City Council - Special Meeting

Thank you. Mike, can you hear us? Yeah, but she's certainly going to . You can hear us though?

All right.

He told me the other night, he said

Thank you.

I need help. Thank you.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

All good? You down there by your lawnmower? I know, I know. Okay. She didn't have to.

All right, good morning, everyone. I want to welcome you to this special called meeting of the temple city council. It is currently 10 Oh three. Um, first item is, uh, public comments. Any citizens who desire to address the council on any matter may do so as long as you signed up prior to this meeting, as always, we ask you limit those comments to three minutes. Watch the timer on the TV screen there and no discussion or final action will be taken. Um, we have a couple of folks who've signed up first. We'll have Ms. Nell Brindley.

Good morning, Nell Brindley, Temple, Texas native. Temple City Manager and City Council has spent lots of money recently trying to clean up your image by placing large ads in the Temple Daily Telegram and by hiring social media influencers for the city. Since you obviously desire greater transparency, let me help you. Whose idea was it to have a DEI commission and try to hire the Nova Collective, a bizarre Chicago consulting firm to survey Temple employees, policemen, and citizens? Whose idea was it to waste thousands of dollars on the Tanglefoot Festival that most citizens couldn't afford to attend? Whose idea was it to install parking meters downtown? Whose idea was it to have a meeting at 10 o'clock in the morning when ordinary citizens can't attend? Whose idea was it to raise taxes on the good people of temple? And then at the last hour call for a bond election, which is not nothing more than a glorified tax increase to fund the salmon center. which you allowed to operate in disrepair. But more importantly, whose idea was it to sign the now missing nondisclosure agreement with META and give enormous tax abatements to META and Rowan and put out the welcome mat to, and I quote, a moving target of hyperscale data centers when the majority of citizens of Temple and Bell County do not want them? And whose idea was it to spend millions of dollars on flock cameras to spy on your innocent neighbors and townspeople so you'd have lots of data to store in your data centers? Whoever initiated all these foolish projects is doing a disservice to our community. 10,000 Temple citizens signed petitions to recall you. And no, you will never see those names in order to protect them from retaliation. In closing, you need more advice than precious Mr. Alan Lytle can give you.

DAVID BURRAGE. Lynn Thomas.

Hi, Lynn Thomas, Temple. I came today because actually I just have some questions. I'm not exactly sure they're going to be answered. But if they're not going to be answered here, I'd like an answer to be published somewhere. Right off the bat, I'm just wondering, a side note, why do we need all these police officers for a meeting this small? I don't understand why we need all of this.

Because it's budget time and this is pretty, we have department heads and some police officers. We do this every year.

Okay.

Including the fire department folks back there. You can have an extra five seconds.

The other question I have, and I feel kind of bad about asking this, because I feel a little grumpy about it, but I noticed on the resolution you had on there about Mr. Lionel being an ambassador, and it would be nice if we could have a little bit more explanation about why that is and what his role is, because just reading off of this, I don't understand why we need somebody special to give you advice, knowledge, and perspective, because I feel like everybody that walks up to this podium is doing exactly that. And I don't know why we need somebody else to do that. So if you could explain that a little bit more. And I think another thing that I would like to know is we've got this whole thing with the flock cameras. I know now Temple, if I understand correctly, has 191. We have less than 100,000 people, less than 100,000 population. El Paso's 650,000 population and they only have 150. So I don't know why we need to be so surveilled. And I would like to know if that's gonna expand because every year since 2023 it's gotten more and more and more and more cameras. And I would like to know if the flock camera system is hooked into other, Uh, I know it's hooked into other departments across the country, but are they hooked into any that are nonpartners? Okay. Um, and I would like to know actually why y'all think we need them. but that's a whole other situation. So if I could get some answers, that'd be great, thank you.

Yeah, thank you. I think that most of the things that were brought up by Ms. Thomas and Ms. Brindley have been talked about, discussed, explained, et cetera. So I'm not gonna go into any of that, but I will gladly go into Allen Lytle. I remember the first time I met Alan Lytle, we were meeting, my first recollection was we were meeting over at the Salmon Center years ago, and Alan, who was a former employee of Temple College, came and spoke to the council about not supporting the initial Temple College bond. And what I remember about him specifically was whenever he stepped to the podium, he said, this is a tax on a lot of levels. One of the things he said was, you're going to tax McLean Corporation for their property here, which is going to make green beans, a can of green beans, 10 cents higher. And ultimately, that ends up being a tax that rolls up to me, I thought. You know, you may not be wrong. That's interesting. And so the first time I met Alan, I would say he was definitely anti-bond. I don't know that he was anti-Temple College. That was an employer. He's retired from there. But he may have been anti-city. The thing I appreciated about Alan is that Alan kept coming. Alan wasn't a one-issue advocate or opponent. He kept coming. For years, he's kept coming. He came to council when we were having over at Salmon's. He's sat right over there in that seat for a number of years, and he's learned, and he has learned to appreciate the city, and he's learned to realize that there are some things that he's for, some things that he's against, but at the end of the day, Alan realized that the city was a moving, growing, living organism that ultimately its only goal is to serve the residents of the city of Temple. Alan has become a friend of the city. Not that he's agreed with everything, but he's a friend of the city, and he is a valued member of our community. Alan's very sick. I don't know how much longer Alan has. And if you've ever noticed, he gets up during the meetings and he'll go and he'll leave the room and then he'll come back. He told me at the last meeting that he attended, which was just this, I guess this past Thursday, with tears in his eyes, he said, Mayor, this is probably my last meeting that I can come to because I can't just sit here anymore. I can't just sit here for however long that meeting's gonna be. My body doesn't let me do that. Alan doesn't advise us on anything except he's a hell of a resident here and he's a good friend to us and he cares. He doesn't just worry about the Salmon Center or worry about data centers or worry about NDAs that may or may not exist or whatever. He just knows he's here and he benefits from being in this community. And frankly, these people up here and the people on that wall back there have benefited from Alan being here. That's why we're honoring Allen, because seeing Allen in public, it may be over. We may not get to do that again, but he is important to this community, and he is important to this council, and he means something to us. That's why we're honoring him. Although one time he did sort of make a motion from the floor, an amendment to, I said, I don't think we can take Alan's amendment from the, but I mean, he's that engaged and he cares about what we're doing. Before his wife died, both of them volunteered with the city on multiple boards. In fact, she got hit by a car one time on her way to a board meeting. So they have, in the last few years of their life, they have plugged into their community And this is a very small honor that we can give them. That's all it is. It's honorary. And so Alan, I think he's watching today. Brother, we appreciate you. We will miss seeing you here. And I hope to see you around town, and Godspeed to you. All right, can we go on to the next item? Next item is, sorry, I think I turned the page. The next four items I will actually read in together. These are budget items. Item number one is first reading a public hearing to conduct a public hearing to receive comments on the proposed tax rate of 0.75 cents per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2027, which is the year that starts in 2026. Item two is 2026-2041-R to consider adopting a resolution that will, under item A, adopting the city's budget for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026 and ending September 30, 2027, including the operating budget for the 2026-2027 business plan, capital improvement plan, general government pay plan, civil service plan, fiscal and budgetary policy, and the investment policy. Item 2B is ratifying the property tax increase reflected in the budget. This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year's budget by an amount of $7,306,515, which is a 10.83% increase in last year's budget. The property tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax rolls this year is $5,032,457. Item three is the second reading in a public hearing to consider adopting an ordinance approving the tax roll and authorizing the calculation of the amount of tax that can be determined for all real and personal property in the city for fiscal year 2027. And item four is the second and final reading to consider adopting an ordinance setting a tax rate for fiscal year 2027 and making the appropriation for the regular operation of the city. Ms. Myers, do you have a presentation, anything we're going to talk about here, or just go ahead and open the public hearing?

