >> I think again. >> it speaks. To your.
[27:51] professional development. >> of the team and I think that's. That's awesome. So
[27:54] encouraged by that. Thank you I mean it's it's also the supervisors and the experts in
[28:00] every department that are willing to share that knowledge you know with with their team
[28:06] members. So you know our questions or. Comments over here. Yeah I just want to say
[28:11] thank you for all that y'all do and all the work you put in. And uh, as councilmember
[28:16] fleming said, just it's important for the health of the organization. So great job.
[28:20] >> to. All of you and your team. Thank you so much. Yep. >> good night. I wanted to say
[28:26] that by the way round rock have a good night. All right. Consent agenda items. Listed on
[28:36] the consent agenda are considered. >> to be routine by the city.
[28:38] council and be enacted by one motion will be no separate. Discussion of these items
[28:41] unless. Requested by a council member. >> in. Which event the item
[28:43] will be removed from the consent agenda. >> and. Considered separately.
[28:46] are there any. Items or questions there? I'll read the. Consent f1 consider approval.
[28:55] minutes from the august 13th, 2026 city council meeting f2 consider a resolution.
[29:00] authorizing murders to an agreement with paradigm traffic systems inc. For the purchase
[29:04] of traffic signal systems. >> and safety. Barrier products f3 consider a resolution.
[29:10] authorizing mayor. Desk quantity adjustment change. Order number three with austin.
[29:13] engineering company. Inc. For the. Green line. Boulevard project. And that. Is all the
[29:20] consent. So I'll entertain a motion to adopt. The consent agenda. So moved. Second.
[29:25] >> motion made by councilman pegues and by the mayor. >> pro tem. Any other
[29:30] discussion and please pull the council. Council member lee. Yes.
[29:34] >> council member flores. Yes. Council member fleming. Yes. >> council member.
[29:38] >> ortega. Yes. Council member stevens. Yes. >> mayor pro tem montgomery.
[29:42] yes. >> mayor. >> morgan.
[29:43] >> yes. Resolutions g1 cancer. >> a resolution authorizing execution of an engagement.
[29:48] >> letter with rare law and associates. Plc for the appeal to district court of the
[29:53] project. Final order impact docket number 48836. You doing. >> that one?
[29:59] >> yes. >> this is an engagement letter um, with the law firm. That has
[30:03] represented us throughout the course of this case. This is the. Break case. Uh, with the
[30:08] mud regarding the city's wholesale water rates. This has gone through. The puc process
[30:14] and it was found that the city's rates were just unreasonable. The mud districts
[30:18] are now. Appealing this case. >> they're appealing to district court. Um, the city is
[30:24] not a party directly to this case but because we have an interest in it we are an
[30:29] intervener. So this engagement letter, um, will see the city um, well, to handle the
[30:33] legal fees through the appeal process of this case, it's the same firm they. Handled it.
[30:39] okay. >> questions and. A motion adopt the resolution.
[30:44] >> so moved. Second. Motion made by. Councilmember fleming. Second by councilmember ortega
[30:48] .any other discussion and please follow the council. Council member flores. Yes.
[30:54] >> council member fleming. Yes. Council member. Ortega. >> yes.
[30:57] >> council member stevens. Yes. Mayor pro tem montgomery. Yes. >> council member. Lake. Yes.
[31:02] >> mayor. Morgan. >> yes. >> to consider a. Resolution
[31:05] authorizing mayor dispute. Conti. Adjustment change order number. One with ap gulf states
[31:09] inc. Doing. Business as. A dawson. >> and. Peterson construction.
[31:13] >> for the public. Safety training center phase two project. Good evening.
[31:17] >> mayor and council. This is, uh. Change order number. One for. Adolf and peterson. Uh.
[31:22] >> construction for public safety and. Training center. >> phase two. Um, the amount.
[31:25] >> is for 923,988. And $0.25. Um talked. >> about it. On um. Tuesday but
[31:34] we'll just. Reiterate the drivers to this cost or mother nature didn't do us any favors.
[31:39] good for the lakes bad bad for construction. So the truck had to be regraded completely. It
[31:44] was just a mess out there. We had some, uh, existing tilt wall refinishing that we have
[31:49] to do out there and then we have to install some master meters to monitor the usage on
[31:54] fire on the, uh, training side of the house. Um, be happy to report that we are at probably
[32:01] 60% completion and we're still tracking to be completed at the end of march of 2027. So with
[32:08] that I'd be happy. >> to answer any questions. Questions.
[32:11] >> councilman fleming. I just had a question since I wasn't here tuesday morning. Um so
[32:19] this is in addition to what the original. Budget was. Or are we still going to be coming in
[32:25] within budget and looking at the total project? Great question. Uh, council member so
[32:29] what we're doing this is going to replenish my own or betterment that's inside the
[32:33] contract. And so we have a strategic reserve outside of the contract still within
[32:37] budget that will replenish the owner betterment. Okay thank you. Any other questions every
[32:43] time most of the resolution. So moved. Second. >> motion made by councilmember
[32:49] ortega same by councilmember stevens. Any other discussion. And please by the council.
[32:54] council member fleming. Yes. Council member. Ortega. Yes. >> council member stevens. Yes.
[32:59] mayor pro tem montgomery. Yes. >> council member. >> lee. Yes.
[33:02] >> council member flores. Yes. >> mayor. >> morgan.
[33:04] >> yes. >> thank you. >> officer g3 consider a
[33:08] resolution approving and adopting. Financial policies related to the budget. For
[33:11] fiscal year 2627. Good evening. Good evening again. Item g three. Is the resolution
[33:22] approving. >> and adopting our. Financial policies for.
[33:24] >> the. Upcoming fiscal year? Our financial. Policies are. >> reviewed and adopted
[33:28] annually. By the city council in. Conjunction with the annual operating budget. As I
[33:33] mentioned. Tuesday morning, just. One minor change is proposed for this year and I do
[33:37] have a. Presentation we will I'll briefly. >> walk. Through the policies
[33:40] just as a reminder. Of um. What is contained within our. Financial policies at least at
[33:45] a high level. So the purpose of our financial policies is really.
[33:50] >> to. Demonstrate our commitment to sound financial management, provide guidance on
[33:53] financial goals, demonstrate compliance with all state statutes, the city charter and
[33:59] follow good business practices and recommended and best practices in all the different
[34:04] aspects of finance that we. Do this chart and I'm going to read it to you shows just some
[34:09] of the topics covered by our financial policies which again are attached in the agenda
[34:13] packet for this evening's meeting. One of the topics covered is the annual budget.
[34:19] since the budget is on this item on this agenda for future consideration when I go ahead
[34:23] and talk about these guiding principles that the budget should address the council
[34:27] goals and strategic plans we consider long term financial impacts so we don't look at
[34:31] just what we can't afford but of looking at long term um, financial sustainability for
[34:36] decisions made. Current revenues have to meet or exceed current expenditures. Um also
[34:42] have some policies regarding administrative locations and personnel um which the fte
[34:46] schedule is set as part of the budget and is adopted um in accordance with it as well. We
[34:52] have a budget contingency plan laid out in our financial policies that will lay out um,
[34:57] if we do get to a point where we need correct corrective action, we laid out exactly
[35:01] what steps we will take and in what order we will take them. Um, hopefully this is a
[35:06] contingency plan we won't ever need but did want to highlight we do um, have it thoughtfully
[35:10] laid out in the financial policies as adopted annually by the city council looking at
[35:15] revenues. We have revenues. Um, the financial policies are designed to promote a diverse
[35:20] and stable revenue base to protect the city from revenue shortfalls. Looking at sales
[35:25] tax, we have policies that limit our dependency on any single sales tax payer um, any
[35:31] additional sales tax revenues that do exceed our limits set forth by policy will our
[35:36] deposited into our gsfc or general cell finance capital where they can be used in
[35:40] future fiscal years to fund one time capital needs? We have some policies on expenditures
[35:48] looking at appropriations and transfers, procurement policies, making sure that we
[35:52] follow all federal, state and local laws on how we buy things. Um the formal approval
[35:57] any item over $100,000 goes to the city council per our code of ordinances except for a
[36:02] specific pre-approved set on our authorized purchases list. I'll be bringing this to
[36:07] council next council meeting on september the 10th. These are just certain routine planned
[36:11] purchases that staff does recommend the council for the authorize purchase list. Um
[36:15] items could always get pulled off if needed and those items don't exceed $350,000 per
[36:20] policy. We have financial policies looking at debt defining our debt options. Long
[36:25] term debt can only be used for long term capital improvements. We monitor and manage debt to
[36:31] maintain our um highest credit rating triple-a credit rating both for the general obligation
[36:34] as well as utility debt. Again, one minor change is on page 11 of the red line agreement
[36:41] attached to the packet. Um staff is proposing to decrease the capital replacement reserve
[36:46] in the sport center fund from $3 million to 1 million. That again we have a minimum fund
[36:52] balance requirement that we're maintaining the sports in our fund. So after that we've been
[36:56] holding $3 million for capital replacements. Looking at our potential liability staff is
[37:01] recommending to drop that to $1 million the 27 proposed. But it.
