[0:05] We're going to go ahead and get this
[0:06] meeting started.
[0:08] This is a um
[0:10] City of Texas City
[0:12] uh budget workshop. We have to have two
[0:15] of these, and this is the first of two.
[0:17] The first one will be next week on
[0:20] August the 12th
[0:23] at 5:00.
[0:25] To begin with, we're going to start with
[0:26] roll call, starting with Commissioner
[0:28] District
[0:30] Two. Okay. Yeah, Commissioner Ward.
[0:32] >> Barbie Tucker, District 2.
[0:35] >> Brian Getsch, Commissioner-at-Large.
[0:36] >> Abel Garza, Mayor.
[0:38] >> Wade Johnson, Commissioner-at-Large.
[0:39] >> Chris Sharp, District 3.
[0:41] >> Jason Delgado, District 4.
[0:44] >> This is going to be a good meeting cuz
[0:46] this is the meeting we've all been
[0:47] waiting for, so we'll turn it over to
[0:48] the star of the show, Ms. Laura Boyd.
[0:52] Hold on, Ms. Boyd. Here comes Andre
[0:53] Natson. We have a full commission.
[0:58] » Thank you, Mayor and Commissioners. Um
[1:01] This is the first of two budget
[1:03] workshops.
[1:04] Um
[1:06] This is the the calendar so that you can
[1:08] get an idea of how this process works.
[1:11] Um late May, early June, um
[1:15] there's budget meetings between the
[1:16] department heads and the uh
[1:19] the mayor.
[1:20] And then uh phase two
[1:23] um
[1:24] July 10th was the deadline for the city
[1:26] to submit truth and taxation information
[1:28] to the county tax assessor.
[1:31] July 27th, deadline for the chief
[1:33] appraiser from the
[1:35] uh appraisal district to certify the tax
[1:37] rolls.
[1:39] And then on July 29th, the city received
[1:42] no new revenue tax rate and the voter
[1:44] approval tax rate statements and
[1:46] schedules from the tax office.
[1:48] And uh
[1:50] part of the um
[1:51] requirement when budget is being
[1:54] discussed, as you'll see um
[1:56] previously on the agenda was a taxpayer
[1:58] impact statement.
[2:01] And the
[2:02] it shows what the current adopted tax
[2:04] rate is, the
[2:07] no new revenue rate, and then once
[2:10] the commission has
[2:13] selected a proposed tax rate, that will
[2:15] be shown here as well.
[2:17] So, for the no new revenue rate for tax
[2:20] year 26, fiscal year 26-27,
[2:24] it's 0.497231.
[2:28] And the median taxable value of a
[2:29] homestead, $188,833,
[2:33] estimated annual tax bill $938.94.
[2:38] You might wonder, well, why is the no
[2:40] new revenue rate higher than than the
[2:43] current rate? Well, because the tax
[2:44] values went down.
[2:46] And uh
[2:48] when I present the proposed tax rate to
[2:51] you at a future meeting, I will go into
[2:53] more detail
[2:55] regarding property values and how the
[2:57] tax rate is calculated, and we'll get in
[3:01] deeper into that.
[3:02] So,
[3:04] um
[3:05] August 5th, today, and next week on the
[3:07] 12th, budget workshops. And then um
[3:11] the proposed tax rate
[3:13] and the other rates will be on the
[3:15] city's website
[3:17] August 10th.
[3:20] August 14th, we'll schedule pub-
[3:22] hearings on the the budget. Regular call
[3:25] meeting and and on the August 19th is
[3:27] when I will present to you the
[3:29] proposed tax rate for you to vote on.
[3:32] And then we have a couple of required
[3:34] notices of budget public hearing. And
[3:37] then on the 16th of September is when
[3:39] the commission will
[3:41] adopt There will be a budget hearing,
[3:43] adopt the budget, adopt the tax rate,
[3:45] and approve the certified tax roll.
[3:48] So, in tonight's workshop, I'm only
[3:50] going to go over the general fund
[3:53] budget, which is the largest of the
[3:55] funds. It's where most of the
[3:57] departments are, the main maintenance
[4:00] and operations
[4:02] of the city.
[4:03] I'm on the same page.
[4:06] This
[4:07] schedule here is a summary that shows
[4:10] the general fund revenues and
[4:12] expenditures.
[4:14] The amended budget for the current year,
[4:17] what's year-end projection, and then uh
[4:20] proposed budget.
[4:22] As you are probably aware, the two
[4:24] largest components of the general fund
[4:28] revenues is property taxes and sales
[4:30] tax.
[4:33] >> [clears throat]
[4:33] >> And you might want to might wonder,
[4:35] well, why is the amended budget 30.6
[4:38] million on property tax?
[4:40] Projection is 32.5,
[4:43] and then the proposed is 31.1.
[4:46] Well, when when the tax office and the appraisal district provide their
[4:51] information,
[4:52] that's at a certain time a certain date
[4:55] and time. So, in July of this year,
[4:58] they're saying that the appraised values
[5:01] are X amount. Well, throughout the tax
[5:04] year,
[5:05] they submit supplemental
[5:08] valuation reports,
[5:11] which
[5:12] typically those are higher than the what
[5:14] was originally certified. Consequently,
[5:17] the tax levy ends up being higher than
[5:20] what was originally budgeted, what was
[5:22] originally adopted, because of these
[5:25] supplemental
[5:26] valuation increases.
[5:28] So, that's why you're seeing
[5:30] the the 2 million difference between the
[5:32] amended budget and the year-end
[5:34] projection.
[5:35] Now, the proposed budget on the
[5:37] revenues, I have a I have assumed
[5:40] that
[5:42] the no new revenue rate of 0.497231
[5:45] is what will be adopted. So, that's
[5:47] where the 31 is coming in.
[5:51] Um that
[5:53] likely, based on previous history,
[5:56] likely will increase resulting in larger
[5:59] property tax revenues.
[6:01] Um
[6:02] >> [clears throat]
[6:03] >> then uh
[6:04] if you go down to the expenditures for
[6:07] me. Thank you.
[6:09] Here are the various departments that
[6:10] are covered into the general fund.
[6:13] We have general government, which
[6:15] there's uh some staff
[6:18] personnel that are in there, and then
[6:20] the the pay for the mayor and the
[6:22] commissioners are all is also included
[6:24] in that department. Finance is, as you
[6:27] expect, finance. Uh
[6:29] legal, purchasing, planning, which is
[6:32] also includes engineering.
