The details
Friendswood City Council recently discussed at its Dec. 1 meeting the return on investment for several partnerships the city has with local and regional nonprofits and outside organizations, which cost the city a combined total of $73,000 per year, council member Robert Griffon said.
Some of those nonprofits include:
- Bay Area Houston Transportation Partnership
- Friendswood Chamber of Commerce
- Friends of the Friendswood Public Library
- Friends of Downtown Friendswood
- Harris-Galveston Subsidence District
- Galveston County Health District
The backstory
The workshop discussion was triggered by a conversation city council had earlier in the year on whether to renew its contract with Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.
“I have come around to BAYHEP,” Griffon said. “I believe that that's a great organization, and I believe that that money is well spent.”
Still, Griffon singled out the city’s $20,000 partnership with the Friendswood Chamber of Commerce and the $19,380 partnership with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District.
Diving in deeper
By comparison, the city of Alvin pays about $300 per year to its chamber and the city of Webster pays less than $1,000 per year, Kabiri said.
Through its economic development corporation, which is funded by sales tax, the city of Pearland contributes $300,000 to the chamber of commerce in exchange for the creation and management of the Pearland Innovation hub, which helps startups and entrepreneurs build businesses in Pearland.
Council member Joe Matranga said he felt it was hard to put a dollar amount on the return on investment from certain partnerships, particularly the one with the chamber of commerce, but did support further workshopping to identify the value while saying he felt the chamber did a lot of positive things for the city.
“They do a lot of things in the city of Friendswood to promote the city and support our businesses,” Matranga said. “It's got over 300 members in that chamber.”
Council member Trish Hanks said each of the organizations needed to provide the city with an analysis of how they arrived at the dollar amount they are asking from the city.
“The chamber values our longstanding partnership with the city of Friendswood and remains confident that any decisions made will reflect what is best for our citizens, workforce and business community,” said Carol Ives Marcantel, president of the Friendswood Chamber of Commerce, in an emailed statement.
Looking ahead
Mayor Mike Foreman asked staff to consult with each of the organizations to gather more information on the justification for the costs and what the return is for the city to present to council for consideration at a future meeting.
