Laredo council preliminarily adopts third‑party funding slate; Border Olympics granted full hotel/motel budget pending documentation

City of Laredo officials on July 1 preliminarily approved the Civic Partnership & Engagement Advisory Committee’s recommendations for third‑party funding from the general fund and hotel/motel tax, adopting committee cuts and several council amendments.

The council’s vote followed a presentation by Tina Martinez, Community Development director, who said the committee screened 25 general‑fund applicants and 13 hotel/motel applicants and recommended $337,009.91 from the general fund and $363,007.50 from hotel/motel tax revenues. Martinez said the city capped general‑fund requests at $25,000 this year and added a three‑year cycle and a volunteer‑service match requirement to broaden support across nonprofit providers. “Applications are now capped at $25,000,” Martinez said. “The committee did look at audits and their financials.”

Why it matters: Councilmembers said the restructuring responds to long‑term budget pressures while attempting to spread limited city support across more organizations. Several councilmembers pushed for targeted increases to preserve services they described as essential to child welfare and health access.

Council actions and amendments began with an initial motion to approve the committee’s general‑fund recommendations. Councilmember Gilbert Gonzales moved and a colleague seconded an amendment to raise Casa Mesa De Correa’s allocation from the committee recommendation to $10,000; the motion carried. Councilmembers also approved raising the Children’s Advocacy Center of Laredo to $15,000 and increasing area health education funding (NAHEC) to $15,000 after committee members explained those agencies’ applications and financial statements. Committee chair Esther Figola said Mercy Ministries was recommended for $0 because the committee found the organization had a “very healthy budget” and incomplete application materials for the competitive award process.

Border Olympics and hotel/motel: Orlando Navarro, representing Border Olympics, urged the council to maintain the organization’s historical funding level because the event brings out‑of‑town visitors and generates hotel room nights. “We put heads in beds,” Navarro said, describing the group’s reimbursable funding model and volunteer structure. Martinez told the council that hotel/motel awards must meet stricter state statutory criteria — including evidence of room‑block reservations and measurable head‑in‑bed impacts — and that some requested activities did not qualify under those criteria. She said the committee did not receive the room‑block documentation needed to verify some requests.

After discussion, the council voted to tentatively budget the Border Olympics for the full $135,000 previously received, while directing staff and the organization to submit the hotel/motel supporting documentation (room blocks, advertising that produced out‑of‑market attendees, and proof of occupancy increases). If the required documentation is supplied and verified, the budget will include the full award; if not, the committee recommendation will stand.

What the committee considered: Committee members told council they reviewed applications, audits and IRS filings and applied a scoring matrix that weighed program goals, demonstrated need and organizational financial position. Martinez said committee members worked about 45 hours reviewing applications and that the committee’s work is newly formalized under a civic engagement model adopted by council in January 2025.

Next steps: Council members approved the recommendations as a preliminary budget action to be finalized when the overall city budget is adopted. Martinez said contracts would not be executed until the new fiscal year begins October 1 and that the council could still modify awards at final budget adoption.

Votes at a glance: Motions to approve the committee’s recommendations as amended, and to budget the Border Olympics’ hotel/motel request pending documentation, were passed by the council during the July 1 workshop session.