[6:35] And you got uh IT,
[6:37] uh human resources, and communications.
[6:40] Well, the general government department
[6:42] and human resources, communications,
[6:45] and um
[6:47] neighborhood improvement services,
[6:49] and facility management were all
[6:51] departments that were added
[6:53] in last fiscal year.
[6:55] Uh
[6:57] anyway, so um police, fire, neighborhood
[6:59] improvement services used to be a piece
[7:01] of the fire department, and then it was
[7:03] broken out to a separate department.
[7:05] They still
[7:06] report to the fire chain of command.
[7:09] And you've got inspections, municipal
[7:11] court, emergency management, public
[7:12] works, sanitation, pump station, uh the
[7:16] aforementioned facility management,
[7:18] recreation and tourism, library, golf
[7:20] course,
[7:21] um
[7:23] animal control, and uh grants
[7:25] administration are the last of the two
[7:28] of those.
[7:30] Um
[7:31] we can go into the more detail on the on
[7:34] the uh expenditure side of well,
[7:37] scroll up a little bit and we'll stay on
[7:41] previous uh excuse me, on that page. I'm
[7:43] sorry.
[7:44] >> This one?
[7:46] Um here we go.
[7:49] The beginning fund balance for
[7:53] um
[7:53] the the current fiscal year
[7:56] um
[7:58] I'll be honest and tell you I'm not real
[8:01] confident in that number because the
[8:03] 24-25 audit has not been completed. It
[8:06] is in progress
[8:08] but not complete.
[8:10] Um
[8:12] and then consequently the
[8:14] um
[8:15] subsequent fund balances I'm not
[8:19] terribly confident in right now. By the
[8:21] time I bring you the adopted the budget
[8:23] for you to adopt, hopefully we'll have
[8:25] that more um
[8:27] knocked down or in detail. Um the
[8:31] Forvis Mazars accounting firm is
[8:34] currently doing the 24-25 audit
[8:37] and they expect to be done with their
[8:38] field work, which is their
[8:40] uh in-depth testing of accounts payable,
[8:43] accounts receivable, all the things that
[8:45] go into the financials.
[8:47] They expect to be done with that
[8:49] September 18th. So once they're done
[8:51] with that, then they will prepare the
[8:53] report.
[8:54] Um
[8:55] so hopefully we have
[8:58] better numbers closer we get to
[9:00] September 16th when you all adopt the
[9:02] budget.
[9:04] You can go to the next.
[9:07] So this is a more detailed view of the
[9:10] revenues
[9:11] um
[9:12] taxes also includes delinquent taxes,
[9:15] penalties, and interest. Other taxes and
[9:18] assessments, the the big ones
[9:20] uh state sales tax
[9:22] um and then our tax New Mexico power
[9:24] franchise tax is also a big component
[9:27] there.
[9:28] Um
[9:30] then the next grouping is all the
[9:32] various licenses and permits.
[9:34] Um and then we have grant revenue, uh
[9:37] charges for services,
[9:39] which is the big one there is uh
[9:42] um
[9:43] garbage pick up and disposal,
[9:45] uh EMS patient charges,
[9:47] um that sorts of things.
[9:49] >> [clears throat]
[9:53] » And then the the other various
[9:56] um
[9:56] revenue line items.
[10:00] So, what what I'm expecting uh
[10:03] budget-wise for total revenues is 81.8
[10:06] million.
[10:07] And typically we're we're quite
[10:09] conservative when we budget for
[10:11] revenues.
[10:12] Um that's why we don't often bring back
[10:16] before commission to revise the revenue
[10:19] items.
[10:20] Like what I was talking about before,
[10:22] when we get supplemental reports or
[10:24] evaluations from the CAD, we don't
[10:26] usually bring it back before commission
[10:27] to say
[10:29] um
[10:30] we're revising the revenue
[10:32] budget.
[10:34] Any questions so far on the revenues?
[10:37] >> Yes, ma'am.
[10:39] So, Ms. Boyd, it looks like just to
[10:42] start off, if we're planning
[10:46] 84 million in spend on 81 million in
[10:49] revenues,
[10:51] 81.8, 82, there's roughly a 2 million
[10:54] deficit
[10:55] >> Mhm.
[10:56] >> there.
[10:57] >> Mhm.
[10:57] >> So, then would that come from general
[10:59] fund or some reserve fund to cover that
[11:02] or we're hoping for the revenues to come
[11:04] >> Well, look, it it would be coming from
[11:06] the fund balance.
[11:09] Um
[11:11] historically, like I said, we budget um
[11:15] conservatively on the revenue side and
[11:17] try to be as tight as possible on the
[11:19] expenditure side.
[11:20] Um
[11:24] I don't like having the 2.3 deficit,
[11:27] obviously.
[11:28] The city charter requires that the
[11:30] revenues or the expenditures not exceed
[11:34] revenues for the entire budget, not just
[11:36] one fund.
[11:38] So.
[11:39] Um
[11:42] Like you know, this is the first
[11:45] look at this and um
[11:48] I'm hoping to bring back a a better total.
[11:53] >> Understood. Yeah, it's my perception
[11:55] that we're behind on certain areas and
[11:58] we may may need to catch up on
[12:00] investment and I'm I'm assuming we'll
[12:02] get further into that here in a moment.
[12:04] But I I do want to draw out for the
[12:06] other commissioners that I've been
[12:08] beating the drum about the need for more
[12:12] development, residential developments,
[12:14] commercial development, but
[12:16] expanding development in our city will
[12:18] help, not immediately, but over some
[12:20] amount of time, drive more property tax
[12:23] and sales tax revenues. Is that a fair
[12:25] summary?
[12:26] >> I think that's fair.
[12:28] >> Yeah.
[12:30] Thank you.
[12:31] >> [clears throat]
[12:33] >> You can go to expense right next
[12:34] expenditure.
[12:36] Here's the general government I can't
[12:39] department.
[12:41] Um
[12:44] as we go through these different
[12:45] departments, if if you'd like to ask
[12:47] questions, I'm I'll entertain those.
