Council reviews outside organizations' budget requests; EAC, museum, volunteer fire department and chamber highlighted

Council reviewed requests from outside organizations as part of the FY2026 budget workshop.

Economic Action Committee (EAC): staff said the EAC requested $87,000 but the draft budget holds the city contribution at $50,000 (broken into $15,000 for operations and $35,000 earmarked as a match for exterior building improvements). Staff said the EAC is applying for other grants and a Tribune donation of $10,000 has already been received. Staff said they would know more about outside grant results in July and that any city match could be adjusted before budget adoption.

Matagorda County Museum: the museum sought $25,000; staff explained the citys support is split between the general fund (operational support) and the hotel-motel fund under historic-preservation reimbursements. Staff also noted a $3,600 kiosk rental arrangement that helps provide a visitor-center presence; additional museum expenditures that meet hotel-motel historic-preservation rules could be reimbursed through the tourism sponsorship application process.

Volunteer Fire Department: the volunteer department historically receives $48,000 annually from the city plus approximately $16,000 from Bay City Gas Company, for a total of about $64,000. The department asked for an increase; staff recommended raising the citys portion to $51,000 based on updated volunteer counts and recent expenditures, and asked staff to contact Bay City Gas Company about their contribution.

Bay City Chamber: the chamber contract that supports civic-center operations is historically funded through the hotel-motel fund. The chamber requested an increase from $65,000 to $70,000 to offset personnel costs; staff noted that the contract figure is set during the budget process rather than by separate contract amendments.

Staff emphasized that these numbers are draft budget positions and that council can alter amounts during the formal budget process before adoption.