Tracy and I both have presentations that we'll be happy to give here or after the public hearing, whatever council feels like is best.

Let's go ahead and do that now so that anyone who's going to speak during the public hearing will have the full scope.

We'll start then, if you all don't mind, with the proposed tax rate. And Tracy's going to give that presentation. And then I'll give a presentation on the budget. And then we can have the public hearing.

Very good.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Lindsay, I'm going to need some help. Could you advance, please? Will you try it again real quick?

OK, I can do it.

Yes, the budget and tax rate adoption, the process and timelines for required motions, date, publications, and notices. Motion language is governed by state law, truth, and taxation in the city charter.

Can you get Tracy's mic a little bit closer to the chorus, please? Sorry.

OK. Is this better?

Yes.

OK. Looking at the proposed tax rate for FY2027, our last year's tax rate was 0.6999. The filed budget rate was 0.699. Our proposed rate is 75 cents. The no new revenue tax rate is 0.7541, 75.41 cents. The notice and hearing rate is 75.41 cents. And the voter approval tax rate is the rate that you could go to without going to the voters for voter approval is 88.15 cents. And again, the proposed tax rate of 75 cents is below your no new revenue tax rate. Oops.

Oh, it's working now.

Looking at the two components of the tax rate, the FY 2027 general fund maintenance and operation rate is 40.08 cents. The debt rate or interest in sinking fund rate that goes to pay for capital improvements. And our capital improvement plan is 34.92 cents for the total tax rate of 75 cents. The total rate increased 5.01 cents from the previous year in what was filed. And that is split between the M&O and the INS rate. Again, the calendar of what we're here to, the four items today. I don't know if this time Ms. Myers wants to go over the budget presentation.

Before we do that, a point of clarification. Because as we look at the no new revenue rate, we talked about there by that 0.0041 cents how we're actually raising slightly less money. But then whenever I read in the item, it talks about that the budget will raise more total property tax last year, more property taxes than last year's budget by an amount of $7 million. If I'm new to this process, I'm gonna scratch my head. The mayor just read about tax increase, but now we're talking about a no new revenue rate?

The no new revenue rate is the rate that it would take to generate the same amount of taxes if you tax the same properties this year that you did last year. In total, those values decrease, and that's the rate that would generate the .7541, and it excludes new value.

But it says an increase of $7 million.

Because the no new revenue rate is based on the total tax base. Yep.

OK.

Excluding the property.

Excluding the new property.

Right. It's just, you know, whenever we do these presentations, it seems like different things are being said.

And it is a very complicated calculation. It takes into account any property that wasn't certified like we have. And this year is the same. I think the under ARB review that last year's There's all these adjustments to your last year's taxes and this year's tax base to generate that calculation.

The calculation is based on a formula that is specified and required by state law, as is the agenda item language that you read. So the state tells us how we have to calculate those numbers. As we've talked about many times, the tax rate calculation and the tax setting process is very complex. And I think while you know, there's been many changes at that at the state level to to make it simpler and more transparent. Sometimes what happens is it makes it even more confusing because as you as you have new requirements to put this on the agenda and calculate this number this way. It may conflict with the other part of the state law that says you have to put this number out and calculate it this other way, apply different properties to that calculation than you do to this calculation. So this is not something that the city of Temple decides how to calculate. We have to calculate both of these numbers based on state law provisions. And unfortunately, they can they can and do

apply different formulas to different parts of the process that's very frustrating I know it is to you guys it's frustrating as we go through our processes because we talked about transparency truth in taxation etc etc and it seemed like the state system works directly against those mandates so or even just the names of those those those those requirements so

y'all for that it again it can look like it's different information is being conveyed and uh it can be a challenge to the residents that haven't done this you know that aren't in the weeds so to speak it's a challenge to everyone i think it's a very it is a very complex process as we've talked about a lot of a lot of times the one thing that you need to know about um calculating and setting tax rate and tax levies and tax revenue is that it is a very complex process with a lot of factors and those factors vary from community to community and they also apply statewide in terms of the formulas that are mandated by the Truth in Taxation process. as you calculate out what a no new revenue tax rate is in parts of the formula. You use just the M&O rate in parts of the formula. You put back in the INS side of it. It is a very, very complex formula. And again, the the intention is to make it a simple process. But sometimes I mean, it's just it is a complex topic. And sometimes the more the more additional requirements are layered on over legislative cycles, it can get even more confusing and complicated. But I think, you know, we are we are, of course, bound to follow the state law process and we do that. And these are the numbers that that we are required to produce and publish.

Very good. Thank you all for that explanation.

