The changes approved April 5 are expected to add about $1.057 million in costs to the city budget, according to a city memo.
Officials said this year’s budget was planned under the uncertainty of a pandemic, but city revenues are doing better than projected.
“We were facing many unknowns at the time, including potential impacts on property values, long-term impacts on area businesses, impacts on Thrive memberships and a projection as to when the pandemic might actually end,” City Manager Donna Barron wrote in a memo to the council. “Because of these unknowns, we adopted a very conservative budget that did not include pay increases for our employees.”
Now, with the opening up of Texas in relation to COVID-19 restrictions, the restaurant and tourism business is expected to rebound. Thus, city officials are “cautiously optimistic” regarding the remaining fiscal year revenues.