[12:50] I will tell you
[12:52] um
[12:53] for all the general fund departments
[12:56] um even those that had requested um
[13:00] personnel increases
[13:03] the numbers that I'm providing to you
[13:04] here assume a 3% cost of living
[13:08] uh a
[13:10] adjustment and uh does not include
[13:13] funding for any
[13:15] new positions.
[13:19] » [clears throat]
[13:20] >> So, I just wanted to make that note.
[13:23] So, on the general fund uh Uh me,
[13:25] general government department,
[13:27] >> [clears throat]
[13:27] >> they currently have uh
[13:30] seven employees.
[13:34] And they did not request any additional.
[13:40] You want to scroll down to the finance?
[13:44] >> Finance?
[13:45] next, there we go.
[13:47] The uh finance department currently has
[13:50] nine personnel and no
[13:54] request for additional.
[14:02] And the total the
[14:04] Yeah, go to the total. Yeah.
[14:06] Six Sorry. Go back up there.
[14:09] Almost 6 million budgeted there.
[14:13] Um in the finance department, it
[14:17] not just uh the usual
[14:20] uh expenditures.
[14:23] The TIRZ tax payments come out of the finance department and any sales tax
[14:28] rebates
[14:29] um come out of here with a
[14:32] 50/50 split between the the finance
[14:34] department and the EDC.
[14:40] And go to the
[14:41] next.
[14:41] >> B- Before you move forward, I'm I'm
[14:44] trying to find that in my own copy. I
[14:45] had written some notes on it, but
[14:49] the if I'm reading this correctly, Ms.
[14:51] Boyd, there's a jump from 4.2 to almost
[14:54] 6. What are some of the
[14:57] chunky
[14:59] parts of that increase?
[15:02] >> Well, the biggest one looks like to be
[15:03] it's the contractual services.
[15:06] You want to go to the
[15:08] Yeah.
[15:13] » The the 1.5 on the insurance.
[15:16] >> Right. Well, if you notice the
[15:18] current budget has nothing there.
[15:22] I'm not sure where the insurance That's
[15:25] something we're trying to
[15:27] >> Where was insurance for this fiscal
[15:29] period?
[15:29] >> it was I mean it was paid. I just don't
[15:31] know exactly where it was paid from.
[15:34] Normally it would be would have been
[15:35] paid out of where I have it budgeted
[15:37] for.
[15:38] >> Maybe it's in one of those sub-accounts.
[15:41] >> I'll let you
[15:43] I'll let I'll I will answer that when I
[15:45] find out where it is. But
[15:48] rest assured the insurance has been
[15:49] paid. It's just not been paid out of
[15:51] where it usually had been paid from.
[15:55] » So that's 1.5 difference, 1.5 million
[15:58] difference out of the 1.8 commissioner.
[16:00] >> I mean that's Yeah.
[16:01] >> Very good.
[16:02] >> It's a pretty big chunk pretty big chunk
[16:03] right there.
[16:04] >> Yeah.
[16:05] >> Yes.
[16:05] >> I had very diligent notes and then my
[16:08] computer crashed and I lost most of them
[16:10] so I'm struggling to catch up. But
[16:12] please continue Ms. Boyd.
[16:14] >> You want to go to the legal department?
[16:18] Uh currently there is one person in the
[16:21] legal department that's paid
[16:24] salary and benefits from the city.
[16:26] And then um
[16:29] we contract for legal fees.
[16:33] That shows up in the professional fees
[16:35] line item. And then the court prosecutor
[16:38] fees
[16:39] um
[16:40] previously [clears throat] they were
[16:41] recorded out of um municipal court but
[16:44] it's more appropriate that it come from
[16:46] the legal department. So that's why it's
[16:48] in here instead of municipal court.
[16:52] >> So to the extent that we incur expense
[16:55] incremental expense to handle litigation
[16:59] and I'm assuming then we would use
[17:00] outside legal services to defend
[17:03] ourselves against any suits, is that in
[17:06] that professional fees line item?
[17:09] >> Uh yes. And also most of the departments
[17:12] have a professional fees line item.
[17:14] Sometimes it it's
[17:16] for example if it's a police matter,
[17:19] then it would come from the police
[17:20] professional fees.
[17:22] It would be department specific.
[17:24] >> Yeah, that's specifically what I was
[17:25] looking for. That is my perception is we
[17:28] have ongoing litigation. I don't I don't
[17:30] know that.
[17:31] But where is that being paid for? And so
[17:33] maybe it's
[17:34] >> It would be dependent on the department
[17:35] that's involved.
[17:37] >> Noted. Thank you. [clears throat]
[17:40] >> We'll go to
[17:41] purchasing.
[17:44] there's currently one
[17:45] person.
[17:47] Um
[17:48] just a couple of days ago there were two
[17:50] people.
[17:51] Um so there's transition going on in in
[17:53] that uh department. Um
[17:57] basically staying flat with what the
[18:00] projection versus the budget.
[18:04] You go to the next.
[18:05] >> Does
[18:05] this reflect one or two people?
[18:08] >> The proposed budget right now is
[18:10] reflecting one person.
[18:14] » So
[18:15] we're not intending to backfill then?
[18:18] >> That hasn't been decided yet.
[18:21] The planning department is also
[18:23] engineering.
[18:25] Um
[18:26] and uh there are three people in that
[18:29] department currently.
[18:32] Um
[18:34] the biggest ticket on this uh
[18:36] department, well, the two items,
[18:38] professional fees and Connect
[18:40] Transportation.
[18:41] Connect Trans- Transportation is the
[18:43] city's uh contractual obligation to
[18:46] Connect Transit.
[18:48] And then the professional fees, there
[18:49] are numerous um
[18:52] entities that are doing work
[18:56] engineering and planning wise, and that
[18:57] comes out of that line item.
[19:00] >> A couple of things um before we put away
[19:02] purchasing. So, um
[19:05] it was my perception that under the
[19:07] previous administration there had been
[19:08] some amount of effort to centralize
[19:10] procurement in some way. I may be
[19:13] misstating that.
[19:14] But that previously on the decades
[19:18] prior, certain departments that procure
[19:21] a lot of things had their own
[19:22] procurement-related
[19:24] capability.
[19:25] >> [clears throat]
[19:26] >> So, if we're currently considering do we
[19:29] backfill or do we not backfill, does
[19:30] that have some impact then on this other
[19:32] capacity or am I just wrong about my
[19:34] notions on all that?
