Boys and Girls Club of Laredo asks council for $350,000 direct appropriation, citing youth services and food costs

Joey Tayes, president of the Boys and Girls Club of Laredo, used the council public‑comment period to ask City Council to increase the organization’s proposed direct budget line from $150,000 to $350,000.

Tayes said the club operates year‑round after‑school programs at multiple locations, runs summer day programs and provides meals to children when school meal programs are not available. “We serviced over a 100 kids every day this summer at each location,” Tayes said, and added that feeding children consumes the majority of the club’s operating funds. He told council the organization’s annual budget is about $2 million and that six major donors supply roughly $300,000–$400,000 of that total.

City Manager Joe Nebb had already been authorized by council to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the club for up to $150,000, Tayes said; the club requested the council consider a deviation and a larger recurring allocation to be included as a direct line item in the city budget rather than a third‑party MOU.

No formal council action was recorded during the workshop on the request; Tayes and club representatives said they will follow up during budget hearings and with the city manager’s office.

Why this matters: an increase in direct funding would expand the city’s recurring support for after‑school programming and food service, affecting program capacity and operational planning for the nonprofit and for the city budget.

What happens next: staff and council will consider the organization’s request in the context of September budget hearings and any subsequent budget amendments or MOU decisions.