Mayor Moore and the city’s newly announced budget and policy director, Ricky Smith, presented a proposed general fund budget to the Bastrop City Council for review, saying the administration is submitting a balanced plan that projects $14.3 million in general fund revenue.

The proposal includes a conservative sales‑tax projection of about $6.2 million and counts roughly $1.6 million in one‑time grant or reimbursement funds, officials said. Smith described the presentation as “just for review,” and said the council has time before formal adoption to amend or request additional detail.

The budget matters because it establishes the city’s operating priorities for the coming year, allocates funds for public safety and capital projects, and outlines how one‑time grant funds will be used. Smith said the administration prioritized public safety and built the estimates on a five‑year average of revenues and a conservative forecast for sales tax collections.

Council members and residents pressed for clearer documentation and timing. Resident Charles Bradford opened public comment by asking whether the budget had been posted and available to the public for review. Smith replied the administration planned to post the budget well in advance of the public hearing so residents and councilors would have time to review it, and he repeatedly stressed that the document before the council was a proposal that the council could amend.

Officials identified multiple large one‑time items in the proposal, including a FEMA hurricane reimbursement Smith described as “over half a million dollars.” The budget also counts federal and state community development block grants (CDBG) that the administration said total about $1.6 million and are intended to support repairs to city hall and street projects. Smith said some grant awards and reimbursements can lag and that engineering and bidding timelines can change actual project costs.

Council members asked for more granular support materials. Smith told the council the packet included a five‑year actuals report and that staff would produce a capital outlay schedule that aggregates projects across funds to make one‑time versus recurring items easier to identify. He also said staff would produce support documents showing account codes consistent with Louisiana Legislative Auditor guidance.

Several expenditure lines prompted specific questions. Smith acknowledged an approximately $125,000 aggregate penalty in the last audit period tied to late or untimely payroll withholding remittances and said the administration is working with the Department of Revenue to obtain invoices and determine the periods and causes. Council members also asked about a $33,000 item labeled bank fees and an insurance line that showed a large year‑over‑year increase; Smith said staff would investigate and provide itemized explanations.

Council discussion also covered staffing and operations: Smith said the mayor had identified key positions to fund and that the administration trimmed overestimated salary and benefit allocations inherited from the prior proposal to reach a balanced plan. He said the administration will request a quarterly budget review and a midyear amendment process so the council can compare year‑to‑date actuals with adopted estimates and adjust if variances exceed predefined thresholds.

The meeting included discussion of grants administration and consultants. The council was told Robert Wexman (referred to in the packet as a contract grant writer) had worked on a blight grant application that originally listed roughly 62 properties; Smith said staff was still collecting and verifying paperwork related to that application.

Smith said the administration will post the budget, supply the requested backup documentation (including capital outlay and grant reports), and provide quarterly year‑to‑date reports so councilors can track revenues and expenditures as the fiscal year progresses. No vote on the budget was taken; the item remained at the review stage.

What’s next: staff will post the proposed budget, deliver the capital outlay and grant support documents requested by councilors, and produce quarterly and midyear comparisons of actuals to adopted estimates.