[19:35] >> Um
[19:37] All I'm going to tell you is how it
[19:39] like you said, decades previously, there
[19:41] was
[19:42] one purchasing person for
[19:46] all departments except for public works.
[19:49] had one dedicated person
[19:52] um that reported to public works
[19:55] director that was doing purchasing for
[19:58] public works utilities.
[20:01] Um
[20:02] It has not been decided yet as to if
[20:04] that's going to revert back to that or
[20:07] if some other
[20:09] variation.
[20:11] >> It would seem to make a lot of sense.
[20:13] The things that Jack's department
[20:15] procures have a high degree of technical
[20:17] specificity and complexity and so to try
[20:20] to centralize that in some way would
[20:22] seem
[20:23] like why? Why do that?
[20:25] >> Well, another uh component of
[20:27] centralized purchasing um
[20:31] you have to have a place to warehouse
[20:33] things.
[20:34] And
[20:35] anyway,
[20:36] that's another component of it. So,
[20:39] um
[20:40] >> Thank you.
[20:40] >> Commissioner, it hasn't been decided yet
[20:42] as to how that's going to be handled.
[20:45] Um
[20:46] I will present what public works has
[20:48] requested and then it'll be
[20:51] uh
[20:52] commission to determine how they want to
[20:53] proceed with it.
[20:54] >> Okay, thank you. Uh moving ahead to
[20:56] planning then.
[20:57] So, the um this has been a topic um that
[21:00] I've discussed with a number of people
[21:03] um in one-to-one discussions that given
[21:07] the sheer volume of
[21:10] potential, I'm optimistic about it. I
[21:12] think hopefully for the assembled public
[21:14] and other commissioners, we've connected
[21:16] the dots between we need things like
[21:18] Latitude Margaritaville to help
[21:21] improve our revenue situation.
[21:24] But whether people agree with me on that
[21:26] or not,
[21:27] there
[21:28] will be a lot of engineering associated
[21:31] with that and engineering of different
[21:33] types. I'm no engineer here, but I think
[21:36] there's probably 15 or 20 different
[21:38] types of engineering specificities that
[21:40] are needed for that. And so a discussion
[21:45] that's
[21:46] I've been a part of a few of. Sorry,
[21:48] speaking
[21:50] extemporaneously.
[21:51] I've been in a few discussions about
[21:53] best practices that we might see in
[21:55] other cities around us, which would
[21:56] involve utilizing a third-party
[21:59] engineering firm
[22:01] where it makes sense for them to have
[22:03] all those different
[22:04] specialties. Where we need those on an
[22:07] ad hoc basis, we utilize this
[22:09] third-party engineering firm. And as I
[22:12] also understand it, those third-party
[22:14] engineering firms are largely paid for
[22:16] by fees that are incurred through the
[22:17] permits.
[22:19] Most recently this week what I had heard
[22:21] was, "Yeah, but Jason, we can't do that
[22:23] because it's too expensive."
[22:26] Now whether this is all hearsay and
[22:28] innuendo or not, as I look at the
[22:30] planning expenditures then, and I think
[22:32] that we have an interim city engineer,
[22:35] as I look at these line items, is that
[22:36] assume that we're backfilling should Mr.
[22:39] Knipper move on to whatever's next? Or
[22:41] what what assumptions should we make
[22:42] about personnel in the planning
[22:44] department?
[22:48] There was a lot there, huh?
[22:50] >> [laughter]
[22:52] >> Well, I have a question.
[22:53] >> It's kind of a sensitive point though,
[22:54] because there's a a backlog of
[22:57] >> Well, Commissioner, the the
[22:59] ongoing projects
[23:02] within the city does use
[23:06] third-party engineers.
[23:08] Um and then depending on the project
[23:11] um
[23:13] other engineers could be brought in. I
[23:15] mean that that's standard operating
[23:18] procedure.
[23:19] Regardless if there is an interim city
[23:21] engineer or a full-time city engineer,
[23:23] there's
[23:25] other engineers that are involved
[23:26] depending on the project.
[23:28] >> Understood. What I understand
[23:30] >> is at the the Are there
[23:32] on behalf of the city?
[23:34] >> Yes, ma'am.
[23:35] Um sorry. Pardon me. I I never want to
[23:38] offend or speak over you. The But where
[23:40] I'm going with this is if you're a
[23:42] developer and let's say that you're
[23:43] trying to build 3,500 homes in our city
[23:46] and then you're pre-selling out in
[23:47] advance
[23:49] and you make commitments to
[23:52] Mr. and Mrs. Boyd that their home is
[23:53] going to be ready on date certain.
[23:56] Then whenever they need an inspection,
[23:58] they really need it done within a really
[24:00] narrow time frame. And now if I have 500
[24:02] of those homes being constructed all in
[24:04] tandem, that would easily exceed our
[24:06] capacity to respond with the horsepower,
[24:10] the manpower that we have.
[24:12] So so
[24:13] I can table this for discussion with the
[24:15] mayor and others at a later time, but I
[24:16] just wanted to
[24:18] if if indeed this Margaritaville
[24:20] development happens and I'm hopeful it
[24:22] does,
[24:23] that could put a significant strain on
[24:25] our ability to respond timely with all
[24:28] sorts of inspections.
[24:31] >> Ms. Boyd, do you mind if I
[24:32] >> Sure.
[24:33] >> Uh Commissioner Delgado, I think um
[24:35] you're specifically referring to the
[24:36] Margaritaville, you know, the influx of
[24:38] homes and if we can keep up with the
[24:40] demand of them building. Is that what
[24:41] you're speaking to?
[24:42] >> I exactly that.
[24:43] >> Um through the workshops that we've had
[24:46] with Margaritaville, um I believe and
[24:49] anybody else involved can correct me if
[24:50] I'm wrong.
[24:51] I believe they're going to be putting
[24:53] 100% of that bill.
[24:56] I think they said 110% of it
[24:59] that they're going to be covering, so
[25:02] >> And
[25:03] even though there's going to be a lot of
[25:05] homes that they're doing it in more than
[25:06] one phase, the first phase is probably
[25:08] maybe 400 acres and they're only going
[25:11] to build 50 homes a month. And in
[25:13] discussing this with
[25:15] Dirk Knipper, they'll be able to keep up
[25:17] with 50 homes a month.