[37:04] >> does still. Leave that that excess fund balance sitting there in case something
[37:08] happens. Just really changing the um the designation of that and that's the only proposed
[37:14] change that we answer any questions? Questions. >> councilmember flores. You
[37:19] know kevin thank you. Just a comment mostly I appreciate um, the update and certainly this
[37:26] document has served us well for the last many years and kept us. Yes or pretty um. Very
[37:34] viable and very sound solid foundation. So so thanks for the continued work on it. Any
[37:40] other questions over here? Questions over here. Entertain a motion up the resolution. So
[37:46] moved. >> second. >> motion made by councilmember
[37:48] ortega. Second by councilmember stevens. Any other. Discussion and please pull the council.
[37:53] council member ortega. Yes. Council member stevens. Yes. >> mayor pro tem montgomery.
[37:58] yes. >> council member. Lee. Yes. >> council member flores. Yes.
[38:01] >> council member fleming. Yes. >> mayor. Morgan. Yes g4 consider a resolution.
[38:07] authorizing brush creek regional utility authority to execute. Financing agreement.
[38:11] >> with. The texas water development board. Mayor and council um, last night at the
[38:16] meeting of the brushy creek regional utility authority or area way board that considered
[38:19] this item and passed it um back in april 2023, the city council authorized bsr to submit an
[38:25] application for funding through the texas water development board funding to the state
[38:29] infrastructure implementation fund of texas or swift funding this agreement in particular on
[38:34] tonight's agenda for the third of four phases of financing from the texas water
[38:38] development board. These proceeds will be used to fund round rock share the phase two
[38:43] deep water intake project currently underway. Again this is a partnership of which round
[38:47] rock is a partner. This will be issuing $12.2 million again third of four plan phases this
[38:54] debt issuance has been in our long range financial plans, has been in our debt plan and the
[38:58] expenses associated with the capital outlay are included in the proposed. Budget.
[39:00] >> which will be under consideration later on this evening. I have to answer any
[39:04] questions you may have. Questions you're talking most of.
[39:09] >> the resolution. So moved. >> second. >> motion made by councilmember
[39:14] ortega's second by councilmember fleming. Any other discussion and please
[39:18] public council. Council member. Stevens yes. Mayor pro tem montgomery.
[39:22] >> yes. In council member lee. Yes. >> council member flores. Yes.
[39:26] council member fleming. Yes. Council member. Ortega. Yes. Mayor morgan. Yes.
[39:30] >> thank you. Gh5 consider a resolution authorizing our disputed real. Estate contract
[39:34] with atv ranch company lte. >> for the purchase of an 8.085 acre. Parcel required for.
[39:40] construction of the. >> proposed kenny fort. Boulevard segment five. Roadway
[39:44] project. Good evening, mayor and council. Good evening. This is for our segment five of
[39:50] kenny fort boulevard. Uh, the project is under design right now. Uh, this project will, uh,
[39:56] extend kenny fort which currently as you see right here heads north at a dead end that
[40:01] all centers we will take segment five from old sellers boulevard will head north like
[40:07] this and then it will turn in right at 112. Uh, the item before you is right of way
[40:13] acquisition for the area in turquoise right here. It's a little bit over uh, eight
[40:17] acres. Total cost is $2.8 million. There's still. >> a few more parcels that we
[40:23] need to acquire as part of kenny for segment five. Uh, but like I said, we're under design
[40:28] and we'll continue with that. And then once we get through the design and all the right of
[40:32] way acquisition, uh, then we'll look ahead for construction but recommend approval of this
[40:36] right away acquisition uh, from a ranch company, uh, for the kenny for segment five roadway.
[40:41] we're happy to answer any questions. Questions. Any time most.
[40:47] >> of the resolution so moved. Second. >> motion made by councilman
[40:51] flores and by councilmember lee. Any other discussion and please by the council. Mayor
[40:56] pro tem montgomery. Yes. Council member lee. Yes. Council member flores. Yes.
[41:01] >> council member. Fleming. Yes .council member. Ortega. Yes. Council member. Stevens. Yes.
[41:06] mayor morgan. Yes g6. Consider a resolution approving the action of the round rock
[41:11] transportation economic. Development corporation and amending the transportation.
[41:14] capital improvement program. Earlier tonight the type b board approved this item. Uh,
[41:21] this is for additional right of way, uh, acquisition that we need for two projects. Uh,
[41:26] there's two projects that are part of our master plan. About every five years we update our
[41:31] transportation master plan that identifies which roadways we need to prepare for. Uh, it's
[41:36] based on where the growth is occurring in the city. It's based on land use assumptions
[41:40] and that's how we determine the size of the road. So here's a copy of our master plan uh,
[41:44] that we've done the two projects that we need additional right away for are
[41:48] shown right here uh kenny fort boulevard segment five and six and wyoming springs here's
[41:53] kenny fort boulevard five and six similar to the previous item I just talked about. Uh,
[41:57] segment five starts at on sellers boulevard, comes up here and stops at 112 kenny
[42:02] fort segment six will start at 112 and head through this field here and hit stop at
[42:08] university. There's a future segment seven of kenny fort that will be built with
[42:13] developments as you head north of university. The type b board previously approved $2 million
[42:18] for right of way for this project. We are asking for an additional 10 million uh to be
[42:24] allocated for future right away .uh, the cost had increased when we allocated the 2 million
[42:29] originally. Uh, we did not know how much right away we were going to need so we allocated
[42:35] to me and to get started with we've gone through the design. That's where we're at now. Uh
[42:39] we know our right away with it's about 120 to 150ft wide. Uh and now we've gone out to
[42:45] get appraisals and those cost are coming in so we need that additional money so we don't
[42:49] want to uh we want to make sure we put enough money in there but not too much. So that's why
[42:54] we come back to the type b board several times for design right of way and then
[42:58] construction. >> as. We move through the project. The second project
[43:01] wyoming springs extension we're on the west side of town. Uh this map is actually uh wyoming
[43:08] springs comes up here to sand base and then it already is built through baron's ranch
[43:12] right here. So the project stop starts at the north end of bands ranch and we'll head
[43:17] north through. Texas crest stolen property and stopped in town here at 1431. Uh, we
[43:24] already have 2 million allocated for right away. We're asking for 5.5 million more for
[43:29] 7.5 total. There's just one property that we need to acquire right away here it's
[43:33] about 24 acres that we're going to need. Uh, we are currently in the appraisal phase of this
[43:38] before we start negotiations, the total for the uh type b amendment uh 56 is for 15.5
[43:45] million that you see there. Uh ,yesterday we looked at our capital program and there's a
[43:50] few projects that we were able to move out a little bit uh, another year so we we actually
[43:54] saved about 15 million for next year. So by allocating this we're really about the same
[43:59] amount of money being allocated to our type b road program for fy 27. So uh the type b board
[44:05] approve this item and I recommend approval as well. So any questions I'll be happy to
[44:09] answer. Any questions entertain motion up. >> the resolution. So moved.
[44:16] second. >> motion made by. Councilmember ortega. Same by
[44:19] councilmember fleming. Any other discussion. And please pull.
[44:23] >> the council. Council member lee. Yes. >> council member flores. Yes.
[44:27] >> council member fleming. Yes. Council member. Ortega. Yes. Council member stevens. Yes.
[44:32] mayor pro tem montgomery. Yes. Mayor. Morgan. Yes. >> uh, michael, let's skip down
[44:39] to age five. Where we get. Uh mr.. Down here and all of them that's what they're on here.
[44:46] right age. Five oh I'm sorry, I just. I thought I was you didn't come on down kevin. Just
[44:53] sit there for. >> just a quick second. To h5 h5. Consider approval the sixth
[44:59] the supplemental ordinance to the. Matter consider approval the sixth supplemental
[45:03] ordinance to the master ordinance establishing the city of round rock, texas
[45:07] utility system revenue financing program. First reading. Second reading.
[45:13] >> not required. Mayor and council. This ordinance is a um sixth or supplemental ordinance
[45:19] .the master ordinance establishing what you just read. This dates back to 2006.
[45:24] the city council adopted a master ordinance establishing the city round rock texas
[45:27] utility system revenue financing program in order for the city to provide for the
[45:31] financing of our utility system projects. Um, this is another debt instrument. The one we
[45:37] considered earlier this evening was for the best way to brush regional utility authority on
[45:41] the water side. This is for the bcr s the brushy creek regional wastewater system. Um this
[45:48] these bonds authorized um under this ordinance will be for $60 million for the purposes of our
[45:55] east wastewater treatment plant expansion project. This funding is also coming from the texas
[46:01] water development board um their clean water funding program. Um this debt issuance
[46:06] like the one considered earlier has been in our long range financial plans for a long time
[46:10] span identified in our long range debt plan. The expenses the capital expenses associated
[46:14] with are included in the proposed budget also on this evening's agenda um this these
[46:19] bonds are planned if approved to be a close in september funds coming in again to fund
[46:24] the city's um portion of the water treatment wastewater treatment plant expansion
[46:29] project. We have richard donahue, who serves as the city's bond counsel with mccall
[46:33] parker horton here in the audience should there be any questions for him? We also have
[46:37] cole gilmore here for specialized public finance. Um, also here if there's any
[46:42] questions I'm happy to answer any questions as well. All right.
[46:45] >> any questions. On this item ?all right I will. Entertain a motion to adopt ordinance.. So
[46:53] moved. Second. >> motion made by councilmember ortega second by councilmember
[46:57] lee. Any other. >> discussion and please by the council. Council member flores.
