La Marque EDC proposes $2.5 million budget, highlights $750,000 grant pot and grocery recruitment push

The La Marque Economic Development Corporation presented a proposed $2.5 million regular budget and a revitalization plan Monday that keeps grant funding available to reimburse developers and funds ongoing retail- and place-making efforts.

The EDC’s executive director, Alex Geddy, told the City Council the regular EDC budget anticipates $1,700,000 in revenues and about $300,000 in interest earnings, with a planned use of roughly $500,000 in fund balance to support a total package that Geddy said is “a balanced budget, as typical.”

Geddy said the EDC’s grant line on the expenditure side is set at $750,000 because the corporation wants to be able to reimburse developers if projects reach certain benchmarks under agreements the EDC has signed. “We budget conservatively,” he said. “There’s a chance that that won’t be far enough along, but just in case, we’d rather have it in the budget than not.”

The EDC told councilmembers it will continue to support several city positions through allocations in its budget (accounting, clerical, development services, IT and facility maintenance totaling $120,000) and intends to use interest earnings and…