[25:19] >> So be it. Just what I'm making sure is
[25:21] that we're not planning to do a lot of
[25:23] hiring when we could utilize
[25:26] third parties as a best practice and
[25:28] particularly when we don't have to pay
[25:29] those third parties up front, that their
[25:31] cost is covered by the fees that are
[25:33] incurred.
[25:34] >> If that comes to point, I'm sure that
[25:36] third party will come into play.
[25:38] >> Fantastic. Thank you.
[25:39] >> Um
[25:40] when we use a third party
[25:42] engineering company, they don't always
[25:46] control your staff
[25:48] like what we have.
[25:50] With Dirk Knipper, he's over engineering
[25:51] with our staff.
[25:53] >> Now, the third party engineers
[25:55] >> That's our problem.
[25:55] >> controlling our staff.
[25:56] >> the head of our engineering with a third
[25:58] party. We have to do both.
[26:01] >> Right.
[26:01] >> All right, let's go find one that will
[26:02] do that stuff.
[26:04] >> Yeah, the search is still ongoing.
[26:06] We did interview third party engineering
[26:09] group and they did not want to manage
[26:11] the staff, evaluate the staff, assign
[26:13] assignments, so
[26:16] that company didn't work out.
[26:17] >> Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's
[26:18] kind of the problem, right?
[26:19] >> Yes.
[26:23] » You want to go to
[26:24] IT?
[26:30] Here we got IT and they've got four
[26:31] personnel and they've requested
[26:34] one administrative assistant.
[26:37] Um
[26:39] the big ticket item for
[26:41] Slow down.
[26:43] Um
[26:46] one of the big ticket items is
[26:47] communications and a couple of years ago
[26:51] or maybe this current fiscal year. Now
[26:53] it was it was 24 25 from what I recall.
[26:57] The communications
[26:59] budget was
[27:00] put all in innovation and technology.
[27:03] Previously um
[27:06] >> [clears throat]
[27:06] >> each department, if applicable, would
[27:08] have a communications line item, but
[27:10] then it was all moved into uh IT.
[27:14] Um IT also takes care of the um
[27:18] maintenance contracts or renewals and
[27:21] licenses for various software that is
[27:24] used across city departments. Now if
[27:27] it's a specific software that's used by
[27:29] one department, that department will be
[27:31] responsible for paying for that
[27:33] software.
[27:34] But um
[27:35] if it's a citywide uh
[27:38] system, then IT pays for that in their
[27:41] budget.
[27:43] >> It Is that feasible to have four people
[27:45] do
[27:47] >> I
[27:47] >> Um it's uh
[27:50] They're very busy and and you know,
[27:52] they've requested
[27:54] an admin assistant
[27:55] um to handle some of the paperwork and and that sort of
[28:00] thing. That way they can be out the the
[28:02] other four can be out in the field
[28:05] handling um
[28:07] whatever needs to be handled at various
[28:09] other departments.
[28:10] >> Thank you.
[28:11] I I'll defer to to Joe on this, but I I
[28:14] met with himself and Kyle on this that
[28:17] um I'm I'm a big fan of investing in IT
[28:20] because it can enable more automation
[28:23] and more throughput and more efficiency
[28:25] and more services. So I I was
[28:28] personally expecting to see a
[28:29] significant
[28:31] a bigger increase right here, but I but
[28:33] I'll defer to Joe thinks this is right
[28:35] then then so be it.
[28:38] >> Well, obviously we'd like to have
[28:40] three or four more.
[28:42] >> [laughter]
[28:44] » I think my private coaching was this is
[28:46] an area of the staff I would suggest
[28:48] doubling it.
[28:50] Yeah, but if if one is is the
[28:51] incremental step
[28:53] supported by the mayor then then so be
[28:54] it.
[28:56] >> Of course the other side of that coin is
[28:57] if you have good systems that work well
[29:02] you might not necessarily need
[29:05] >> Right.
[29:05] I don't think we have that though, do
[29:07] we?
[29:08] >> [laughter]
[29:11] » It's
[29:12] well never mind. Um
[29:15] we can go to the uh human resources.
[29:17] >> One question, what's the
[29:19] what's contractual services and
[29:20] communications? What what's the
[29:22] difference between
[29:24] >> Can you go back to that page, please?
[29:27] >> Is is [clears throat] that
[29:30] » Contractual ser-
[29:32] services is the total of all of those um
[29:35] security through workers comp.
[29:39] >> Okay, thank you.
[29:43] » Now we're going to go to um
[29:44] human resources.
[29:49] Like I said, this department was created
[29:51] in
[29:51] um
[29:53] in 24/25.
[29:55] It was previously part of
[29:57] the overall administration department
[29:59] which had um
[30:01] city secretary, human resources, finance
[30:05] um
[30:06] all combined and then it it got split
[30:08] out. Anyway, there's uh four folks that
[30:11] work in human resources right now.
[30:13] Um
[30:15] and uh they have all the the usual
[30:17] expenditures for a department.
[30:20] Um
[30:25] » The number is decreasing.
[30:29] Are we are we are we
[30:32] going down an FTE there and is that what
[30:35] we're going to do?
[30:35] >> Until recently it was five people. Now
[30:37] it's
[30:37] >> that's what I was thinking it was five.
[30:39] >> Yes.
[30:41] Now there's only four. Um
[30:44] >> And we're we're planning to stay that
[30:45] way.
[30:47] >> That hasn't been decided yet.
[30:52] And next department is communications.
[30:57] This is also newly formed department. Uh
[31:01] This is uh media relations uh
[31:10] Jennifer and Derek and
[31:12] uh one other staff person.
[31:14] Um they have requested an another
[31:17] communications specialist.
[31:20] Um I will tell you
[31:21] this is not their only budget. They have
[31:25] uh line items that pertain to them in
[31:28] EDC, uh the dike fund, and uh hotel
[31:32] motel occupancy tax fund.
[31:34] Those are funds that'll be covered in
[31:36] the next budget workshop. This is
[31:38] strictly
[31:39] what is covered for their department out
[31:41] of the general fund.
[31:46] Any questions on that?
[31:48] >> It's the EDC
[31:50] the what are the other funds?
[31:52] >> Hotel motel occupancy,
[31:55] uh dike fund
[31:57] >> Uh thank you.
[31:58] >> cultural arts
[31:59] >> Yeah.