[47:04] yes. Council member. Fleming. Yes. >> council member. Ortega. Yes.
[47:07] council member stevens. Yes. Mayor pro tem montgomery. Yes. >> council member lee. Yes.
[47:12] mayor. Morgan. Yes. >> all right. >> michael, come on up. Each
[47:18] one. Consider an ordinance amending chapter 44 article six sections 40 4-1. 49 and. 44 151
[47:26] code of ordinances 2018. Additions regarding environmental service fees.
[47:31] first reading requires two readings. As you know, the city of round rock has its own
[47:36] environmental laboratory uh, for water and wastewater. We're one of very few cities in
[47:41] central texas that has a laboratory. Uh, city of austin has one lcra has one uh, button
[47:47] up here in williamson county. Uh, we have a lab and it's a very good lab that makes money
[47:52] for the city of round rock. Uh, a lot of the other cities around us and the utilities in
[47:57] the region, uh, bring their water and wastewater samples to our laboratory for analysis. It
[48:02] is a knee lac certified laboratory. Uh, so we're able to do that before you in the
[48:07] ordinance, we want to make some changes to our rate schedule. Uh, there's just a few changes.
[48:12] uh, one is when samples come into the laboratory in a bottle, you're supposed to have
[48:16] some airspace in there if there's not, uh, we have a chance to reject it, but that's
[48:20] not good customer service. So we want to be able to transfer that to another sample bottle.
[48:24] and so it's just adding $10 per sample for that fee. Uh, to do that that's one item there's
[48:31] once uh also constituent that we're not analyzing anymore we want to take that out of the
[48:37] ordinance. And then the third item is for our surcharge program we used to sample once
[48:42] every six months and then divide that cost over the next six months on the utility bill.
[48:48] uh we want to sample once a year now and divided over 12 months. So it's not a lot of
[48:53] money it's $100 for the entire year. So you divide that by 12 months. It's about $8.33 per
[48:57] month added to their their bill. That's for surcharges. That's for restaurants and
[49:04] folks around town that discharge higher uh body and total suspended solids into the
[49:10] wastewater system uh, because they're discharging higher concentrations into the
[49:14] wastewater system. Uh, we charge them that fee so that we have to treat the wastewater to
[49:19] that higher level. Uh, and we do that for restaurants different than the pretreatment
[49:23] program which is different constituents where we require industries to treat the
[49:27] wastewater on site before they discharged into the wastewater collection system. So that's
[49:31] the two different differentiates differentiations there. Uh, these items we'd
[49:36] like to amend the ordinance and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have.
[49:41] questions on each. Questions on each one. Uh entertain a motion adopt the ordinance. So moved.
[49:50] >> second. >> motion made by councilmember flores. Second by councilman
[49:53] ortega. Any other discussion and please by the council. Council member fleming. Yes.
[49:59] council member. Ortega. Yes. Council member stevens. Yes. Mayor pro tem montgomery. Yes.
[50:04] council member. Lee. Yes. >> council member flores. Yes. Mayor morgan. Yes.
[50:09] >> to consider an. Ordinance amending chapter. 44 article two section sections 44, 32,
[50:17] 4433 and 443 for code of ordinances. 2018 edition and growing water rates. Reuse
[50:22] water rates and sewer rates. First reading. Requires to. Mayor and council I have a
[50:28] presentation here on our utility rates every three years we update our rates based on
[50:34] our cost of service uh our utility as a cost of service utility. What that means is
[50:39] whatever it takes for us to run the water utility, the wastewater utility and the
[50:45] stormwater utility what all those expenses are we need to set our rates so that we
[50:50] recover the revenue to to run the utility. We're we're a nonprofit but we make money to
[50:55] run the operations and then pay for capital improvements. So uh we do that every three years
[51:00] and I want to give you the results of those uh those rates. Uh, we do not like one
[51:06] year rate shock. So that's why we do it. We do the model and it's based on the expenses that
[51:10] we're projecting over the next five and ten years. So we're building into it uh, and many
[51:15] times we've been doing in the past we bring to you a rate recommendation and it's for the
[51:19] next three years so that we're stepping in there and that's what we're recommending
[51:24] recommending tonight. Uh, there's different classes so there's retail versus wholesale
[51:30] retail or connections and businesses and the citizens that live in the city around
[51:34] rock wholesale is a lot of the municipal utility districts. We have 13 I'm sorry, 12 uh
[51:41] wholesale customers they have a different rate structure than the retail that's in the city.
[51:45] and I'll explain or go through some of those rates that we're recommending uh, residential
[51:50] versus commercial the way they uh, impact our water systems different uh, commercial is
[51:55] using it to run a business. A lot of times it's a uniform usage more so than a
[52:00] residential residential you'll see a peaking in that summer a lot of discretionary water, um,
[52:06] you know, outside watering irrigation uh, as well. So we look at all those things and
[52:12] our rate structure impervious cover versus uh pervious that's more of a stormwater item.
[52:17] we're not recommending any changes to our stormwater utility tonight. Uh, for water
[52:22] you're dealing with, uh, weather. It rains a lot or it's dry a lot. So we have to take
[52:28] averages over the last three years to get a feel for what the demand has been and then we
[52:34] project up from that. So we want to make sure we recover our cost and our base fee are
[52:38] the fixed fee and not the volumetric fee as much because if you have a very rainy year,
[52:44] uh, people are not going to be watering as much and that will affect the revenue that we need
[52:48] to to balance our budget. Uh, and then I mentioned every three years we look at that uh
[52:53] the background uh I mentioned ten years the background the last time we did our rates that
[52:57] it was in the spring of 2024 and you're going to say oh and I say every three years but
[53:02] that's only two years ago. And the reason I said that we were in the middle of a rate case
[53:06] the wholesale customers uh, were challenging our rates. So because we were in the middle
[53:11] of that process in the spring of 2024, we only made changes to the retail side at that
[53:18] time. That's when we adopted a fifth tier for our water rate structure. Uh and I'll show you
[53:23] how that's been impacting our ratepayers. And then also uh we had retail rate increases but
[53:30] we did not have any wholesale rate increases at that time in 2024 because of the rate case
[53:36] that we were in the middle of uh, that rate case has been uh resolved as stephanie had
[53:42] mentioned earlier, the case is over pvc said that our rates are just in reasonable we
[53:47] follow the state. Laws just like we're supposed to and we did that in the ruling came out
[53:52] in our favor because that happened in 2025. We wanted to come back in 2026 and update
[53:58] our model because for the last two years only retail had that increase. Our retail to some
[54:04] degree is subsidizing a portion of those wholesale customers because they still have that
[54:10] same rate they've had a few years ago. So this uh recommendations today even
[54:16] though y'all approved back then a 25 fy 25, fy 26 and fy 27 rate we're not going to
[54:24] implement the fy 27 rate y'all approved. We're going to reset them and I'm going to have
[54:28] tonight a recommendation for fy 2728 and 29. Are going forward. I mentioned there's difference
[54:38] between residential customers and commercial customers residential uh higher peaking
[54:43] factor in the summer. Why is that important to us? Uh that cost us capital projects that
[54:48] we have to build for that month of august when when that use is really high we have to build
[54:53] infrastructure to be able to meet that demand, uh, that we don't get to use very much of
[54:57] the year. So conservation programs and things like that if we can get people to shave
[55:02] off that peak those high demand days and weeks uh, that helps our entire capital program
[55:08] which at the end of the day helps our rates, uh, as you'll see here as we talk about uh,
[55:13] commercial side is more of a uniform. They're running a business and a lot of times
[55:18] their monthly water usage is very similar uh, because they're building a product or
[55:22] making something they're manufacturing and things like that. So we treat commercial
[55:26] and residential different when we talk about tiers and things like that. So we've completed
[55:32] our rate model here's here's the results as you'll see here at the beginning uh retail
[55:37] rates for the next three years we need to uh revenue increase of $4.6 million over the next
[55:43] three years. So we will walk into that over the next three years for the wastewater side
[55:47] we need another 2.3 million uh, in the three year window and you'll see the percent
[55:52] increases that I'll show you what are the cost drivers of this rate change? Uh,
[55:57] operations and maintenance. Right. Salary increases the raw water cost uh, has increased
[56:03] that we buy from brazos river authority and lower colorado river authority. They have
[56:07] rates that go up and we buy water from those entities by the acre feet. So every year we
[56:13] pay per acre feet to them for the water that we have under contract uh, chemical costs
[56:19] have increased our electrical contract uh, is expiring uh, we had a very good kilowatt per
[56:24] hour uh, rate and that contracts expiring and the electricity has gone up. So all
[56:29] that's plugged into the model, the next item aging system, our rehabilitation we spent a lot
[56:35] of money rehabbing so we probably about 5050 when you talk about new construction
[56:40] with new capacity versus maintaining and rehabbing our existing infrastructure, uh we
[56:46] feel very important about that. The city around rock is going to be here for many, many more
[56:51] years and we need to invest in our infrastructure so that we keep it good. We do that in
[56:55] transportation with our streets same concept make sure we take care of our assets uh for our
[57:01] citizens to enjoy large infrastructure. We've talked about these a lot. We have some
[57:07] regional projects that we are building into the future that's setting up round rock very well
[57:11] for our future. When you talk about economic development and being prepared for the growth
[57:15] of our city, having treatment plant capacity whether it's water or wastewater, having
[57:21] infrastructure in the ground ready for new developments to come puts round rock in a good
[57:25] light when they come to town. Uh that's what we're doing here. We're spending money and
[57:29] investing in our future with these big regional projects. But that comes with a cost,
[57:34] right? We're having the issue that we had two items before me tonight that were issuing debt
[57:38] for these projects. That's all rolled into our rate model that we recovers through our rates.