Would you mind switching over to the budget presentation? Apologies that we didn't put these all in one slide deck. Thank you. So, Mayor and Council, as you know, we set our budget in the context of a six year business plan that includes our strategic plan, our financial plan, our annual budget and our capital plan. Our strategic plan guides the work that we do as an organization, and it guides the work that we do through the budget process. We really want to make sure that where we are setting budget priorities those align with the goals and focus areas that you have laid out for the organization and for the community so we start with that perspective always there as you well know there are five focus areas within our strategic plan including high-performing organization communication and collaboration health and safety places and spaces and smart growth I'm going to pretend like I'm clicking Lindsay and you can you can let me live with that delusion. So as we walk through highlights from the FY 2027 proposed budget that's before you today, I have these grouped by our focus areas. So first, for a high performing organization, additional positions that are proposed as part of the budget include a few positions in general services. As counsel is aware, our general services department manages both our facility services team, which includes our our maintenance technicians, general maintenance technicians, as well as specialized maintenance technicians, for example, HVAC and plumbing and electrician. So you have a couple of additional general maintenance technicians as well as an HVAC technician proposed in the budget are and they also manage our facility services related capital improvement projects. So there's as we have several major facility related capital improvements scheduled in our capital program. Um, there's also two additional project management resources, uh, proposed for general services, uh, for fleet, for our fleet services department council will recall that you've made significant investments in this department last in, in the last year's budget in the FY 20 26 budget. by adding 11 additional positions that allowed us to create a second shift for our fleet maintenance team this year we have one additional heavy duty technician proposed to be additive to that team that we established this year we also have an additional position proposed in our budget and reporting team in our people operations team and in our strategy and Innovation team As you look at our smart growth area, we have an additional MO crew proposed in our drainage services department, additional project management resources, project management professionals recommended in our engineering services team, which manages both development related services, but also all of our public infrastructure projects that are part of our capital projects plan. that involve anything related to engineering, including roads and water and sewer lines and many, many projects on their plate. District services is a new expansion of our district services program is a new priority for council that will allow us to establish a dedicated team with a rapid response crew to provide enhanced maintenance and service delivery to our districts kind of expanding beyond the program that we have in downtown to move that out towards the other parts of our community. We have an additional position in street services, proposed our infrastructure manager which would help manage all of the crews in our street maintenance team as well as our outsource services for slurry seal and overlay maintenance. In utility services, we have an additional maintenance crew proposed as well as a crew proposed to take over hydrant services from our fire department and move that under our utility services team. In police and fire or rather in our health and safety focus area, we have several positions proposed in police and fire. This of course is a very high priority for our community and for council. In the police department, we have three additional patrol positions proposed to continue our multi-phase staffing plan to convert our patrol districts to a 10-district model and a 10-hour shift program and really provide, of course, patrol is the backbone of the department, so really provide our patrol teams the resources they need to provide services to our community as it grows. We have, as council knows, accomplished our 10 district part of that priority. And so these additional officer positions allow us to continue to build out that system that we have been working on together for the last few years and continues to be a priority and a recommendation as part of the multi-year plan. for fire we also have a significant multi-year staffing plan underway and this budget proposes and funds the next phase of that which includes a staffing for our special squad unit that would be assigned to South Temple, as well as additional minimum coverage firefighter positions to make sure that we have firefighters to backfill positions as our team members are on sick leave or vacation or training leave. Of course, these are 24 hour, seven days a week positions, so we need to maintain a three to one coverage ratio. to effectively manage the staffing needs without burdening our department with mandatory overtime. This also includes an additional battalion chief position that would work under Assistant Chief Kirby Bush to help manage the logistical aspects of the department. This position would be over our professional standards unit and would help manage fleet, facility services, uniforms, hiring, a whole host of things that fall on Chief Bush's shoulders right now. As we turn our attention to our capital program, we currently have over $600 million of active projects underway. This proposed budget and its capital plan proposes an additional 300. Lindsey, if you'll help me with that next slide. $348 million in funding across multiple categories, including utility projects, mobility projects, places and spaces project, facility projects, public safety projects and major equipment purchases. Next slide, please. Some of those projects include the Sammons Community Center, which, of course, is proposed as is required by state law as a general obligation bond, which will be decided by the voters in November. We also have some significant equipment purchases, including a new financial software. some significant public works equipment and then replacement of our police departments radios. When you look at our utility infrastructure projects, we have some major wastewater and water storage projects as well as well as distribution and transmission mains and then some projects at our water treatment and water reclamation plants as well. Next slide, please. Tracy already went over this, but of course, this budget is supported by a property tax rates rate that is proposed at 75 cents. Next slide, please. You can see a snapshot of the history. Of course, that tax rate, as Tracy already mentioned, is broken up between our maintenance and operation rate, which covers the day to day ongoing needs of the operational needs of the city. Things like funding our police and firefighters, our parks crews, our street maintenance, and all of the other city services that are provided through our general fund. And then the debt service rate, that portion funds our capital program. Next slide, please. So we've talked mayor to your question. We've talked a little bit about the complexity of setting tax rates and all of the different things that go into considering what a tax rate needs to be in order to meet the priorities of the community. We one thing that we highlighted with you all last year as we walked through this process and wanted to provide an update of where we stand this year. Many of our peer communities have higher average taxable home values. In Temple, our tax year 2026 average home value has dropped to $190,000. You can see in College Station, Georgetown, and Round Rock as some examples of nearby communities with similar values. populations, that those values are much higher. So what, what I want to point out here is just to recall that the tax revenue is a function of two components. It's the value times the tax rate equals the bill or that that you and I as residents pay and the revenue that the city uses to fund services. So when you are multiplying a lower tax rate by a higher tax value, then you generate the same revenue as if you multiply a higher tax rate by a lower value. The inverse is true. So, you know, one thing that is, I think, important for us to remember is that though our property values here in Temple, we're an affordable community and we strive to maintain that, which is reflected in our average home value. But that doesn't mean that we get a discount on the fire truck. That company that sells fire trucks charges us the same amount as they charge Georgetown and Round Rock, even as they have higher values. So the tax rate does have to be considered in context of all of the factors that come to the table. And it is important not to focus on just one number. Because as we have talked about over this process, both this year and last and also this morning a little bit, there are a lot of factors that go into determining what that rate needs to be and where that rate needs to be to meet the needs and the priorities of the community. Um, my last slide here just provides an overall summary of the, um, 2027 budget. I will point out, um, that as always the reinvestment zone fund is included in the city of temples overall budget picture. Um, uh, because we are, um, we are the, um. the taxing entity that hosts the reinvestment zone, but that revenue includes increment from all of the participating taxing entities, not just the city of Temple. So you can see there our total proposed 2027 budget inclusive of the reinvestment zone is a little over $437 million. again Tracy has additional presentations on water and solid waste because those are also components of to help support this budget proposal but we stand ready to answer any questions that you might have I do want to just acknowledge, I know you all know this as you have spent a lot of time with us over the year on this budget. So I know that you know that you have an incredibly strong budget team that works very hard to take all of this complex and lots and lots of information and put it together in a way that helps support the priorities of the city council and the community. We have a few members of our team here today. I know that I speak for Tracy when I say that we absolutely are indebted to the work that you do. You are the backbone of getting this done, and we are really grateful that you have shared your talent and truly their passion. You know I love a budget. And I've got some peers over here that may match my energy. They may exceed me, which is hard to do in loving a budget. But Jennifer Emerson and her team, Sherry Pogar, Miranda, and Jess have been just incredible leaders in the budget process as always. I know, like I said, I know I speak for Tracy to say we are, she and I are both incredibly grateful for the work that they do They work really hard to bring us this proposal and we are happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Counseling thing for Ms. Myers or Ms. Bernard? Sounds kind of weird, but I think a round of applause is probably warranted to thank the team. So if the budget team would stand, yeah, stand up. Everybody stand up. Come on. Come on.

