Buda officials approved the FY 2025-26 Economic Development Corporation budget, with an estimated ending fund balance of $14.47 million, at an Aug. 19 City Council meeting.
The gist
The Buda Economic Development Corporation, or Buda EDC, budget features a general revenue of $5,087,000 and a $45,550 deficit.
Buda EDC was founded in 2001 and aims to drive economic development, attract new businesses and support local businesses.
The budget outlines the projects and programs that they intend to fund, including business incentives, business development and a business retention & expansion program.
Some policy priorities for FY 2025-26 are mobility and infrastructure, public safety and parks—including sportsplex upgrades.
Diving deeper
The FY 2025-26 budget accounts for contractual payouts that the city approved but has not paid out yet. A portion of the fund balance is set aside in case they need to be paid in FY 2025-26.
“...It’s not part of the operating budget,” Buda EDC CEO Jennifer Storm said at an Aug. 19 City Council special meeting. “It is something that we need to be mindful of.”
One of these contractual payouts is for the Sportsplex Expansion Project. In FY 2024-25, the city approved a $1.5 million payout to “enhance the ability to support larger-scale tournaments that generate sales and hotel occupancy tax,” according to the budget narrative document. This amount could be paid out in FY 2025-26.
By the numbers
The budget features a 23% increase in salary and benefits expenditures due to additional Buda Economic Development Corporation, or Buda EDC, staff. In FY 2025-26, the city will pay for the salaries and benefits for eight full-time employees, compared to 6.5 in FY 2024-25.
Compared to last year’s budget, Marketing and tourism line items received some of the highest increases. The city allotted $506,000 for promotional purposes and marketing, which is over a 43% increase from last year.