[32:00] >> Sue, are we are we adding head count in
[32:03] this area from this year to next cuz it
[32:05] looks like there's a
[32:07] like a 60% increase?
[32:10] >> Can you go back up to the salaries line
[32:12] up?
[32:13] >> [clears throat]
[32:13] >> Um
[32:16] I'm not sure where the current
[32:18] salary line the current amended budget
[32:22] that number is.
[32:24] >> Was it in a queue? Now it's three.
[32:26] >> Yeah.
[32:27] >> That's why it's changed because of
[32:28] Camilla.
[32:30] It was two and then Harvey period one
[32:31] spot. Now we're looking for a fourth
[32:33] one. That's
[32:35] » And I don't know when the third
[32:37] person was hired.
[32:38] >> That's me.
[32:41] Okay.
[32:41] >> Yes, so she won't be on
[32:43] >> Anyway, that would account for the
[32:46] biggest difference
[32:47] and all the benefits
[32:49] attached there to.
[32:53] And next department, police.
[32:59] Not surprisingly, police has a large budget. Um
[33:05] the um
[33:06] the head count
[33:09] not counting open positions. This is
[33:11] what's currently filled is a total of
[33:13] 110.
[33:15] 84 officers and 26 civilians.
[33:19] Um that salary line item is only
[33:22] accounting for
[33:24] the currently filled positions
[33:26] with a 3% increase.
[33:34] » [clears throat]
[33:36] >> Is it unusual to pay the
[33:38] 700,000
[33:39] a year in overtime or
[33:41] I mean
[33:43] >> Well, because of the
[33:45] short staffed, then
[33:47] um
[33:50] I mean, the 527 year-end projection
[33:53] not a pro- All the year-end projections
[33:55] I need to preface this with it saying
[33:57] that all the year-end projections will
[33:58] change before you adopt the budget. This
[34:01] is as of
[34:04] a couple of days ago
[34:05] extrapolated out two more months.
[34:08] Um
[34:10] So, the overtime
[34:12] may not be 700,000 for the upcoming
[34:15] year, but
[34:16] >> Okay.
[34:16] >> Um we budgeted for it.
[34:18] >> It's a projection. Yeah, um Commissioner
[34:20] Getches says the
[34:22] just building on top of what he said.
[34:24] Looking at that consistently across a
[34:26] 3-year spread, it suggests we're
[34:28] understaffed. And if we're meeting the
[34:30] need through overtime,
[34:32] then it seems like we need to add head
[34:34] count.
[34:35] Is that Is that a fair summary, Mayor
[34:37] Carson?
[34:38] >> Yes, exactly.
[34:39] >> So,
[34:40] and Interim Chief Patterson can answer
[34:42] those questions.
[34:44] >> Yeah, and my understanding is long
[34:46] before ever I
[34:47] was elected, that's been an ongoing
[34:49] thread. What I also understand from
[34:51] talking with
[34:52] a lot of folks in the know is we've been
[34:54] eligible for certain grants
[34:57] to expand head count and that for
[35:00] different reasons that hasn't worked
[35:02] out. Is that Is that a fair
[35:05] >> Well, on the the couple of the grants
[35:06] that I'm familiar with, um, had
[35:09] requirements for hiring.
[35:11] And if you didn't hire
[35:14] Correct me if I'm wrong, James. If you
[35:16] didn't hire
[35:17] by a certain time, then you weren't
[35:19] going to get the money.
[35:22] >> Yeah, so the the grants that the grants
[35:23] I'm talking about were from the prior
[35:25] administration. So, my scope now on
[35:27] those would be somewhat
[35:29] small.
[35:32] But there is hiring difficulties with
[35:35] the the police department. Not
[35:36] specifically to the department, but the
[35:38] candidates that are that are
[35:40] applying.
[35:42] >> Yeah, as I've as I've, um, tried to come
[35:44] up to speed on a number of these things,
[35:46] one of the things that I I do is I look
[35:48] to cities that are similar to us.
[35:51] Large industrial base.
[35:53] Growing similarly. And so that leads to
[35:57] LaPorte, Deer Park, Port Arthur, others
[36:00] that are more like us.
[36:02] And consistently when you look at a
[36:06] patrol officers to
[36:08] citizens, like a per capita measure, it
[36:10] says we are grossly understaffed. Is
[36:13] that Is that I'm just off on the new
[36:15] guy, or would you agree?
[36:16] >> I would not argue against that fact. No,
[36:18] not at all.
[36:19] >> Yeah. And so then when you're grossly
[36:21] understaffed, then the way that you try
[36:23] to address need is through lots and lots
[36:27] of overtime.
[36:29] Which then leads to other challenges. Is
[36:32] that also a fair summary?
[36:35] Morale, people are worked to the bone.
[36:38] >> That would be fair to say.
[36:41] » Okay. It seems like maybe that's
[36:43] something that needs some more offline
[36:45] discussion of what can we do to try to
[36:47] remedy that?
[36:49] Hey.
[36:50] Is there an elephant in the room?
[36:52] >> No.
[36:52] >> [laughter]
[36:54] >> They got the process started
[36:56] a few months back.
[36:58] >> And the And the termination pay is when
[37:00] the officers retire
[37:01] >> Yes.
[37:02] >> or resign.
[37:03] >> Yes.
[37:04] >> And then I guess it's the
[37:06] for the chief were
[37:08] clothing we got 140,625.
[37:12] Is that because we have so many
[37:13] different uniforms or is that just what
[37:16] it takes? We
[37:18] I don't see any two officers wearing the
[37:20] same
[37:21] uniform.
[37:23] There's different polos and
[37:25] >> Yeah, so there there are uniform
[37:27] options. There's a lot that goes into
[37:30] It's not just clothing and uniforms.
[37:31] There are
[37:33] uh equipment items that are purchased
[37:35] out of that line as well such as
[37:37] radio batteries,
[37:40] duty rigs,
[37:43] uh handcuffs,
[37:44] handcuff pouches, holsters.
[37:46] Uh those types of things are also
[37:48] purchased out of that line.
[37:51] >> I
[37:53] » You can use the police officer
[37:55] You can use the microphone.
[37:59] » Yeah, I think we have more questions.
[38:01] This is an area of high interest.
[38:03] >> Four year
[38:06] You want to use that?
[38:07] >> Get comfy.
[38:08] >> Can I get to sit down and dig into it?