There and also be remiss, honestly, I skip over my department heads there in the back of the room. They they do a ton of work and especially this year, as you know, in we we asked all of our departments to cut their budget. So everybody had to present a budget that was cut by 10% from the 2026 baseline. So this was an extra difficult budget year for our department head team, and they rose to the occasion as always. We wanted to make sure that we were able to present a budget to you that continued to fund the important community priorities and kept our core services running well while also recognizing that we do need to be fiscally responsible. So we ask all of our department heads to present 10% budget cut scenarios, which we took. So the budget is based on a 10% reduction to each department's base budget.

Council, anything?

No?

Okay. Then with that, I will open the public hearing, which is to receive comments on the proposed tax rate of 75 cents per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2027. If you'd like to speak, we just ask you to step to the podium and state your name for the record.

Alan does have his hand raised just whenever he fits into the.

We'll get him, we'll finish up with him.

Okay. Nell Brindley, Temple, Texas. I'm just going to ask the city council to hear me. I know you don't like to hear me, but I'm going to ask you not to pass this tax increase. Times are difficult and hard for the working citizens of Temple, Texas. I don't know if you've noticed, but prices are up across the board. When we fill our cars with gasoline, we all about faint. When we try to buy a hamburger that used to cost just a few dollars, now it's much more. I'm gonna propose that city council also do what these department heads in budget have done and do a 10% reduction in your spending. I would like to see an audit of where all the wasteful spending has gone, where revenue was lost that could have been used to offset this budget increase that you're discussing. The city must live within its means, just like we all do. I've had to learn to live on a budget and the city must also. You've pointed out that home values have decreased. that's partly due to the housing bubble collapsing. But I am shocked at the number of homes I see for sale as I drive around Temple, Texas. And I have to wonder why that is. Yes, it's summer, well, we're getting into fall, so normally houses go off the market this time of year. But there are for sale signs everywhere in established neighborhoods, and I have to wonder if it might be due to the 10 plus data centers this council is planning for Temple, Texas. I'm asking you not to pass this tax increase. DAVID BURRAGE.

Ms. Brindley, before you sit down, this is a time. Nell? NELL BRINDLEY. This is a time we can have conversation if you'd like to come back to the podium. I have a couple of questions for you. What expenses would you like, if the council adopts a budget, what expenses, you said the council should cut expenses, what is your recommendation for that? What expenses would you like for the council to cut specifically?

Well, when I do my budget, for example, I look at the things that are must haves. And then I cut what isn't a must have. So I would just urge you to, do we need places and spaces when our city has potholes and infrastructure that's out of date?

So are you recommending we cut parks? That's what places and spaces is.

I'm not saying cut it out. I'm just saying reduce. I can remember years ago when Scott and White was having really hard times. It was called the austerity budget. All of the staff took a fairly substantial pay cut. Obviously, you all don't get paid. we have to live within our means and we can't have everything and it might just be for one year hopefully things are going to rebound but we don't know what there may be our home values may decrease even more I just think our city I think our city is hurting and I think we need to understand why

You know, and we've talked about this before. The city is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States and has been for years. And so I also see a lot of, uh, for sale signs coming up, but you know what I also see, I see a lot of sold signs. So there are houses for sale and there are people buying them.

And there's an awful lot of apartments all around town.

Yep.

I mean, we've, we've pretty much become a bedroom community to Taylor and round rock in Austin.

Is that reflective of the City of Temple and the City of Temple's budget, or is that reflective of Taylor and Austin and Georgetown?

Well, you saw their home values have not decreased. I'm just saying, why are our home values decreasing? These are things that we really need to understand and take into account when we plan a budget. And I'm just saying, don't pass the tax increase on to the citizens of Temple who are struggling right now.

For the average home, it's not a tax increase. It's not a monetary, it's an increase in rate, but it's not an increase in expense in true dollars. We've talked about that.

Well, that's not what the slide showed. I mean, this is your responsibility. I'm just stating my opinion.

Well, we have, as Ms. Meyer said, we have, we, all the department heads back there, needed to figure out a way to continue to deliver services based on a 10% decrease. So, again, my question is, if we need to cut it more, Do we stop maintaining parks? Do we start picking up trash once a week? Do we get rid of brush and bolt? Do we get rid of the recycling program? Because it's to the point now that any further cut would require cut in services.

Well, I'm just asking you to cut out the waste.

And what is that? That is my question. We've already asked them to cut 10%, and they did that. Anything else, you're getting into the heart of it.

That's budget. I'm talking about things that have been wasted in the past, which we can't go back. We can't go back and fix the millions of dollars you spent on flock cameras, although you can cover them up or take them down. I would request that, that we eliminate flock cameras behind on our citizens.

Did you know that auto thefts are down 60%?

And you contribute that to what?

To thieves knowing.

I would hope good policing. That's what all these gentlemen and ladies do.

And you know what? Flock cameras are part of that. Not only is it catching the bad guy, it's also part of it is preventing the crime from happening to begin with.

And they're probably also unconstitutional.

I don't think they would be up if they were unconstitutional. Do you have anything else?

You called me back.

Okay. Thank you. Who else? Anybody else? Okay. Yeah. If there's no one from the audience, then we'll move on to the virtual platform.

