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Council narrows supplemental priorities, debates downtown manager and sets budget deadlines
Summary
With roughly $1.9 million in supplemental requests and about $475,000 available, council prioritized safety‑related personnel and one‑time spend down, questioned an $85,000 downtown manager position, and confirmed a draft budget due Aug. 1, proposed tax rate discussion Aug. 13 and public hearing Aug. 27.
Liberty Hill’s council spent the latter portion of its budget workshop reconciling supplemental personnel requests and setting the calendar for finishing the FY2025–26 budget.
Finance Director Josh told council that, after adjustments, the city faces about $1.9 million in supplemental requests and has roughly $475,000 available. He recommended treating approximately $666,831 of supplemental items as one‑time fund‑balance expenditures and running a five‑year spend‑down plan for the general fund balance. “One of the things that I have advocated for is a 5 year spend down plan for our general fund fund balance,” he said.
Council members debated personnel priorities. Several members said they would prioritize public‑safety positions (police staffing and the emergency management coordinator) and financial/analyst capacity; others questioned hiring a full‑time downtown manager at $85,000 given current downtown activity and existing EDC efforts. Council asked staff to provide up‑to‑date organizational charts and workload justification before approving new positions.
On sponsorships and small grants, staff proposed removing a $45 annual operations line and instead funding a one‑time grants/sponsorship pool from excess fund balance; Josh floated a $100,000 one‑time pool that could be divided into multiple awards. Council agreed to remove the line from operations for now and determine amount later.
Timeline and next steps were set: staff will return a drafted budget by Aug. 1; council will consider the proposed tax rate on Aug. 13 and hold a public hearing on Aug. 27. The council then moved to executive session to consult with legal counsel about a temporary water agreement with Georgetown under Texas Government Code Section 551.071.
No formal votes were taken on the supplemental items during the workshop; staff will bring recommended edits with the draft budget on Aug. 1.