[57:44] or through impact fees that the new developments pay. Uh let's see wholesale rate increases to
[57:52] also recover cost of service and I've already mentioned that. Okay recommendations
[57:58] here's our annual increases I'm going to skip this because I'm going to go. So let me talk
[58:03] about this one a little bit in this in this proposal uh we are making no changes to the tiers
[58:08] .uh that's going to stay the same. But one thing we're not going to adjust is that first
[58:13] tier on the residential side that volumetric charge is going to stay the same. Those folks
[58:17] are already conserving. They're doing a great job. So really the increases are more in that
[58:23] second, third, fourth and fifth tier and I'll show you how that's going to be. We're going
[58:27] to lake stay with the one rate for commercial it's a uniform rate for all the water they use
[58:32] at a commercial property because we don't want to impact their businesses because that's
[58:37] just part of. Running their business. And then we'll have wholesale rate increases over
[58:42] the next three years as well. And those rates will range on the water side from 9.3 to
[58:48] 15.1% per year, uh, for those wholesale customers and then wastewater is about 4.8% per
[58:53] year for all the wholesale customers. This chart. >> right here I wanted to show
[58:59] you uh because in so you got. Summer 2023 it's basically august of 2023. If we had a
[59:08] fifth tier in august of 2023, here's how the customer number of customers would have used
[59:12] water. We didn't have that fifth tier there. But I want to show you because in summer of
[59:17] 24 is when we adopted that fifth tier. But let's just assume in 23 we had that one.
[59:22] so 8% of our customers use 27% of our residential water. In august of 2023 we implemented
[59:30] the fifth tier and in summer 25 only uh 4% went into that fifth tier and they used 17% of the
[59:37] water. So we're shaving off that high usage is what's this whole plan is to be it's a
[59:43] conservation tool. Mayor, you've mentioned our peak days in the summer versus 2011 to
[59:48] now. Uh I looked at it this morning we use 32 million gallons yesterday in the city.
[59:53] that is a low number for august 25th or whatever we're at. Uh, that's a low number. Uh, last
[1:00:00] summer we peaked at around 36 million on our highest day. Uh, we had 43,000,000 in 2011. So
[1:00:07] our citizens are conserving they're being smart with their water. Uh, the landscape
[1:00:12] ordinance you guys passed all that plays into it. Our reuse program is playing into it and
[1:00:18] it's really setting us up really well for our future because we've reserved water
[1:00:22] for the future and that water is going to be there and it's going to last. Longer forest.
[1:00:26] as we conserve and be smart with our water supply and our citizens should get a lot of
[1:00:30] credit for being conscientious and conserving water in our community. But I wanted to show
[1:00:35] you that this rate structure is working. Uh, as far as how much total water we use in our city.
[1:00:42] okay, here's our recommendations. Uh, mentioned some of the percentages, but
[1:00:46] let me just show you some of the numbers for a residential house this is a five inch
[1:00:50] meter. Almost every house in the city has a five eighth inch meter right here. Currently you
[1:00:55] pay $18.21 a month. So if you use zero water for that month and say you're out of town for
[1:01:03] the whole month, your bill will be $18.21 for that month. I mentioned this column here
[1:01:08] because y'all have previously adopted these but we're not going to we're going to avoid
[1:01:12] those now and here's our three year recommendation. So 1821 is going to go up to 19.60 in the
[1:01:19] first year 20.58 21.61 that's your base charge that's on every bill. The volumetric
[1:01:26] tiers are right here. So the first tier is 0 to 10,000 gallons. Uh most folks stay
[1:01:32] within that 10,000 gallons on a given month $2.57 per thousand gallons. We're going to keep it
[1:01:38] there in 2027. Then we'll go to 5% at 5% for this next two years. But this first year
[1:01:45] you'll see some of the percentages are going to be more significant this first
[1:01:48] year as you get into the higher tiers and then the second and third year will be 5% at 5%.
[1:01:55] what does that do to your bill? So today let's just say at. >> your. House you use 10,000
[1:01:59] gallons for a given month. Your bill today is $43.91 for that month's water. With these
[1:02:07] changes here's your new numbers 45, 30, 47 and 49 for the next three years. How does that
[1:02:15] compare to other cities in the state and around our region? Uh currently for 10,000 gallons at
[1:02:20] your house, here's round rock right here at 43.91. If council approves these, uh. Proposal
[1:02:26] for next year, we would go to 45.30 uh, with this increase. I do know several of these cities
[1:02:33] are currently looking at their rates as well. So if you see us at the bottom end here today
[1:02:38] could get even more pronounced if these other cities approve uh increases when you look at
[1:02:45] these charts is a reflection of how we run our utility. We plan for the future. We make new
[1:02:49] growth, pay for itself. Uh, we try to be as efficient as we can. We keep our assets
[1:02:54] maintained. All that reflects in rates that are really attractive for our community.
[1:02:58] uh, and we're really proud of that. That means we're we're delivering good, good service.
[1:03:05] another example say you're a these are 45,000 gallons a month. Uh what would it look
[1:03:10] like? So your bill today is $254. Then it would go up to these three numbers because of
[1:03:17] those tiers right. You're using a lot of water. How do you stack up to our neighboring
[1:03:21] cities for this amount? Uh right here round rocks right here 254 we go to 285 next year
[1:03:28] sugarland I didn't check but I think they don't have as many significant tiers because they
[1:03:32] weren't on the bottom in on 10,000 but they're down there with us on the 45,000. So
[1:03:36] they're probably more of a probably more of a uniform rate instead of a tiered structure.
[1:03:40] but still we have very competitive rates there. So commercial that was
[1:03:45] residential. This is commercial. We do not have tiers. We have a single uniform
[1:03:51] rate that I mentioned uh most commercial consumption is non-discretionary. It's used
[1:03:56] for their operations of their business. We do encourage commercial properties to have a
[1:04:01] second meter for irrigation. Only because. >> we do winter water.
[1:04:05] averaging to determine your wastewater bill. So if. They use just one.
[1:04:10] >> meter then that's going to affect their water wastewater bill uh going forward to the
[1:04:15] next year. So if they have a separate irrigation meter it takes that water off that that
[1:04:18] main meter where we calculate the wastewater most commercial properties that are larger have
[1:04:23] a second irrigation meter. >> the smaller. Ones don't necessarily have it because
[1:04:27] they don't have a lot of irrigation. I think I just said everything that was on that
[1:04:34] slide before I even got to it. We'll skip it. Uh commercial rates. So here we go. It's a
[1:04:40] uniform uh, rate. Uh so right now it's $3.02 is our current rate. That's your volumetric
[1:04:48] rate. And then here's the base charges. It's based on the size of the meter you have. It's
[1:04:53] your commercial property as well uh and then we'll have some slight increase going
[1:04:58] forward uh, in the ten to the future. This was the adopt this is the one that was previously
[1:05:03] adopted that we're not going to adopt. So next year will be $3.21 per thousand gallons then
[1:05:08] 337 354. For commercial. Give you an example of a commercial property in round rock if
[1:05:15] you're using 40,000 gallons what does that look like if you live in another city? Here's
[1:05:18] your difference in your water usage in round rock versus surrounding cities for
[1:05:22] commercial businesses. Just to give you an idea all right that was the water talk. Let's talk
[1:05:31] about wastewater now uh wastewater is a little bit different. So the base charge
[1:05:36] today is 1491 for a house with a58 inch water meter. We're proposing to go up 8.7% here to
[1:05:44] 1612 and then another 5% at 5% for your base charge and then your volumetric charge today
[1:05:50] you pay $3.21. It's what it's wastewater winter averaging. So we take december january
[1:05:56] february those three months your water usage we take the average. Per month. And that's
[1:06:03] what we assume you're going to use wastewater for the next year round. So we just set that
[1:06:08] once a year every year. And then there's your increases on the wastewater side. I show.
[1:06:15] >> you my next. Chart here's wastewater. How does round rock stack up with wastewater? 6000
[1:06:22] gallons is a pretty typical average house. Uh bill. Uh is about 6000 gallons a month.
[1:06:29] here's round rock's current 3417 proposal for next year will go to 3588. Yeah, those.
[1:06:37] >> two together you had the water 10,000 gallons and the wastewater 6000 gallons. That's
[1:06:41] the combined for round rock versus surrounding cities. This slide here shows the entire
[1:06:50] utility bill. So if you're a citizen today you get a utility bill from the city of round
[1:06:55] rock. It's going to have water wastewater stormwater garbage and recycling. Sales tax is
[1:07:00] only on the garbage and recycling piece and then your total monthly bill. So let's
[1:07:04] just go back to that average of 10,000 gallons of water 6000 gallons of wastewater, your
[1:07:09] total bills $109.55 today with these proposed changes these are the next three years if all
[1:07:16] things are equal, this is the total change in your monthly bill for a normal or just a
[1:07:21] residential house. The garbage recycling we were estimating here because that's based on
[1:07:28] cpi so we kind of estimated uh right now it's about a 3.8 uh percent cpi that we're looking
[1:07:35] at for next year for our garbage and recycling rates. Okay that was all the retail.
