Council adopts mid‑year budget amendment after finance staff flags lower revenue trends and funding needs

Balch Springs — The Balch Springs City Council on May 12 approved an ordinance amending the city’s fiscal‑year 2024–25 budget after staff presented the March financial report and a second‑quarter investment summary and requested several mid‑year technical and programmatic adjustments.

Interim Chief Financial Officer Tan Beatty presented the March financials and said staff are reconciling accounts and adjusting projections to reflect actual collections and expenditures. Beatty noted sales tax and mixed‑beverage tax receipts are collected two months in arrears and that several revenues were trending below prior budget assumptions. "Interest revenue is currently being reallocated to the corrected funds based on the percentage of cash invested per each fund," Beatty said.

Key changes and why they matter - Revenue adjustments: staff proposed conservative reductions in some general‑fund revenue lines, including interest earnings (a proposed reduction of about $500,000) to match reallocations across funds and updated trends. - Expenditure increases: the amendment added funding for street contracted services ($400,000) and construction management contracted services ($100,000). The fire department vehicle maintenance and contracted services were increased to cover testing, bunker‑gear cleaning and cancer screening; vehicle replacement and maintenance funds were also adjusted. - Operational context: Beatty said general‑fund expenditures are running below projections in part because of vacancies; utility revenues and expenditures were also discussed and will be adjusted in the upcoming budget process.

Formal action and vote - Motion: Approve ordinance amending the annual budget for fiscal year 10/01/2024 through 09/30/2025 - Mover: Council member Whitley - Second: Mayor Pro Tem Myles - Roll call: Council member Hill — Yes; Council member Garcia — Yes; Council member Gabriel — Yes; Council member Whitley — Yes; Mayor Pro Tem Myles — Yes; Council member Salau — Yes - Tally: yes 6, no 0, abstain 0 - Outcome: approved; council adopted the budget amendment as presented with the adjustments discussed.

Context and next steps City staff said they will continue reconciling corrected fund allocations (including interest reallocation across funds) and will bring further updates as the city finalizes the fiscal‑year 2026 budget calendar; the transcript shows staff and council discussed a draft budget calendar with workshops planned for June and July.