City of El Campo staff presented a fiscal year 2026 draft budget on Sept. 15, 2025, showing a proposal to set the tax rate at the city

pproved no-new-revenue level and to absorb reductions after a sales-tax shortfall.
The presentation described total appropriations across funds of about $28.7 million, with the general fund listed at roughly $12.6 million. City staff said they cut $232,000 from the general fund after sales tax collections were about $656,000 below earlier projections.
City staff said there would be no formal action at the workshop and that the council must adopt a budget ordinance next week as required by the city charter.
The budget presentation traced the process staff follows each year: department-by-department reviews beginning in May, position-by-position vetting and line-by-line adjustments before the June submissions to council. Staff emphasized that the adopted budget is both a financial and policy document that directs city priorities through appropriations.
Staff provided a fund-by-fund snapshot: the general fund at about 12,600,000, water and sewer at about 5.5 million, emergency medical services at about 3.097 million, debt service at about 3.2 million and total appropriations of roughly 28.7 million. Revenue sources listed included taxes (about 15.9 million), charges for services (about 6.67 million), intergovernmental (about 2.0 million) and transfers (about 2.7 million).
City staff noted there are no across-the-board raises in the general-fund portion of the draft and no new general-fund positions in the proposal. Several departments were adjusted to reflect actuals; department heads were asked to cut where possible. Staff also noted a portfolio of active grants outside the operating budget totaling about $22.2 million.
Council members asked questions about specific line items and transfers from utility and EMS funds to cover operational and debt-service costs. Councilmember input during the workshop included requests for a consolidated summary of all street-related expenditures (spread across funds) and continued discussion about whether other local taxing entities should contribute to shared services in future budgets.
City staff said they will bring the ordinance for adoption next week and asked the council to give any directional input before that meeting.