[1:07:42] so now we're going to have a slide or two here just about the wholesale we have 12
[1:07:47] wholesale customers uh because they're not all water wastewater we have ten on the
[1:07:53] water side and ten on the wastewater side for example. See the mud is just a
[1:07:57] wastewater wholesale customer. They're not a water customer because they get water from
[1:08:00] jonah on the on the other side of that we have uh farm bill off and aqua texas these top
[1:08:07] two they're just water wholesale customers. They're not wastewater wholesale
[1:08:11] customers. Foreign bluff has an owner in the regional wastewater system aqua texas.
[1:08:15] there's toccoa springs over here. They have septic systems just this look at the last two
[1:08:22] lines here. So over the next three year period uh here's the increases we are expecting for
[1:08:27] the wholesale customers on the water side. Split that out of our three year period and
[1:08:32] you're looking at that around a 10% increase on water. Uh for those wholesale customers. This
[1:08:38] looks higher. But you remember they did not have an increase those last two years. It's all
[1:08:42] about cost of service and we want to make sure all of our customers are paying the cost
[1:08:47] that it to us that it is to deliver the service. Wholesale water is different because we
[1:08:54] basically deliver water to a meter. Let's just say it's a municipal utility district..
[1:08:59] >> we give. >> them. At the. >> meter, then the piping and
[1:09:03] the billing and the meters within the mud are a separate asset that they have to take
[1:09:08] care of. So they take that and they add that to their bill. So that's why it's not apples to
[1:09:12] apples when you're talking wholesale versus retail. But I will assure you if our rates
[1:09:17] are as low as they're showing here wholesale customers are getting a good price for the
[1:09:22] quality what we're giving them. Absolutely wastewater same concept here I mentioned
[1:09:28] earlier 4.8% increase per year and here's the wholesale rate. All wholesale customers will
[1:09:34] have the same rate for their wastewater $3.56 a thousand and then it'll trend up just like
[1:09:40] that on the horizon. Uh, stephanie already mentioned that the wholesale customers
[1:09:47] filed an appeal with the public utility commission that's going on. Uh, debt payments will be,
[1:09:53] uh, increasing due to the expansions we've been talking about that so that debt payment
[1:09:57] that will be making is all rolled into the rates that I just showed you guys, uh, going
[1:10:02] forward, city of georgetown's wholesale water contract it was a ten year contract. It is set
[1:10:07] to expire in fy 31. Uh, we bring in about $3 million a year. If we do not renew that,
[1:10:13] that could be a revenue hit to us. Uh, but we'll see. You know, georgetown may want to do
[1:10:18] it. Uh, but round rock will make that determination and we want to make sure we always
[1:10:22] protect our system and be able to meet our needs. Uh, but if we can help our surrounding
[1:10:27] cities, we always look at that as well. We believe that if we help cities around us and they
[1:10:31] do well, it helps around us to do well as as well. And then I mentioned the chemical I mean
[1:10:37] the uh electrical contract we had a 3.8 cents per kilowatt hour contract. It's expiring uh
[1:10:43] next year and we're looking at about a 6.3 cents per kilowatt hour. I point that out because
[1:10:48] one of our biggest users in our cost is electrical power. We're pumping water several times to
[1:10:54] move it around the system. So electricity plays a big part uh, in our rates. Here's our
[1:10:59] schedule. Uh, we did meet with the individually on july 21st and 22 with all those wholesale
[1:11:06] customers. Uh, just go back all the way to january. We had a kickoff meeting with all those
[1:11:10] wholesale customers saying we're going to be looking at rates and then we brought them
[1:11:15] in individually on these in july to show them their rates and uh, very good meeting. They
[1:11:21] were positive uh they they've seen the rates and we didn't have really much pushback. I
[1:11:26] mean it was it was a good story to tell and they understand that there's going to be
[1:11:30] increases at the budget retreat we talked briefly about the rates and then tonight we're
[1:11:35] august 27th we had our first reading for the rate ordinance. We'll come back september 10th
[1:11:39] with our second reading and if approved by council these new rates will be effective
[1:11:44] starting november 1st and they'll be november 1st each year for the next three years
[1:11:49] for the rates that I just proposed. So uh that's my presentation. That's our rates.
[1:11:54] uh, we're really proud of our utility. We feel really good about our rates and uh, we're
[1:11:58] going to continue to try to have the best rates in central. Texas and be that be the most
[1:12:03] efficient utility. So, uh, be happy to answer any questions that you have. Questions mayor
[1:12:10] brought to uh. Michael on. The utility. On the power the. Rate for the. Power utility. You
[1:12:19] have an. Estimated increase of six. Plus percent. Is that. Negotiable or is that a. Fixed
[1:12:27] increase or. Could it be more. Could it be less? Well we signed a we just recently
[1:12:33] signed the 6.3 and brooks may want to add on 6.3 and that covers a lot of the city. Uh we
[1:12:38] did have a separate contract just for the water plant that we were able to sign a five
[1:12:43] point uh, a cheaper percentage. So uh, all the rates in the utility industry are going up.
[1:12:49] uh, we just happened to sign that contract back earlier at that 3.6%. So uh, we we do look
[1:12:56] at rates and we try to find the best rate possible and that 6.3 still still a pretty good rate
[1:13:02] overall okay. Council member de. In reference to georgetown the contract if that doesn't
[1:13:10] come through we do have. >> a backup to take care of that. Or well when we sign that
[1:13:17] contract in 2021 with georgetown for ten years it was not part of our plan okay
[1:13:23] right. We we had this going on. We have our our plan how we're going to build infrastructure
[1:13:28] to meet our demands. Georgetown approached us uh, in a lot of times with our infrastructure
[1:13:33] and our water we're always ahead of the game right? We're expanding treatment plant
[1:13:37] capacity well in advance or when we need it. So it was a time where we have extra
[1:13:41] capacity. So when georgetown approached us we looked at that and the first thing we look at
[1:13:46] it is to make sure round rock's covered on the worst day of the year. Uh, we looked at the
[1:13:51] extra capacity we had. We were able to look ahead and forecast and we agreed to do that for
[1:13:58] them. Uh, the benefit to us which it was not in our rate model the benefit was if we're
[1:14:03] paying for water in lake travis already. Uh, so signing this deal there covering that cost
[1:14:10] for us, uh, we have debt on bcr way bringing that water to georgetown. That's a debt
[1:14:15] payment we have to pay, uh, their rates. That's all in that rate. So by us signing that it
[1:14:22] helped our whole rate model with this $3 million in revenue I'm talking about but we didn't
[1:14:27] plan on that. That's just kind of extra money that kind of we're able to to to receive
[1:14:31] revenue for. So if it goes away in 2031 it's not the end of the world uh because it's not a
[1:14:37] guarantee. All right. Thank you. You know, councilmember fleming. Um.
[1:14:44] >> if you if. You will just help me with the logic. So when.
[1:14:47] >> I was looking at the residential water 45,000 gallons that would be really
[1:14:52] high end because I think you were saying like the average is 10,000, that's what you were
[1:14:55] showing. But when you showed the. 45,000 it was like $254. If I'm remembering I was
[1:15:01] looking at that correctly and I think is before that um there you go. So 285 sorry. Okay so
[1:15:11] then but if I look at commercial and they're doing 40,000 gallons then it's more
[1:15:15] like $145 if I was looking at that. So I was wondering why residential would be paying
[1:15:20] more for their water bill. I think if you go forward to commercial it'll show 40,000.
[1:15:25] yes. >> let me show you something. So I was just trying to
[1:15:28] understand the logic to why I guess in essence I mean if the average person is 10,000 I
[1:15:32] understand but it seems like commercial get a little bit more leniency. So I was
[1:15:35] wondering that like so. So 45,000 gallons for residential home right. You're going to
[1:15:40] fall into these tiers. Okay so your your first two years $2.57 you're going to get all the way
[1:15:46] into that fifth tier because the fifth tier starts at 34,000 gallons you're paying today
[1:15:52] $7.96 per thousand gallons for that water. Right on the commercial it's different. It's
[1:15:57] not a tiered structure. It's a it's a one rate okay. Right here $3.02 for all 40,000
[1:16:07] gallons. So residential you go into that fifth tier in the per thousand gallon and rate goes
[1:16:12] up. That's why the residential bill is higher than the commercial bill for similar
[1:16:17] water usage because you're paying on commercial business $3.02 for that 40,000 gallon
[1:16:23] you're still paying $3.02 per thousand. That makes sense. It makes sense. I was just
[1:16:28] wondering why they would get a lower rate. Like what's the logic behind having a lower
[1:16:32] rate for the commercial versus residential? I think the logic we're a pro business community,
[1:16:36] right? We want to be we want to make sure we recover our calls fairly, but we also want to
[1:16:41] know how many businesses use that to run their business. We don't want to be uh on the
[1:16:48] residential side that is throughout water in their yard. You don't have to water that
[1:16:52] you choose to do it business. We want to make sure we don't overcharge them and that's why
[1:16:57] there's $3.02 right here is is between the first and second tier rate of residential. Okay
[1:17:03] no I understand thank you. When I think some of that to councilmember foreman's point
[1:17:08] is is why I mean just go back to 2011 what. >> you were talking. About
[1:17:13] there was 44 million gallons of water use that. Day and the next you know, the next day
[1:17:21] when. >> all the restrictions. Went in it. Dropped to. 11 or 12
[1:17:25] million. >> and what that told us is that you're. The higher.
