Prposed Budget Calendar and Organizational Restructure

[Charles West]

Attached is the proposed budget preparation calendar that is aligned with statutory date requirements and set expectation and delivery timielines. Also attached is the proposed organizational structure for the city. I hope to have these as workshop itmes at the April 2, 2026 City Council meeting. Ther ewill probably still be some adjustments and changes, but these are the latest drafts and align with GFOA best practices

 

[Paul Prince]

Mr. West,
Thank you for posting these detailed thoughts.

The budget calendar looks appropriate, with the need to add in the annual budget post-mortem I have been requesting. I recognize this year that numerous challenges have prevented it from happening to date BUT I believe it should be targeted for January in support of the January-February strategic planning activities.

I am aligned on the Chart of Accounts (COA) details as we have worked through that in the Finance sub-committee.

I generally support the organizational structure you lay out, but I am concerned that it may place too much under this newly formed ACM role. Perhaps retaining administrative services under the CM would be a better approach.

The largest number of employees in this structure are under the ACM (which is fine in my view) but keeping the centralized administrative services a little more independent by not being under the ACM seems like a stronger check and balance on the overall city operation. I feel pretty strongly that the HR function should remain direct to the CM rather than under the ACM. Having the centralized IT and purchasing workflow direct to the CM seem logical as well.

Paul

 

[Norma Owen]

Mr. West,

Thank you for providing these drafts, the alignment with statutory requirements and GFOA best practices is appreciated, and I support bringing both forward as workshop items on April 2.

Councilor Prince has raised several important points, and I share alignment with his comments, particularly regarding the organizational structure and maintaining appropriate checks and balances across key functions.

From a financial perspective, I also agree that the Chart of Accounts (COA) structure is directionally correct in form. However, it does not appear to fully reflect the broader ranges and framework discussed in the Finance Subcommittee or the Texas State review. It may be worthwhile to revisit the agreed-upon final report to ensure that the proposed ranges can still achieve the same objectives while also improving readability and usability of the financials for Council-level decision-making. The report is too large to place here, so for brevity I am posting a snippet. Mr. West if this is not already posted on the Website, can I ask that it be shared for ease of access as an element on the left on the Finance Department page.

I look forward to the workshop discussion to further refine both the structure and the financial framework in a way that supports transparency, accountability, and long-term planning.