Job Development Corporation reports March unaudited financials, seeks final arena fire-alarm funding

Sergio Villasana, director of finance and procurement, and Arturo Marcus, director of the Office of Economic Development, presented unaudited budget-to-actuals for Type A funds and the proposed FY2025–26 Job Development Corporation budget.

The presentations show the Seawall fund with roughly $9.2 million budgeted in revenues for the fiscal year and about $4.6 million collected as of March 31, 2025, leaving approximately $4.6 million pending, Villasana said. Total Seawall expenditures were budgeted at about $16.6 million; about $11.4 million had been spent as of March, leaving roughly $5.1 million pending. Villasana said the anticipated fund balance on a budget basis is about $2.4 million, while the March 31 ending fund balance was about $2.9 million.

Marcus summarized the Seawall capital program and the transition of Type A authorizations. He said about $46 million of Seawall projects are ongoing and that staff will provide additional updates in coming months. A board member asked for project-status updates and approval dates for line items that show no expenditures to date; Marcus and Villasana agreed staff would provide that information.

Villasana presented the Seawall CIP snapshot showing about $91.2 million in active project budgets, with $25.9 million spent and about $49.7 million listed as ongoing projects. For the Arena Fund, Villasana reported amended total revenues of about $9.3 million, actual revenues of about $3.9 million (leaving roughly $5.4 million pending), and expenditures budgeted at about $21 million with $15 million spent as of March 31 and about $6 million pending. He said the fund is projected to end the year with a budget-basis balance of roughly $1.1 million; the March 31 balance was about $1.7 million.

On the economic development fund, Villasana said actuals showed about $5,000 in revenue, $170,000 in expenditures, and a resulting fund balance of about $146,000; the budget anticipates ending the year with a roughly $5,000 balance. He noted a small program-income balance of $7,664 and a commitment of $137,000 for Whataburger Field upgrades.

Marcus said the arena authorization expires in September and the Seawall authorization in March; both will transition into the next authorization period. For the arena, Marcus asked the board to approve spending the remaining available funds—$834,746 on the agenda—to complete the American Bank Center arena fire-alarm system. He said $150,000 had been previously appropriated for design work and that $15,000 would come from reserves to reach the total $850,000 the project requires.

Elsie Borstead, Office of Economic Development, said the fire-alarm design would be connected to the building systems and would require specialized mechanical and engineering expertise. She said staff intends to identify qualified firms from the city’s current master services agreements for the design and subsequent bid work.

Villasana also described sales-tax timing and collections: the city operates with a one- to two-month reporting lag in allocations, he said, and highlighted audit collections of about $765,000 and roughly $212,000 attributable to early prepayments that affected year-to-date results. He told the board actuals were about $34,000 better than budget for FY2025 and about $17,000 better than FY2024 on a year‑over‑year comparison.

No formal vote on the arena fire-alarm appropriation was recorded in the transcript; Marcus presented the request and staff said they would proceed with design procurement steps and return with necessary procurements or budget actions as required. The meeting record shows two formal administrative actions earlier in the session: a motion to approve the minutes (motion moved and seconded; board members voted “aye”) and a motion to excuse two members’ absences (motion moved and seconded; board members voted “aye”).

Executive Director Zanoni offered no additional comments at adjournment. Staff said they will return with more frequent project-status updates and the engineering department’s follow-up on CIP timelines.