[1:17:30] heavier users on. >> the system. Our residential properties. Um I mean
[1:17:35] unfortunate I mean that's that's the reality. Of it. >> and um. I think that's
[1:17:40] where. Some of that. >> comes is. That it? You know, there's.
[1:17:44] >> a. Much more non-discretionary use. Versus you know what. We uh. We have
[1:17:51] in. You know, the thing is is. That we've grown by 30,000. People since 2011. Um, and uh.
[1:18:01] businesses that have come. And uh, they um and we haven't. >> hit. That 44 million gallons
[1:18:08] since. So if we were if there were just crazy water. Use by everybody. Then you know, we
[1:18:17] would have burst through that. 44 million gallons. But we haven't done it since 2011. I
[1:18:22] mean so that's you know, that says a lot and a. >> lot of that. Changes the.
[1:18:27] >> the tier rates because. >> we were you know as he showed the 23 health uh the
[1:18:32] bigger. Users were. You know. >> a small percentage but it. Was impact in. A lot. Greater
[1:18:38] deal. And so. I think. >> that some some. Of it um. On that do you. Do you.
[1:18:46] >> have a. >> breakdown of like when you know a. Daily use what
[1:18:51] percentage is that commercial versus what percentage is residential? I can get that I
[1:18:58] don't have it at my fingertips. We I mean do you just. Have a. >> rough idea. What it usually
[1:19:02] is? Um. >> I'd have to calculate in my head a little bit because I
[1:19:08] know how many houses and I know about the average house. That's right.
[1:19:11] >> I just. >> I was just. Curious I can I can get that real easy. I just
[1:19:14] don't know off the top of my head. Yeah. >> and then yeah. I think the
[1:19:19] other thing is is can you explain when you say. You know we're. We're we're um
[1:19:25] increasing the rate but we're having new growth. Helps pay for itself. Uh, where does that
[1:19:32] come from and where does. >> it go toward. When you say, you know, a business comes in
[1:19:37] and what happens? So we run the utility. There's two ways money comes into the utility to to
[1:19:43] run the utility through the rates and through capital recovery fees impact fees uh
[1:19:50] what that is so businesses come to town, residential homes come to town, uh, we charge them a
[1:19:57] connection feed into our system .uh, and that fee is based on new capital.
[1:20:04] >> that we have. >> to spend to be able to meet the demands of the new growth
[1:20:08] and that's figured into that impact fee that people pay. So when businesses come, uh, they
[1:20:13] pay their share when they come to town to help us so that we can have a water plant
[1:20:18] expansion when you water plant expansion the person living here for 50 years is not having
[1:20:22] it should not have to pay for having a water plant expansion right? The business coming here
[1:20:27] should help pay for that because they're the reason that we have to expand the. Plant
[1:20:30] and so our impact fees in the year 2000 we had about the highest impact fees in the
[1:20:34] state of texas in round rock, texas. And they said your fees are. So high. Growth is going
[1:20:39] to stop. Ground rock has grown consistently. So uh and other utilities and cities have
[1:20:46] caught on to that now their impact fees have gone up really high. So uh we want to make
[1:20:51] sure our rates are set for the service and then we make sure capital recovery fees are set
[1:20:56] right so that that new growth coming in pays for their portion to run our utility. Uh.
[1:21:01] >> so michael, you talked. About commercial. Having a separate irrigation meter. Can
[1:21:06] you talk about how that's billed? Yes. >> so on a commercial property
[1:21:11] let's just say you have a commercial property and you have your first meter that's
[1:21:16] using running into your business for just your normal domestic water use uh to run
[1:21:22] your business you have a second meter for irrigation, uh, for that commercial business and
[1:21:27] that's based on tiers just like a residential house. So your irrigating your yard is going
[1:21:33] through that irrigation meter you will pay tiers uh and that you'll pay that separately so
[1:21:37] that water separated from the meter that sends water into the business to run the business.
[1:21:43] so there are two separate deals uh and then the wastewater fee is connected off of that. Okay.
[1:21:50] >> any other questions? Okay. Entertain motion up the. Ordinance some. Second motion
[1:22:01] made by. Councilman flores everybody. Council member. >> stevens any other questions
[1:22:06] discussion and please public council. Council member ortega yes. Council member stevens
[1:22:13] yes. Mayor pro tem montgomery. Yes. Council member. Lee. Council member flores. Yes.
[1:22:18] council member fleming. Yes. Mayor morgan. Yes. >> I think. We're going to.
[1:22:22] >> take a quick five. Just for the next two. Items all right. We'll reconvene.
[1:22:32] >> at 730. I'll read the next. Item. H3 considered public testimony regarding it
[1:22:40] regarding an an ordinance adopting the fiscal. Year 2027. Annual budget for the
[1:22:44] city of round rock. First reading requires two readings. Mayor and council that time of
[1:22:49] the year we have the public hearing for the proposed budget and the proposed property tax
[1:22:53] rate. The total budget is $684.1 million. This is made up of $189.4 million for the
[1:23:03] general fund, which funds most of the city's main operating functions includes public
[1:23:06] safety, parks and recreation, transportation, round rock public library, etc. New staff
[1:23:13] proposed for upcoming fiscal year 52.5 um fte or full time equivalents that's 48 positions
[1:23:20] in the general fund mostly public safety maintenance and operations of bond project bond
[1:23:26] funded. Facilities scheduled. >> to open in fiscal year 2027 and a few positions for
[1:23:31] transportation a four and a half years and some other major operating funds including the
[1:23:37] hotel occupancy tax fund multi-purpose complex and our utility fund. The proposed tax
[1:23:42] rate which will have more information on forthcoming 22.3 cents and the proposed budget
[1:23:47] includes $141.8 million for the utility fund, which accounts for the water and wastewater
[1:23:53] service provided to our customers. Um one of the add this slide in for tonight's
[1:24:00] presentation. Ah again you see the total $189.4 million is a proposed budget for the general
[1:24:05] fund. This includes our base budget. Um, the base budget does include some, uh some
[1:24:12] increases such as uh for our public safety contract and step increases our $3.9 million
[1:24:17] those are included in the base budget. Then we take on from the base budget. We have our
[1:24:21] new spending, our new programs totaling $6.2 million proposed again bringing in the total
[1:24:26] general fund proposed budget $199.4 million. Zooming out again to the citywide view,
[1:24:33] this chart shows the $684.1 million of the proposed budget by use of funds, so $298
[1:24:40] million is for our community investment program. These are large capital expansions of the
[1:24:45] roadway utility trail systems um, also completion of our wastewater treatment plant
[1:24:50] expansion and uh facilities approved in our 2023. >> voter approved.
[1:24:54] >> an obligation bonds proposed budget includes $50 million to operate our parks and rec
[1:25:00] department, sports tourism department and the round rock public library. Kind of those
[1:25:04] recreation and culture items includes $99 million for public safety for the round rock
[1:25:09] police department and the round rock fire department, and it includes $46 million for
[1:25:14] operations of the water and wastewater services, stormwater, solid waste and
[1:25:19] recycling. Looking at our five year community investment plan. So again this is five years
[1:25:25] fiscal year 2027 and um for consecutive years thereafter we have planned expenses of $927.7
[1:25:33] million. You can see in the chart kind of by um by use of funds water and wastewater is
[1:25:39] the largest one transportations uh second um again expansions for the city's roadway water
[1:25:45] and wastewater systems 54% of these planned expenses are to be cash funded um 41% is
[1:25:52] planned to be debt funded with the balance coming from the city's partner on that brushy
[1:25:56] creek regional wastewater treatment plant expansion project. Our proposed tax rate
[1:26:02] again is 42.3 cents. This table here shows the various components. One of the point
[1:26:08] out because we saw a decrease in our overall assessed value on tax rate are no new revenue
[1:26:13] tax rate. They're the second line from the bottom has increased to 38.5 cents. That
[1:26:18] kind of forms the starting point for our tax rate calculations. The proposed rate
[1:26:23] of 42.3 cents is an increase of 3.8 cents, or 9.8% above that no new revenue tax rate. The
[1:26:32] purpose of this increase is shown there in the blue rectangle the bottom of the
[1:26:36] screen we have 9/10 of a cent for public safety that's seven new police officers um one new
[1:26:41] civilian position the police department, 15 new firefighters and one new civilian position
[1:26:47] in the fire department. Um half a cent of the increase is for operating and maintenance costs
[1:26:53] of those um facilities scheduled to open in fiscal 2027 that are funded by our
[1:26:57] voter approved an obligation bonds largest of those planned for 26 fiscal year 2027 is our
[1:27:03] athletic performance center um new rec center open at old settlers park that'll have
[1:27:08] 2017 and parks and recreation for kind of operating the facility in three in general
[1:27:13] services facility maintenance and custodial services at the facility in 2.4 cents of the
[1:27:19] tax increase is for debt for the additional debt service for those voter approved bond
[1:27:24] projects. The median valued home in round rock for this upcoming tax year is $370,288.