Good afternoon. Sorry. Good morning.

That's not Alan.

Start off.

Not totally off topic.

Thank you so very much for all your kind words. I appreciate it. And let me go back then to the current topic, the taxes and the budget. As I do every year, I'm concerned that although you have done a great job with the budget, you can't complain about that. I've noticed in media lately that Colleen's down $300,000, so they had to close down a homeless shelter because they didn't have the money in their budget. I know Belton is also struggling with the money in their budget. I just want to be sure that we take into account, Ms. Burnley said it, price of gasoline keeps going up and up. Well, police cars, fire trucks, maintenance trucks all run on gas and I want to be sure that we did budget in that kind of money. My other question is did we also include in the debt service, the assumption, we hope, that the bond for the salmon center will pass, and so we'll increase our debt by $15 million.

DAVID BURRAGE. Alan, whatever that tax rate impact is, if the bond is passed, will be added to the $0.75, assuming that it's approved. So any tax increase that's voter approved is added to the base tax rate.

OK. So it'll be separate from the $0.75.

Yes, sir. It's not baked into the $0.75.

And whatever tax associated with the GO bond election will be added in FY 2028.

OK. That's a good point. So it'll be added to next year's tax rate. If any. Yeah. Got it.

And we calculated the rate that is on the GO bond as if it didn't take into account any of the sawtooth, meaning just what was the rate for that debt service, not any increased capacity because of debt being paid off or additional growth.

DAVID BURRAGE.

OK, very good. DAVID BURRAGE. If I may also echo your thoughts, sir, Greatly appreciate Tracy and Brent and all their teams. They do a fantastic job. I've not had as much time this year to sit in on the budget meetings, but I've said it on years past, and I just can't believe how much work it takes to keep this city running.

I agree. Thank you, Alan. Anything else?

no okay thank you and related to the question regarding fuel our budget team does do detailed projections related to fuel and we have adjusted budgets upwards based on the current fuel forecast like i said at the last meeting the the a governmental entity is not immune to inflation right everyone in your

Mentioned earlier the cost of a hamburger. The cost of a hamburger, however that relates to the city, increases just like it does to the residents. Anybody else from the audience? Okay, very good. Then I will close the public hearing. There's no action to be required on item one, but item two, 2A, and I'll read that back in, is adopting the City budget for fiscal year October 1, 2026, ending September 30, 2027, including the operating budget for 2026, business plan, capital improvement plan, general government pay plan, civil service pay plan, fiscal and budgetary policy, and the investment policy. Council, I will entertain a motion on item 2A. And please note, you do have special motion language at your seat.

Mr. Mayor, I move that the budget for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026 and ending September 30, 2027, including the operating budget for 2026 and 2027 business plan, capital improvement plan, general government pay plan, civil service pay plan, fiscal and budgetary policy, and investment policy be adopted.

Second.

We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Walker. We have a second by Council Member Pilkington, who is somewhere where it's not 100 degrees. So Council, please cast your vote.

Aye.

Item 2A passes five votes to zero. Item 2B. reads to ratify the property tax increase reflected in the budget. This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year's budget by amount of $7,306,515, which is a 10.83% increase from last year's budget. The property tax revenue to be raised from the new property added to the tax rolls this year is $5,032,457. Council, you also have special language on this item.

I move that the property tax increase reflected in the budget be approved. This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year's budget by an amount of $7,306,515, which is a 10.83% increase from last year's budget. The property tax revenue to be raised from new property

Added to the tax rule this year is five million thirty two thousand four hundred and fifty seven Second we have a motion by councilmember grant we have a second by councilmember Pilkington Council please cast. I'm sorry. I said Pilkington by councilmember Emmons council. Please cast your vote. I Item 2B passes five votes to zero. Item three?

Tracy does have some additional presentation materials for items three and four, if you guys would like to see those. Of course, those are second readings. So if you don't want to go through those presentations, that's also OK. But I just wanted to mention that we didn't cover those presentations a second time, unless you would like us to.

This is an important day. So let's go ahead and cover those, please. I read it in there, but I will again. Yes. So item three is a second and final reading to consider adopting an ordinance approving the tax roll and authorizing calculation of the amount of tax that can be determined for all real and personal property in the city for fiscal year 2027. Is this good? Yes.

Before you, the certified tax roll, it shows the city of Temple, the freeze taxable, the total adjusted value, what tax increment district, and the total taxable value. And on the far right, the total taxable value is $12,815,349,754. And out of that amount... is the reinvestment zone for the city of Temple. Portion is 2.2 million. Next slide, again, going over the tax rates. Looking at the estimated tax revenue for the total tax levy, which would include both the M&O and INS, is a total of 74,787,068. and that 2.1 million is comparing to the file budget, comparing the proposed budget to the file budget. In the estimated levy for the tax increment district is $16,951,554, and that is an increase in the levy that was in the file budget of 5.9 million, and that's just a function of of the value and the tax rate that was in the reinvestment zone at the time the budget was filed. Looking at our average, what's this impact on the average home? And again, that's taking the average value of $190,000 compared to the average value last year. that decreased a little less than 13%. The tax rate increase of 5.01%, which shows the city of Temple tax on that average home would actually decrease $103.26. And again, that's average home. Individual homes could be different. But on average, that is the tax impact. I have the appraisal district also, they come out with a median home in addition to the average home, and it shows a decrease in the total tax of $18.97. And just showing the city does with their tax, it's in the city charter, does offer discounts of three, two, and 1%, those beginning October and November, December. uh other tax exemptions are the homestead which is 5 000 or 20 of the value disability and then the over 65 exemption and proposing no changes to those we also have the tax ceiling and freeze the disabled person we have that and the over 65 exemption uh City of Temple exemptions, there's a total of almost $3.8 billion that are exempt. Close to 25% is through the homestead. We have 35, almost 35% of total of that 3.8 billion is totally exempt properties. And then you can see on around the pie chart there. And as we are here today, this is the final adoption of the tax rate, approving the tax roll and levying the taxes, and setting the tax rate. Are you happy to answer any questions related to those? DAVID BURRAGE.

Counsel, anything? MIKE PATTERSON.

I'm good. DAVID BURRAGE.

OK.

Thank you. I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. Thank you for showing the pie chart with the exemptions. I think that's really interesting. I'm glad you add that in there. It offers a lot of information.

I think maybe one thing to point out, too, is the earlier abatements mentioned, only 5.76% of that is related to abatements.