[38:14] » All right.
[38:15] I got one to the the food and jail
[38:17] supplies.
[38:19] And I don't know, but do we house other
[38:21] agencies inmates?
[38:24] >> So, yes, we currently have a
[38:27] MOU with Clear Lake Shores and we do
[38:30] house their municipal Class C inmates.
[38:32] Yes.
[38:34] >> That's it? Just Clear Lake Shores?
[38:36] >> Correct. Currently in the process of
[38:38] working with
[38:39] The prior administration agreed to have
[38:43] the same type of MOU with Hitchcock and
[38:45] that has not started as far as I'm
[38:48] aware. There were some They're waiting
[38:50] We're still waiting on their municipal
[38:51] paperwork and their judge information.
[38:53] >> What would be the benefit for the city?
[38:56] >> Commissioner Sharpley, can't hear you.
[38:58] >> What would be the benefit
[38:59] to that?
[39:00] >> It does It does provide a source of
[39:04] revenue for
[39:07] the city.
[39:08] Currently, they pay $50 per calendar day
[39:12] that a subject is there. I would say
[39:14] that it doesn't cost us $50 to feed and
[39:18] or house that that inmate. So, it it is
[39:20] a revenue source, plus it's a good faith
[39:23] gesture to surrounding law enforcement
[39:25] agencies.
[39:26] >> But, we're liable to them, too, right?
[39:28] When they're in our jail?
[39:28] >> That That would be accurate. Yes.
[39:30] >> All right. One other one. I don't
[39:32] remember what it's called. There's a
[39:32] grant, correct me if I'm wrong,
[39:35] and we used to have it.
[39:37] Pull people [snorts] over. I'm sorry.
[39:39] That's my bad. Pull people over
[39:41] and they supply it. You know You have
[39:42] any idea what I'm talking about?
[39:43] >> Yeah, the selective traffic enforcement
[39:45] program, STEP grant. Yes, sir.
[39:47] >> You think that's something we could try
[39:48] to do again or are we looking
[39:49] >> We currently still have it. And
[39:51] actually, last year our STEP grant was
[39:54] almost doubled. So, we went from I
[39:56] think Well, not quite doubled.
[39:59] Our That current grant is a $49,000
[40:02] grant, but it's a match grant. So, the
[40:04] city matches half of that grant with the
[40:06] state.
[40:07] >> So, we never stopped doing that?
[40:09] >> No, it's still ongoing.
[40:10] >> I apologize. I'm sorry. This is
[40:12] important.
[40:13] >> So, now, does any of the inmates from other agencies
[40:18] Do we have our judge?
[40:20] >> No.
[40:21] >> He has no participation at all with
[40:23] that.
[40:23] >> Correct. So, the agreement with Clear
[40:25] Lake Shores is they provide they have a
[40:27] safe that is in the jail where all of
[40:29] their money
[40:31] goes. They have a judge that responds to
[40:34] our facility to magistrate and or make
[40:38] determinations as far as their inmates.
[40:40] Uh their police officers obviously
[40:42] transport here. Uh we don't transport
[40:45] for them. So, they basically rent our
[40:48] jail facility from us, but they're a
[40:51] self-contained unit outside of that. At
[40:53] the end of each month, we run a report
[40:55] that shows how many inmates they had in
[40:58] the jail.
[40:59] Uh we provide that to finance and they
[41:02] invoice Clear Lake Shores who then
[41:05] uh submits payment to the city.
[41:07] >> And one one last question. If if we have
[41:09] an a suicide or
[41:12] a major incident in the jail, it's on
[41:14] our city or their legal team picks up
[41:17] their inmate?
[41:19] >> That's a great question. We have not
[41:22] dealt with that type of situation at the
[41:23] moment. Like I said, we're we are
[41:26] housing their Class C arrests. So, any
[41:28] Class B and above or serious offenses
[41:31] would go straight to Galveston County.
[41:33] Uh that's something that we have not
[41:36] dealt with.
[41:37] Um so, I I don't have
[41:38] >> look into that for me with the with our
[41:40] legal people?
[41:41] >> Mhm.
[41:42] >> I don't
[41:42] >> But we are liable.
[41:44] We do accept the liability when they're
[41:46] in our jail, right?
[41:46] >> Like sitting here right now, I would say
[41:48] yes. I I do believe. I'd have to revisit
[41:51] the contract, but yes.
[41:52] >> Yeah, they hung themselves, it'd
[41:53] probably fall under the same thing, I
[41:54] would think.
[41:55] >> Yeah.
[41:56] one would assume
[41:57] >> died in the happen?
[41:57] >> If someone dies in our custody, we're liable. Um
[42:02] back to the topic of legal. So, if we
[42:06] are being if we are the party to
[42:08] litigation, we're being sued for
[42:10] whatever the cause is, there a line item in here?
[42:14] >> Um yes, we do have a professional fees
[42:16] line item built into our budget.
[42:20] >> It's kind of small, huh? 80k to 96k? Or
[42:23] am I looking at the wrong line item?
[42:24] >> Uh fortunately, that is
[42:27] a line item that we are we've operated
[42:31] and we're currently
[42:33] in route to operate under that projected
[42:35] amount.
[42:36] I think if if we are administrating and
[42:40] doing our job efficiently, I I don't
[42:42] think that's a line item that we would
[42:43] expect to to
[42:44] supersede.
[42:46] >> Completely agree.
[42:47] >> Yeah.
[42:47] >> Completely I'm definitely for less
[42:49] police-related litigation and not more.
[42:51] Just we're this is a topic that we've
[42:54] when we were elected, we had a lot of
[42:56] things that were
[42:57] we were trying to address, but public
[42:59] safety was like the top three, and a lot
[43:02] of front porch, front lawn conversations
[43:04] about this matter. And so, the
[43:06] perception was is there's more
[43:08] litigation than is showing up right
[43:09] here, but but candidly, we don't know.
[43:11] Like this is a topic I think I spoke to
[43:13] you in the hallway. Like we we've been
[43:15] asking for information about this.
[43:17] I'll move on. Um the the line item there
[43:20] on equipment rental from 46k to 524,000,
[43:23] that's about a $480,000
[43:26] increase. What are we What are we
[43:27] renting?