[1:27:34] the owner of this valued home, based on the proposed rate of 42.3 cents, would have a
[1:27:39] property tax bill of $1,566 a year or that breaks down to $131 a month. The increase over
[1:27:47] that no new revenue tax rate is $11.64 per month. Single family homes make up 92% of the
[1:27:56] parcels in the city, but only make up 48% of the taxable value for this upcoming fiscal
[1:28:02] year. Um commercial properties on their hand make up 8% of the number of parcels but
[1:28:07] contribute 52% of the property tax revenues. Um again the commercial properties help
[1:28:12] reduce the burden on our residential property tax payers. In that note on the
[1:28:16] bottom single family homes pay only 18% of general fund revenues needed for
[1:28:19] city services. I wanted to point out that there are a lot of different requirements under
[1:28:26] state law for the how we have to um, calculate and present calculations related to the
[1:28:32] budget and the property tax rate. Um, the top line this is specific motion language uh.
[1:28:36] that is required for council to use. >> should you.
[1:28:40] >> wish to adopt the property tax rate and item each for this evening. Um again that 9.8% is
[1:28:46] the increase of our proposed tax rate over that no new revenue rate. Um won't read
[1:28:51] through all of these but just again wanted to talk through these are all required by state
[1:28:55] law. They are all calculated accurately and they all end up being very confusing because
[1:28:59] they seem different and they're published in different places. But we are in compliance with
[1:29:03] state law throughout on all of them. This chart I presented tuesday morning hasn't changed
[1:29:10] since then but again this is subject to change as our various benchmark communities
[1:29:14] are also having city council meetings considering proposed tax rates this time of year so
[1:29:19] my team will continue to update this will present this again on september the 10th at our next
[1:29:24] city council meeting again subject to change. Every city has different regards to
[1:29:28] services provided in the phase of the bond cycle there in um again much of our increase this
[1:29:34] year is really due to our continued um investment in the community through those bond
[1:29:39] projects approved by the voters back in 2023. At the time um 6.9 cents was communicated as a
[1:29:46] total tax rate increase for those bonds um up to the current fiscal year we kind of
[1:29:51] used $0.03 of that um 2.9 cents is being used in the proposed tax rate again that is for the
[1:29:57] maintenance and operation cost as well as a debt service on those bonds as we continue to
[1:30:01] deliver those projects to the community. Reminder where we are in the budget timeline, we
[1:30:06] have the first reading and public hearing for the budget and tax rate on tonight and is
[1:30:11] scheduled to. >> be a final. Adoption of the budget tax rate next council
[1:30:14] meeting september the 10th. Are we've had budget information on our city website. We've had
[1:30:20] budget information put out on social media by communications and marketing team with little
[1:30:25] over 100,000 impressions on social media, a little over 10,000 engagements and uh
[1:30:30] almost 3000. Budget related website page views um through this year's budget process the
[1:30:37] taxpayer websites williamson property texas.org and travis texas.com these are required
[1:30:42] databases um required by the state that the um county tax offices put out where residents
[1:30:48] can go out enter their address and see the overlapping taxing entities along with the
[1:30:52] proposed tax rates um, as they track through the process. We've had information out on
[1:30:57] our public access television channel available in hard copy at the round rock public
[1:31:01] library and again put some information out on social media. Um, we have the debut
[1:31:07] tonight of our fiscal 2027 budget video this has been put together by our communications
[1:31:11] and marketing department and I. >> believe. They're going to. >> show it at this time. I see
[1:31:23] it. Everywhere growth. Change. ,communities trying to keep up but not here. It doesn't. Make
[1:31:33] sense. How does. Brown rock do it? The roads. The parks, the. Events.
[1:31:38] >> public safety investments the donuts they must be hiding something. And I'm going to
[1:31:46] find. >> out what it is. Signs everywhere.
[1:31:54] >> I turn there are signs planning behind the scenes, plotting. Pouring, working.
[1:32:05] building all this progress. But where does it lead?
[1:32:25] how long has this been going on? How many. People are involved? How do they mow all
[1:32:32] this grass? It can't be a coincidence everything is connected somehow somewhere.
[1:32:54] the more I look the more questions I find who plans these things? Who build stuff,
[1:33:05] how many restrooms are there? Where are your parents? We're going to. Oh, here's the
[1:33:25] school. Hey, sir. Um. >> you're. Scaring people. >> can you please just get out
[1:33:32] of here? Everything seemed to be running so smoothly there had to be a secret and I was
[1:33:42] going. To need. >> some help. What I need are answers. Uh, well, good luck
[1:33:52] with that.
[1:34:02] I guess this is where it all began. >> this round. Ish rock started
[1:34:12] it. >> I must be getting close. What does.
[1:34:23] >> it. All mean? And what does that. I am definitely close.
[1:34:46] yeah, yeah.
[1:34:59] round rock city hall of course. .wrapping up investments, talking about.
[1:35:06] >> projections. About this year's budget. I need. >> to. Know. How it all comes
[1:35:13] together. I can answer that. It's all the budget. City leadership develops.
[1:35:24] distributed plan and decides how. Funding needs to be allocated to. Meet the. Needs
[1:35:28] and desires. >> of our growing community. This year's proposed. Budget
[1:35:32] prioritizes public. Safety with 24 new positions. >> between the fire and. Police
[1:35:36] department. We're investing millions. In road. >> expansion in our long.
[1:35:40] >> term. Water supply and delivering on voter. Approved bond projects. This year's.
[1:35:45] proposed property tax. >> rate. Is 42.3 cents, which is about $131 a. Month for the
[1:35:51] typical homeowner. And thanks to. >> round rock's half cent
[1:35:54] sales. Tax dedicated. >> to. Property tax reduction. That homeowner saves. About
[1:35:59] $470 a year. It's not a secret. It's sound fiscal plan all the facilities. Roads, services,
[1:36:07] staffing. >> they're all planned for through. The budget.
[1:36:10] >> we do it every year. The budget for you guessed I don't think I brush my teeth this
[1:36:20] morning. Also we're not only from car weight who changes the colors on the traffic segments?
[1:36:34] discover the truth behind the truth visit round rock texas.gov/budget.
[1:36:51] all right any any. Questions on this for. Uh kevin uh council. Member stevenson. First of all.
[1:37:02] >> good job. Sarah good job neil I'm. Worried that we might lose him to a career in acting.
[1:37:07] but nice job. >> on that. Um two questions. Can you go back to. The second.
[1:37:11] I think it was the second slide. One more. I think it was the new maybe. Keep going.
[1:37:24] >> I was the. New one. That. You. Added I. Think this one right here. So if I'm reading
[1:37:29] it correctly. On our base. Budget the. Highest one is the fire. Department correct. With
[1:37:36] the new. We aren't showing in this table the the breakdown of the department make up of the
[1:37:42] base budget. When we look at the new ad the new spending by department the highest dollar
[1:37:47] amount is fire department. Um they have 16 fte 15 firefighters and one civilian
[1:37:52] position. Correct okay perfect. I just want. >> to make sure I was. Reading
[1:37:55] it right. >> yes, ma'am. >> and second, if you don't
[1:37:56] have this. Answer it's. Okay because. It's a kind of an on the. Spot question. But I know
[1:38:00] property values are down. Um, the. Appraisal district. >> has. Said that..
[1:38:05] >> do you know how many? Just a rough estimate. >> how many properties in.
[1:38:08] round rock had a. Decrease in their appraised. Value versus increase?
[1:38:13] >> I don't have that number. I know that um the the median value decreased a little over
[1:38:18] 6% but I don't have with me um tonight the number that decreased. Okay.
[1:38:22] >> I was just curious. Thank you. >> any other questions on this
[1:38:27] one? Questions councilmember fleming. Just keeping on the same page the total new
[1:38:32] spending 6.2 million that would be equivalent to the point $0.09 increase for me. No
[1:38:39] that's where you're getting this point $0.09 when we look at. Property tax or. Not this.
[1:38:43] would be um both for the public safety and the ima. No from the tax rate side of the the
[1:38:52] increase of the tax rate, this new spending would correspond to um both the maintenance and
[1:38:57] operations of those new bond facilities. You see that especially in parks and
[1:39:00] recreation general services and then the public safety investments in fire. So it's
[1:39:05] kind of combined the admin bond versus just the maintenance okay. Thank you for clarifying.
[1:39:11] your questions. Uh I. Have a couple. Real quick on um. You mentioned on the bond you know,
[1:39:20] that we had when we uh uh asked the. Voters to. Pass that. That we said it would be 6.9 cents.
[1:39:28] you said we're right around $0.03. Uh, it doesn't mean that we. Might ever get to
[1:39:36] the six nine, right? I mean, with sales tax, general sale finance we pay off one time
[1:39:41] expenditures and stuff, right? Yes. >> since 2023 up to the current
[1:39:45] fiscal year 2026 we've used $0.03 of that and then we're using 2.9 cents this year. So
[1:39:51] that'll bring us to 5.9 cents. We'll have $0.01 left. Whether or not we use it will probably
[1:39:55] depend on market rates. Um this. Is the big year of opening new bond projects and
[1:40:01] having those kind of maintenance costs, those maintenance and operating costs
[1:40:05] are hitting big this year. We still do have some phased it planned issuances of those
[1:40:10] voter approved and on vacation bonds over the 2028 and 2029, but those are smaller dollar
[1:40:15] amounts as we finish those projects and deliver them to the community. Okay.