You know, the over 65 exemption I think is important. I think some people in the past, people have been confused that whenever they're over 65, that I think many folks think that the tax rate freezes, but as their home fluctuates in value, that that can add or take from their actual costs in the property tax bill. At 65, the dollar amount owed on that home that's occupied by someone 65 or older, that the dollar amount is frozen for as long as they live in that home. If they move to another home, then that property tax is frozen at the new home. So at 65, it freezes. A couple of years ago, a guy said, well, mine went up last year. Upon further review, he'd added a shed. And now he was paying $6 a month or something for that shed. So yeah, very good. Anything else, council? You said there were a couple of presentations. Was that it? The one?

Just the one on the useless x-ray tube.

OK. Then to wrap up item three, council, I will entertain a motion on item three. Make a motion to approve item three.

I'll second it.

We have a motion by Councilmember Immons. We have a second by Mayor Pro Tem Walker. Council, please cast your vote. Aye. Item three passes, five votes to zero. Moving on to item four is a second and final reading to consider adopting an ordinance setting a tax rate for fiscal year 2027 and making the appropriation for the regular operation of the city.

CHRISTIE WOODARD- Mr. Mayor, I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of the tax rate of 0.75, which includes a rate of 0.3492 for interest in thinking. and a rate of 0.4008 for maintenance and operations.

Second.

We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Walker. We have a second by Councilmember Pilkington. Council, please cast your vote. Aye. So that puts the tax rate portion of the budget to bed. So real quickly, a couple of comments. As always, we thank the accounting staff. I know that you guys work on that so much. But it's also at the direction of Ms. Myers and Ms. Bernard. And so there are lots of moving parts. So I personally want to thank everyone for the hard work that you do. It's always interesting this time of year, when I read the telegram, I read about different taxing entities and what they're doing, how they're increasing or decreasing. And there are some taxing entities that are dipping into their, quote unquote, their rainy day fund to make the budget work. And there's an article in the paper this morning about a city that's dipping into their rainy day fund. And if they continue to do that at that pace, they'll be down to their minimum required cash balance in two or three years. And one of the things that I have always enjoyed here is the fact that the management and the council is always willing to make the hard decisions around the tax rate. Because politically, it's easier not to raise taxes. But at some point, if you end up depriving the city, it's just like anything else. You deprive it of oxygen, it will die. And so I've appreciated that. the council being willing to adjust tax rate, but also the fact of the planning that goes into the budget. I've always loved our one plus five, and I think that that gives council confidence and that gives staff the planning horizon to make those hard decisions, and that we have an idea of what the tax rate needs to be in subsequent years, and we have an idea of what personnel and capital improvement and equipment, et cetera, It's comforting to know there's such a big budget, but that it's being handled well, and it's also being planned for, and that the resident citizen volunteers are kept abreast of where we stand year after year. And it helps, in our case, the council, make good, strong decisions about where we're going. There's not a lot of knee-jerk reactions or a bunch of oh-noes. How are we going to come up with that money?

so actually there are still some but not as many so so um as mayor and i think on behalf of council i want to thank staff for you know all the hard work year after year i wanted to add on to your comments um and i thank miss myers for this what was it in 2019 began the five plus one and the five plus one each year business plan and planning out five years ahead really helps, uh, plan for the future. And you don't have as many, you still have to pivot some and adjust, but it's very good forecasting and to keep that picture in front of you as you plan and go through the process.

What's your saying? Cheshire cat rep. So very good. that's right and it may not you may end up somewhere you don't want to be like dipping into your rainy day fun so um very good well again thanks thanks to everyone for all the hard work it's truly appreciated moving on to Item five is consider adopting a resolution setting the collection charges for solid waste services as well as setting rates associated fees and rebates for recycling processing to be effective October 1, 2026.

In the budget you just adopted, it was built on the premise of increasing the solid waste rates by $2 from 2250 to 2450. And it also included an increase for an extra container. Currently, that extra container costs $7 a month, and we're proposing to increase that to $10 a month. Also, in the commercial rates, there was an increase of approximately 5%. And the top table shows what the commercial rates were by the size of the container and the frequency of pickups per week. As you can see, just for example, one time a week for a one and a half yard container went from $52.10 to $53.65 a month. A lot of numbers on that chart, but this shows the current rates compared to the proposed rates compared to the current rates. And again, that was around a 5% increase. Some additional rate adjustments proposed by our solid waste department was to increase the monthly rental for 20, 30 and 40 yard container from $120 for the 120 to 125 and then the 30 yard from 125 to 130 and the 40 yard from 145 to $150. In addition, some additional services, new fees, return trip fee, $30, residential container replacement from customer neglect or a lost container, $65, and that is the cost of the container. And then failed request service fee for a container blocked by vehicle or other obstruction, gate locked or inaccessible, There's several reasons listed there. That would be $75 per occurrence. A lock bar device charge per device per container is cost plus 10%. And then the monthly rate for the lock bar device is $5 and the container relocation fee is $75. How does Temple compare to other cities, peer cities? Temple's the green bar at $24.50. The lowest rate is City of Brine, and it appears they do not, Clean Art Brine does not have recycling, but Brine is $13.50 a month. And then the highest rate on the chart is San Marcos at $36.26 a month. and be happy to answer any questions related to those rates. And also, Justin is here to answer any questions, too, if needed.

Thank you.

MS. So, Ms. Bernard, the rates that you have listed for the peer cities, are those current rates, or will these also be adjusted with their budgets when they go through their cycle?

MS. They are current rates. And we try, we'll update them as soon as we get them. And probably could show that with a quarterly report or send that info to you. But it doesn't include any kind of rate they may propose this year. I think about our fleet of fuel and how many gallons of diesel and gasoline. Part of that's driving the cost and the rates, too. And the cost of a garbage truck used to be $200,000, and now it's almost $600,000. DAVID BURRAGE.

I know that solid waste is not an enterprise fund. official enterprise fund, but it operates sort of like one in that these rates are adjusted to cover the cost of those activities, right?

Yes. And as we mentioned earlier, the brush and bulk, this rate includes that pickup. But if you just look at it, we look at the whole picture when we're trying to determine the cost, cost of service. and the revenue requirement to cover that cost.

DAVID BURRAGE- Maybe some, there can be questions around, well, say you've got a tax rate, but then you've got these other fees that you're adjusting. It's because those fees don't cover, I'm sorry, the tax rate doesn't cover the operation, 100% of it.