[43:28] >> So, the equipment the equipment rental
[43:30] line and that and that number may be
[43:33] offset a little bit based on
[43:35] prior budget movement. Um we mentioned
[43:38] the communications line was previously
[43:40] moved. Our communications line
[43:42] >> puts and takes from A to B.
[43:43] >> Yes, uh under prior administration. So,
[43:45] equipment rental is a line that we use.
[43:47] We have several contracts with, for
[43:49] instance, our body cameras are a
[43:52] contract item, our in-car cameras are a
[43:55] contract item. So, with Axon, the the
[43:59] actual business is Axon, um
[44:02] that's where we pull those funds from,
[44:04] having those contractual obligations.
[44:07] The other thing that may be included in
[44:08] that line
[44:10] would be flood cameras.
[44:12] Would come from an equipment rental
[44:14] line, so.
[44:15] >> Commissioners, just for the sake of
[44:16] time, we have about 11 minutes left. I
[44:18] don't know how far y'all want to get,
[44:20] how far how detailed you want to get,
[44:21] but we have Commissioner
[44:23] >> I think we're only about 40% through it,
[44:25] Mayor Garza. So So maybe we need to have
[44:27] a part two that allows more time.
[44:29] Yeah, I I think I had expressed to Joe, maybe I need my own meeting and we
[44:33] can just set aside a day. I got a lot of
[44:35] questions.
[44:36] Yeah.
[44:37] >> I think everyone makes themselves
[44:38] available to ask some questions, so Miss Boyce sent this morning if we have
[44:41] any questions, she's available to take
[44:43] those questions.
[44:45] >> Well, and then the meeting on the 12th
[44:46] is at 5:00 and we'll cover
[44:49] the other funds and then revisit
[44:51] anything that was not answered or asked
[44:55] at this meeting.
[44:57] Can be taken care of
[44:59] next week's meeting.
[45:01] >> Okay, cuz we do have one comment from
[45:04] a citizen.
[45:06] >> So did you
[45:06] >> Can you get as far as you can maybe with
[45:09] >> Yeah.
[45:09] >> 5 minutes left or something?
[45:11] >> Uh fire department is next.
[45:17] Uh
[45:18] >> [clears throat]
[45:18] >> in this one there are
[45:20] um 98 civil service
[45:22] plus civilians, which is 95 firefighters
[45:25] and three civilians.
[45:27] Um
[45:28] they requested one training officer, one
[45:30] assistant EMS director,
[45:32] and of course all the personnel for
[45:34] station five,
[45:36] which um I've not included in this.
[45:39] Um
[45:40] a big chunk of those um expenses won't
[45:44] come until later on in '27.
[45:47] Anyway, it it'll be brought back before
[45:48] commission to um
[45:51] fund that.
[45:52] Um
[45:55] So if you want to go to neighborhood
[45:57] improvement services.
[45:59] >> Mayor, I I propose that if it's given
[46:01] we've got another meeting to start
[46:02] minutes that we need to park on this and
[46:04] I just for the record I've got a lot
[46:06] more on just police and I just want to
[46:09] address a comment made by Commissioner
[46:10] Knox and
[46:11] certainly I'm a big fan of Miss Boyd and
[46:13] I can send her my questions but the
[46:15] whole idea of this is let's have it out
[46:17] in the public.
[46:18] It needs to be out in the public so I
[46:20] think maybe we want to have another
[46:22] meeting that includes the public.
[46:23] >> And what Miss Boyd said was that we do
[46:25] have to have have the second part next
[46:27] week and then we can go back to this
[46:28] part that we didn't finish cuz we do not
[46:30] have a commission meeting next week.
[46:32] >> That'd be great.
[46:32] >> Thank you.
[46:34] >> Um
[46:37] Neighborhood I'll just do this real
[46:38] quick. Neighborhood Improvement Services
[46:41] also known as code enforcement
[46:44] um is its own separate department um but
[46:47] they report to uh the fire department.
[46:52] And there are three of those employees.
[46:57] Moving on to Inspections.
[47:02] Department has currently has
[47:04] 10 employees to handle all that's going
[47:08] on in Texas City.
[47:10] Um
[47:12] They don't have a whole a too big a
[47:14] change from uh
[47:17] the current year to to next year.
[47:26] And I'll just leave it at that.
[47:27] Municipal Court and the rest we can
[47:29] cover next week.
[47:31] >> We can reconvene. I like that idea.
[47:33] Um
[47:33] thank you Miss Boyd very much. Um for
[47:35] the sake of time we have one public
[47:37] comment. Mr. Jose Boyce do you want to
[47:39] come up sir?
[47:54] » Thank you Mayor Mayor Garson
[47:56] Commissioners. I just had
[47:58] you know, this is very complicated for
[48:00] the community anyhow, but I just looked
[48:03] at three things
[48:05] for you to consider. Senate Bill 1851
[48:08] prohibits municipalities from raising
[48:11] tax rates above the no new revenue
[48:14] threshold if they fail to complete and
[48:17] submit required annual financial audits
[48:21] and statements.
[48:22] The next one is the most recent
[48:24] financial statement that was audited is
[48:26] 2024.
[48:28] And that it was called the 2024 annual
[48:30] comprehensive financial report
[48:33] PDF and the 2024 federal single audit
[48:37] report. That's the only thing that is
[48:38] posted.
[48:40] And then
[48:41] in that report, there were four sets of
[48:43] corrective actions included with the
[48:46] 2024 audit report and they have some
[48:49] deadlines, some of which are in June,
[48:51] July, August, and September 30th 30th of
[48:55] this year.
[48:56] So, when I look at all that, my main
[48:58] concern is that how can we calculate a
[49:01] no new revenue threshold? Can can we do
[49:04] that effectively and perhaps legally
[49:07] if we don't have any audits to to use as
[49:10] a basis. Thank you very much.
[49:12] >> Thank you.
[49:17] Mr. Boyce, just for the for the sake of
[49:18] the question, we do have an answer to
[49:20] that, so we'll definitely get back with
[49:22] you.
[49:25] Any No other comments? Is there a motion
[49:26] to adjourn?
[49:28] >> Make a motion to adjourn.
[49:30] >> Second.
[49:30] >> All in favor, say aye. All opposed, same
[49:32] sign. This meeting is adjourned.
[49:34] >> She said
[49:35] Good sign.
[49:36] >> Okay.
[49:37] >> Who seconded?
[49:38] >> Okay.