City of Schertz staff presented council members a detailed review of the city's strategic plan on Feb. 7, emphasizing steps to tie the operating budget and a new comprehensive capital improvement program to five long‑term goals: sustainable government, a safe and livable community, infrastructure investment, sense of community and a thriving economy.

The session — led by city staff — described the operating budget as both a spending plan and a public communication tool for residents and investors, and said the city intends to pursue the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) budget award as part of a push to improve transparency and presentation. Staff also described a first‑of‑its‑kind comprehensive CIP that inventories projects across funds and revenue sources and is intended to support five‑ to ten‑year planning.

Why this matters: staff said linking the CIP and operating budget is intended to reveal the long‑term operating costs tied to capital projects — for example, building a fire station without staffing costs would leave a facility unused — and to let council prioritize expanded program requests against strategic objectives.

City staff described a multi‑year program to improve long‑range forecasting, measure performance and integrate budget decisions with strategic priorities. The presentation said project sheets in the CIP will include scope, funding source, schedule and operating budget impacts, and that the CIP will be a “living” document updated annually.

Council members were invited to suggest objectives staff may have missed and to confirm the city’s direction. A staff member framed the discussion as validation of prior work, not a wholesale rewrite: “I don't recommend wholesale changing the plan because a lot of work went into that,” the staff member said during the presentation.

Ending: staff said the integration effort will proceed over multiple budget cycles and that the council will see the first impact in the coming budget and CIP reviews.