MARY ANN BORGESON- And just like the limited tax notes y'all just approved of, I think, August 6th? Those are, they have a tax pledge to them, but the revenue from operating, or the solid waste pays for those, the debt service on those tax notes.

Council, any further questions or comments on item five? There being none, council, I'll entertain a motion on five.

Item five.

Second. We have a motion by Councilmember Grant. We have a second by Councilmember Emmons. Council, please cast your vote. Aye. Item five passes five votes to zero. Moving on to item six is to consider adopting a resolution setting the current utility system fees to be effective October 1, 2026.

and our water and wastewater fund, which is an enterprise fund. Just wanted to, as we talk about typical growing, our 2026 customer base is a total of 37,904 customers, and we're projecting that'll grow less than 3% to a 38,916 in the FY2027. Is my mic okay? Again, looking at the Water and Wastewater Fund revenue and expenditures, total revenues, 78.5 million. Total expenditures, 78.5 million. And what the composition of those revenues are, water services contribute 47.81%, wastewater, 45.82%. We have interest income of 3.23%, and then other and reimbursements. And then on the expense side, operations make up 42.8, the debt service 35.59, and personnel 16.25%. If you look at the general fund, personnel cost makes up nearly 2 thirds of the cost for the general fund. Just what's driving our rates, and I won't read all of this, but personnel and operational costs associated with staffing in the water distribution, treatment services in water, and customer care. Also cost drivers for operational cost increases to supplies and other operating accounts to include replacing Line locating equipment increases for hydrants and valves, sidewalk curve, gutter maintenance, biannual UV bulb replacement at the membrane plant, and additional funding for sludge hauling and disposal at water treatment plant and machinery equipment replacements, and the capital improvement program. When looking at the total capital improvement program, Brandon went over it in kind of a little bit different format. But the total water and wastewater CIP that this rate supports is $193 million, and that's over the next six years. Total water CIP, which is Out of that 110 million, 42.3% of it's rehab of existing infrastructure. 43.2% of the CIP is related to growth and capacity. And then 12.7 is related to plant expansion. And 1.8% of it's tied to the mobility projects we have going when we replace the water and wastewater lines as we go through those. And then on the wastewater side, 25% of it's rehab and almost 75% of it's to meet growth and capacity of that 82.6 million. And this is a detailed list of the water projects that this rate supports, the detail of the wastewater projects. FY 2027, there's a big 18 million for the Knob Creek interceptor improvements. Now the proposed rates as of 10-1-2026, we're proposing adjusting the minimum bill from $13.40 to 14.65 cents. on water, no change to the volumetric rate. And for wastewater, increasing the base rate from $25.90 to $27.90 and the volumetric rate from $9.75 to $10.25. Just looking at comparisons of other proposed rates of other cities. I know Brian may have some comments here. This shows Temple's proposed rate and then what our rate is in 2026 compared to our fierce cities.

And just like the conversation with Solid Waste, these are current rates by these other entities, so there may be adjustments that are proposed as part of their budgeting processes as well. The other thing that I always like to mention here is that most of these communities, with I think the exception of brian have utility impact fees so they fund part of their capital program in part by impact fees and so we of course use our rate base to fund 100 of our utility associated capital projects so that's another component similar to what we've talked about with tax rates there's a lot of things to consider and a lot of things making sure you're comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges so again these rates are based on comparing current year rates of these other entities to our proposed rate and and most if not I think the only one I recall off the top of my head is Brian that doesn't have impact fees. Next slide, please.

Under proposed rate changes, currently the fee we charge for a meter box fee doesn't cover our cost of what that meter box costs. And we're proposing a fee at cost plus 10%. Again, same slide. And I'd be happy to answer any questions related to those rate adjustments. DAVID BURRAGE.

Can I also make a thing for Ms. Myers or Ms. Bernard? OK. With that, council, I will entertain a motion on item 6.

I move to approve item 6S presented.

I'll second it.

We have a motion by Council Member Pilkington, a second by Mayor Pro Tem Walker. Council, please cast your vote.

Aye.

item six passes five votes to zero item seven is consider adopting a resolution authorizing the settlement of a texas commission on environmental quality enforcement case number six nine two one one related to violations that occurred in the year 2025 at the brazos river authority managed temple belton wastewater treatment plant resulting in an administrative penalty of $36,000, where 7,200 of that is deferred upon timely completion and satisfactory compliance of the order, and where the remaining $28,800 is conditionally offset upon timely and satisfactory completion of the supplemental environmental program.

Good morning, mayor and council. Sorry, I was getting a tissue. Um, uh, as you just read in this, um, item is to consider, um, executing an agreed order for a TCEQ, um, action. Um, this is regarding the temple belt and wastewater treatment facility, which is operated, um, for the city by Brazos river authority, also commonly referred to as BRA. During a record review in August, TCEQ alleges that during a record review in February 20, 2026, TCEQ noted some violations in our permitted effluent limitations that occurred in 2025. These regulations are found in the Texas Administrative Code, the Texas Water Code, and also guided by our discharge permit. This slide just kind of gives you an idea of what they're alleging the facility violated regarding effluent. Next slide, please. The order is not necessarily an admission regarding any alleged violation and it includes a general denial on behalf of both the City of Temple and the City of Belton. TCEQ is proposing an assessed penalty for those record violations in the amount of $36,000. They're proposing to defer $7,200 upon timely and satisfactory compliance with the agreed order. The remaining $28,800 will be conditionally offset by completion of a supplemental environmental program, or SEP, which would leave a remaining balance regarding the penalty of $0. The requirements for the supplemental environmental project are for the facility to install an additional blower in our existing aeration system. The offset amount is to be used for the blower materials, supplies, and equipment. There is a requirement that any advertisement or invitation for bids, including publication, uh, related to this program, uh, include the enforce an enforcement statement and that it's being, um, procured on that basis. Funds conditionally offset, uh, must only be used for direct cost of implementing the program. Overall, staff believes that this is a good resolution. It will improve the quality of our wastewater effluent. We're required to spend at least the SEP offset amount, which as a reminder was $28,800. The estimated cost for the blower is $165,000. That amount is currently funded in the fiscal year 26 budget through BRA's operating agreement. And no additional expenditure will be required. Uh, under the agreed order, uh, there is a performance schedule that requires, uh, the supplemental environmental program to be, uh, initiated within 30 days and completed within 130 days. There's also some records and reporting requirements to TCEQ within 30 days. We have to provide them with notice of commencement, uh, at 90 days, we have to provide a report detailing our progress. and include a schedule for achieving completion within the 130-day timeframe. At the end of the 130 days, we have to provide TCEQ notice that we've completed the SEP, provide a final report either 130 days after the effective date or within 30 days after completion, whichever is earlier. TCEQ may access all records and the work area related to the SCP offset amount. If we fail to fully perform, we have to remit payment to TCEQ for that $28,800. Again, any, uh, publicity regarding the project must state that it was part, um, the project was performed as part of, uh, settlement of an enforcement action brought by TCEQ. And that includes advertising public relations and press releases. And we may not seek recognition for this, um, project and any other state or federal regulatory program. Um, our recommendation is that the city signed the agreed order and implement the SCP. BRA and the city believe that the additional blower installation is beneficial. And city of Belton intends to sign. City staff believes that this is an appropriate action. And we also ask that delegation authority be given to the city manager to sign any documents, including the agreed order. and I'll be happy to answer any questions or Kenton is here that can maybe ask some more, if you have more specific questions.

