City staff presented a list of capital-equipment replacements and recommended personnel increases at a community budget workshop in Leon Valley.

The presentation identified near-term replacements and larger, multi-year costs: an ambulance replacement from 2014; a future brush truck; an estimated $1.2 million to $1.6 million cost to move onto the regional police radio system; roughly $34,000 in repairs to address cracking and water damage at the fire department; and several vehicle and equipment replacements (including a roughly $100,000 ashphalt distributor replacement, a 2003 farm tractor, a 2017 generator, and a 2010 water truck).

Why it matters: the radio upgrade and staffing recommendations carry six-figure and seven-figure implications for the general fund and capital planning, and staff flagged several options to pay for them.

The staff presenter said the police radio work follows a regional move to a single system: “All suburban cities…we'd really like y'all to be all on the same radio system. It's officer safety,” and the city will need to “follow suit” as the regional system is replaced. The presenter added, “If we don't get any help, this is the money you're gonna have to come up with” to fund radios.

A third‑party staff-utilization study, paid for with roughly $75,000 of the council’s prior budget, recommended additional hires. The presenter summarized the study: “They said we needed 2 more police officers, a full time another full time detective, at least 3 firefighters,” while noting public works did not show a need for additional park or fleet staff but recommended succession planning for long‑tenured employees.

Staff identified imminent workforce issues: the presenter said a long‑serving staffer, Melinda, is expected to retire in 2026 and that her backup is Dave Devlin, and urged the city to plan for assistant directors in planning and zoning and possible future municipal court expansion.

On funding, staff listed several options: bonds, higher taxes, grants, low‑interest water loans or choosing not to fund some items. The presenter said the city intends to move positions now funded from the red‑light camera fund into the general fund “year by year” so the city is not hit with a large one‑time funding gap when the red‑light camera program ends in 2037.

The workshop concluded with an interactive prioritization exercise; staff said results and the full slide deck will be posted online.

Ending: City staff will use the prioritization results as input to the budget process and said respondents should hit “submit” on the online prioritization tool; staff also said the slides and results will be uploaded to the city website for public review.