[1:40:19] >> um and then the you know, you you showed a slide on here where. About 18. You know, the.
[1:40:26] the residential property owner pays about 18% of the general fund revenue. So if I mean. If
[1:40:36] it's. 48% of. It's where. The uh, revenue comes from. Uh, so we're only doing 18 but we.
[1:40:45] make up the rest of that through sales tax and other fees and stuff. Right?
[1:40:50] >> it's through sales tax through their property taxes that our commercial properties
[1:40:53] pay. Right. >> so if we didn't have if we didn't have the sales. Tax it
[1:40:58] would be a much higher price. Uh and if we didn't have commercial it'd be much higher.
[1:41:03] yes, sir. >> okay. >> all right.
[1:41:06] >> any other questions comments .all right I'll entertain a. Motion to adopt what? Uh,
[1:41:16] sorry. Obviously is a public. Hearing open the public hearing on. Item h three. Anybody
[1:41:23] wishing to speak on. >> this item? All right. Seeing none of the is closed.
[1:41:29] entertain a motion. Adopt the ordinance. So moved. >> oh sorry. He one that's okay
[1:41:34] .so moved second. Motion made by councilmember stevens. Second by councilmember ortega.
[1:41:41] any other discussion and please pull the council. Council member stevens yes. Mayor pro
[1:41:48] tem montgomery. Yes. Council member lee. Yes. Council member flores. Yes.
[1:41:52] >> council member fleming. Yes. Council member. Ortega. Yes. >> mayor morgan. Yes.
[1:41:57] >> all right. Age for consider public testimony regarding in an ordinance adopting the 2026
[1:42:02] property tax rate for the city of rome like first reading requires.
[1:42:04] >> two readings. No additional presentation. >> mayor and I have a I have a
[1:42:09] question on this. So going back to your slide we're talking. >> about new revenue and you.
[1:42:15] know where it shows the where you had it on where it went toward. So you know you hear.
[1:42:26] >> you. Hear a lot. You know about adopting the no new revenue rate right. So if we
[1:42:34] adopted the no new revenue rate that would. Generate from our new. Growth about $1.9 million
[1:42:41] right? Yes sir. >> that's correct. So somewhere in that 6.2 would have to be
[1:42:46] cut. Yes okay. And talking. About base budget and stair step pay raises that are
[1:42:55] already. Done by. Agreement with the police and fire they're. Scheduled to get a
[1:43:02] rough low. >> over. 2 million and raises next year. The combined cost
[1:43:06] for the fire and police department they're both their step increases that they get by
[1:43:11] contract as well as the contract increases. Those are $3.9 million so. 3.9 million so
[1:43:16] so it doesn't the new the the no new revenue no the in enr doesn't even cover the the pay
[1:43:25] stair step increases. We're not even talking about the new stuff. It doesn't even pay the
[1:43:31] the enough to pay our police. >> and. Fire what we've agreed to. Correct okay. Right that's
[1:43:40] all I have right now. Anybody have any questions on this for. All right. This is a public
[1:43:50] hearing. I will. >> call I've got two cards. Um I'll just call the ones I.
[1:43:56] >> have. Justin tankersley. Let her. >> do the speaking to. Sure.
[1:44:06] you guys see. >> me again? Um. >> justin tankersley 2252.
[1:44:10] >> on the crossing trail. Um. I feel. Like last. Time we spoke it was.
[1:44:15] >> over data centers. Um, and that was supposed to. Be, uh. The save all for us so that. We
[1:44:21] didn't have to increase our property taxes. Um, that was what was. Promised, right?
[1:44:26] >> we're going to get so much money off of property tax money from these guys that you.
[1:44:31] >> know, we get to have. Low property taxes. Uh, obviously we knew that wasn't going to be
[1:44:37] the. >> case. And here we. >> are six months later talking
[1:44:39] about property property tax increase uh so disappointed to say the least. Um and the water
[1:44:47] damage that we were talking about that previously as well uh, in our last meeting and I
[1:44:51] knew that this was going to increase uh, and with data centers right.
[1:44:54] >> we're going to. Have more water usage. That price is going to continue to increase.
[1:45:00] um, and then we're talking about how the water utility energy rate is going up. And so
[1:45:06] I mean these data centers are going to bring in use way more electricity. And that's.
[1:45:11] >> just. Going to continue to increase. And not only is that affecting the businesses but
[1:45:15] it's also affecting us right. And I feel like the residents are kind of always getting the
[1:45:18] flat end of the uh uh the deal. Um and so it's not. Doesn't seem fair. Um, that we always
[1:45:26] have to foot the bill. Um I mean the guy was talking about the water. It's a choice for us
[1:45:31] to water our grass, right? To use water at our own homes. But it's an absolutely right for
[1:45:37] the businesses to use water. It's just it just seems really convoluted to me. So that's
[1:45:42] what I got and I obviously don't think that we need to increase our taxes. Um I feel
[1:45:46] like we pay enough uh um we're going to have all these businesses come in these data
[1:45:51] centers that are going to be paying $600,000 in property every year plus. Right? So my.
[1:45:59] questions anybody have any questions? Uh all right thank. >> you justin thanks guys. All
[1:46:07] right gary oldham. Good evening gary. Oldham 2928. Clinton place. Round rock. Beckoned me.
[1:46:22] >> when property was on the. >> ballot. We were. Warned threatened. That if property
[1:46:26] passed. We'd see. >> a. Tax increase. Well property failed. For a lot of
[1:46:31] reasons. And yet here we are with. >> a. Nearly 14% property tax
[1:46:35] rate. Increase on the table. Let's be clear. >> the city's. Touting 15.
[1:46:40] >> new firefighter positions. That's a. >> good thing. But in reality.
[1:46:43] those positions are to. Staff a new fire station. Those additional positions do nothing
[1:46:48] .to change the fact that. 73% of. >> our current. Fire apparatus
[1:46:53] are. Staffed below. The national. Minimum standard. That's not changing. With this.
[1:46:57] >> and it's. >> worth. Noting as well. >> that parks and rec is
[1:47:00] getting more new. Positions than either. Police or fire. Mr. Tankersley just. Spoke on.
[1:47:05] the promise. >> of data centers. Being the. >> magical tax. Revenue cash
[1:47:09] cow. >> that's. Going to keep our property taxes low. It's
[1:47:13] shocking that we're not seeing that. Despite the. >> city having.
[1:47:18] >> an ordinance. Section 16.1 90. >> or dash 190. It says the
[1:47:23] city shall. Not may. Shall invoice those. Responsible for. >> a. Hazmat incident in order
[1:47:28] to recover cost. 2024 the cb. >> data. Center had a battery. Storage system fire. That
[1:47:34] caused city. >> fire department. Equipment to. Sustain a quarter. Million
[1:47:38] dollars in damage. According to the. Response from my open records request, cb.
[1:47:42] >> was never. Invoiced for nor paid that or any other amount to reimburse the city. The
[1:47:47] city's failure. To heed their own. Ordinance in invoicing cb. And having.
[1:47:53] >> the taxpayers eat that quarter million dollars in damage. Is tantamount to a gift
[1:47:57] of. Taxpayer funds. And it's not responsible. Fiscal management. It old settlers
[1:48:03] park where. >> some. $230 million in general. Obligation bonds
[1:48:07] passed by. >> the. Few voters who voted in 2023. Apparently just. Isn't
[1:48:12] enough to. Finish those. Projects between. >> 2026. And. 2027.
[1:48:17] city council plans to issue. Another $42.3. >> million in certificates of
[1:48:22] obligation to fund additional. Work at old settlers park. Those certificates of
[1:48:28] obligation are just. >> like bonds. Taxpayers will be.
[1:48:30] >> paying that debt. Service for the next. 20 years. Except certificates of obligation. The
[1:48:35] voters have no say. Those decisions are made by a simple majority.
[1:48:39] >> of city. Council round is already around a half billion dollars in debt and that figure
[1:48:44] keeps going. Up. >> and debt repayment. Is a big. Component of why we're
[1:48:48] seeing. A property. Tax rate on the table. I think. >> a lot of citizens would like
[1:48:53] to know is. When will. Enough actually. Be enough? Thank you gary. All right. Anybody else.
[1:49:01] wishing to speak? All not seeing the public hearing is closed. Entertain a motion up
[1:49:07] the ordinance. So moved. >> I'm oh I'm sorry. I move that the. Property tax rate. Be
[1:49:14] increased by. The adoption of the tax. Rate of. 0.423000. >> which is effectively a. 9.8%
[1:49:24] increase in the tax rate. I have a second second I have a. Motion made by the mayor pro
[1:49:30] tem second by councilman ortega. Any other discussion. And please public council.
[1:49:36] mayor pro tem montgomery yes. Council member lee. Yes. >> council member flores. Yes.
[1:49:42] >> council member. Fleming. Yes. Council member. Ortega. Yes. Council member. Stevens.
[1:49:46] yes. Mayor morgan. Yes. >> all right. >> council comments..
[1:49:50] >> growing items of community interest. Councilmember lee. Good night. I'm not.
[1:49:54] councilmember floors. Good night, round rock. Councilmember fleming. Good
[1:49:59] night round rock. Councilmember ortega good night roll. Rock councilmember stevens good.
[1:50:05] night round rock. Mayor pro tem. Good night round. Rock and I'll say good night.
[1:50:09] >> we're adjourned some 58.