Do we have a presentation?

No, sir, I have a question actually.

This item is not subject to a public hearing. Okay, that wasn't clear.

RESOLUTIONS AREN'T SUBJECT TO PUBLIC HEARINGS, ONLY FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES, AND THIS IS A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE AGREED ORDER AND EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS.

OKAY. ALL RIGHT.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. SO ON THIS ACTION, The need for this action was discovered in just a TCEQ audit, so to speak?

That's my understanding. They performed what's called a record review, where they review the records of the facility on, I guess, a periodic basis. And during that time, they discovered some violations that had occurred the previous year. At the time of the record review in February of 2026, TCEQ did note that the facility was in compliance at the time of that review. To clarify, the alleged violations discovered during the record review were for the prior calendar year.

Okay. And then I guess had this fan been in place or then it would have, um, those violations would not have occurred. I'm assuming, I mean, who knows, right?

I would have to defer probably to Kenton to answer that. But that's my understanding is that this will, um, assist in processing the affluent and help control those discharge limits.

You live outside your area of expertise there, aren't you?

I'm not an engineer or an environmental expert.

That's true. We should also probably note the plant is currently under construction for an expansion. So this has been planned for.

I know that, to me, this is a little bit complicated, right? Because we have co-ownership. And then we also have somebody else operating. Correct. So does BRA have any responsibility as the operator of the plant? for any of this, or ultimately just rolls up, I guess, to the owner as the responsible party? Yeah, essentially that's what happens, correct. And so the $36,000 of the city of Temple is being fined. Is that just our three quarters? And so Belton's getting $12,000?

Yeah, I mean, the budgets are split up. So this comes out of the budget. So instead of getting fined, we do capital improvements. So Belton does pay their share of it. So say we were to actually get fined, then that would be split between Belton and Temple.

As long as corrective action is taken within all the time limits Uh, we saved 36,000, but we pay our portion of $165,000. Correct. Which we were planning it to do anyways. Okay.

As I was just gonna point out, we were already planning to install this blower. Um, so it's not any additional money, um, on behalf of the city that the city's expending. Um, it was already an anticipated and planned for, um, enhancement to the facility.

Conduct an experiment.

You failed. Step away, Cody. All right, very good.

Council, are there any questions for Kenton or Sharla?

I might just also add since I have your audience that as as you may recall the city staff is proposing that when the current contract with Brazos River Authority comes to an end that the city of Temple transition to operating our own treatment plants, and I would just offer this as an exhibit to why the staff is making that recommendation.

Is that contract up?

I bet Kenton knows.

Yep, 2029. 2029. 2029, it's in the business plan shown that we assume operations. So that would be the end of 28, I believe. OK. FY 29. Very good.

Because we don't have control over the operations, but we have responsibility for, as you can see with this action, for the violations. And so that is why the city staff believes that our professional treatment plant staff that already manages our water treatment plant programs without violation, I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me. Our water treatment plant has the capacity and the expertise to take on the management of our reclamation plant. So that's a decision for a later date, but I just, since we're in this conversation, I just wanted to point that out as an example for why that recommendation will likely come to you and is in the business plan that you just adopted.

Okay, thank you, ma'am. Council, with that, I'll entertain a motion. DAVID BURRAGE. Thank you.

CHRISTIE WOOD. Item 7. DAVID BURRAGE.

Second. DAVID BURRAGE. We have a motion by Councilmember Grant. We have a second by Councilmember Immons. Council, please cast your vote.

Aye.

Item seven passes five votes to zero. Moving on to item eight is to consider adopting a resolution designating Alan Lytle as council ambassador, establishing an advisory role through which he may provide advice, institutional knowledge, and perspective to the city council and participate in city council meetings and discussions, including through electronic means.

I don't have a presentation on this item. I think you already did an excellent job of describing why this is proposed. This gives us more flexibility in offering participation options for Alan in the future.

Can we add an addendum to this, Adam, that although he's in an advisory role, we do not have to take his advice?

Is that appropriate?

Alan, this doesn't give you any more authority, by the way. Very good.

Thanks, Jay.

Well, Alan, again, we appreciate you and your dedication to the city. And you're always a bright light. Sometimes you're shining it upon something that we might need a little help with. And that's OK, too. So thank you for everything. And our prayers are with you and your continued health. Thank you, Alan. All right. God bless you, sir. You bet. Counsel, it's my honor.

Someone has to make sure that you call public hearings and close public hearings when you're supposed to.

No, what y'all need is a better mayor. That's the problem. Very good. Then I will entertain a motion gladly on item 8.

It would be my honor to make the motion of approval for item 8.

And I'm honored to second out of eight. MIKE PATTERSON. Mike, you want to get in here? MIKE PATTERSON. Mike also seconds it. MIKE PATTERSON. I second it also. MIKE PATTERSON. All right. So I'll get in.

MIKE PATTERSON. I think I was muted. But I appreciate Alan very much.

So we have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Walker. We have a second by Council Members Grant, Pokington, and Emmons. And item eight passes five votes to zero. Again, Alan, thank you for everything. We've enjoyed our time with you, and we hope to see you around. And with that, it's 11.33, and Council, I will close this meeting, and there's another budget in the books. So thank you all, everybody.