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PEDC proposes $39.9 million budget, prioritizes Hickory Slough sports complex and Smith Ranch sewer extension
Summary
Matt Buchanan presented the Pearland Economic Development Corporation’s FY26 proposed budget, showing $17.3 million in revenue and $39.9 million in expenses, with major spending on the Hickory Slough Sports Complex and a Smith Ranch-area sewer extension.
Matt Buchanan, president of the Pearland Economic Development Corporation, presented the PEDC’s proposed FY26 budget at Pearland’s July 2024 special meeting, asking council to approve the document that the PEDC board had endorsed on May 22. Buchanan said the PEDC projects about $17.3 million in revenue against roughly $39.9 million in expenses, reducing the projected beginning fund balance of $39.1 million to about $19.5 million.
Two large expenditures make up a majority of the PEDC’s proposed spending: a $15.9 million contribution toward the Hickory Slough Sports Complex and a listed budget item described in the presentation as the Santerious Sewer Extension to Smith Ranch Road, shown as $54.9 million in the PEDC slides. Buchanan said those two items together account for about 56% of the proposed expenses and that each had been in the prior year’s budget and were being carried forward.
Buchanan outlined a request for an additional staff position focused on business attraction and retention, saying the PEDC’s staffing growth tracks economic activity and site inventory. “The success in site development is translating into a need for this additional staff person,” Buchanan told council, citing increases in building inventory and about 750,000 square feet under construction and roughly 30 active projects with existing businesses.
The presentation linked PEDC expenditures to the Pearland Prosperity Plan and the board’s annual program of work. Among line items Buchanan highlighted: incentives and BizConnect programs; continued site-development activity including Edge Business Park and Industrial Drive reconstruction; design work for Knapp and Shank; right-of-way acquisitions; Old Town revitalization planning with $500,000 budgeted for potential implementation; and a budgeted $650,000 for right-of-way acquisition for multiple projects.
Councilmembers asked about staff costs and program ratios. Buchanan said personnel and benefits historically represented about 8% of annual sales tax collections for the PEDC and that the FY26 personnel budget with the additional position would be about 9% of projected sales-tax revenue. He estimated total staff costs at roughly $1.5 million (about 10% of the PEDC’s budget), noting other PEDC revenues from districts are more intermittent.
Council discussion also touched on workforce-development accomplishments the PEDC helped deliver, including a biotechnology certificate program with Alvin Community College and more than $2 million in grant funding obtained for local workforce initiatives.
No formal council votes were taken during the presentation; council members asked questions and requested follow-up information. The PEDC budget will proceed through the city’s budget timeline and return to council as part of the overall FY26 adoption process.
Clarifying details extracted from the presentation include the PEDC’s timeline for staff growth (from five staff in early years to the proposed ninth position), the $15.9 million Hickory Slough Sports Complex line item, the $54.9 million figure shown for the Santerious Sewer Extension as reported in the PEDC slides, and the PEDC board’s approval date of May 22 for the proposed budget.
