El Paso City Council Special Budget Meeting - May 28, 2026
El Paso City Council Special Budget Meeting - May 28, 2026
The El Paso City Council held a special meeting on Thursday, May 28, 2026, from 9:01 AM to 1:07 PM (with a 10-minute recess) to receive departmental presentations for the FY2026-2027 preliminary budget. Over 32 departments and divisions presented their budgets, staffing plans, and strategic priorities. Key topics included an operational efficiency review motion, a retirement recognition, and concerns over Sun Metro route changes.
Retirement Recognition – Planning Inspections Director Philip
- Council members delivered heartfelt tributes to Philip, who is retiring after many years of service. Members praised his institutional knowledge, problem-solving attitude, mentorship, and dedication to public service. Mayor Johnson presented a formal thank-you on behalf of the city.
Departmental Budget Presentations
Libraries
- Director Norma presented a budget with increases for salary, janitorial/security, fuel costs, and $100,000 for collection development. The library has 176.5 FTEs, only one vacancy. Highlights: 25,731 attendance increase for programs; 8,414 passport applications processed; library con drew 3,000 participants, Team Tober ~5,400, Winterfest ~13,000. Passport services available Saturdays 10 AM–4:30 PM.
Municipal Court
- Director Annabel Casas presented a $7.6 million preliminary budget, with variances due to citywide increases and attrition. Focus on case resolution, customer service, and data-driven improvements. Court has 93.65 FTEs. Councilmembers thanked staff for community meeting participation.
Museums and Cultural Affairs
- Director Ben Fife presented a budget driven by salary, benefit, and contractual increases. Department manages over 20,000 art/historic artifacts. Noted recent Frida exhibition drew 35,000 visitors (one-third from out of town). Emphasis on quality of life and new feedback mechanisms for programs.
Real Estate
- Director Marilu Espinoza highlighted stewardship of city property assets, managing ~130 property agreements and records for over 5,000 properties. Real estate team has 10 staff with two vacancies. Budget variance of ~$90,000 due to salary increases. Works with GEPAR on developer outreach.
Strategic Communications
- Director Tammy Fonse presented a leaner budget with one position transferred and two vacancies deleted. Key increase for PEG funding (video/broadcasting equipment). Focus on media relations, crisis communication, and video production to inform public about city services.
Urban Planning and Design
- Director Alex Hoffman presented a $67,000 variance for salary increases and a graduate intern. Emphasis on housing strategy implementation following the comprehensive plan update. Work includes increasing housing supply, putting city assets to use, and streamlining approval processes.
Office of the Controller
- CFO Margarita Marin presented a $270,000 increase for salary increases; total budget $4.4 million. Programs cover asset cycle, financial stewardship, grants oversight, revenue/expense management. Priorities include developing an investor website, grants dashboard, and debt management software.
Parks and Recreation
- Director Pablo Caballero presented a $60.6 million budget ($1.4 million increase) for 42 rec facilities and ~300 parks. Variances due to salary, contracts, and heavy equipment for the Eastside Sports Complex. Highlighted aquatics, park land management, senior services, and special events (Winterfest with 500,000+ visitors). Council discussion: vandalism, park fees (study ongoing, potential phasing in next fiscal year), lights in parks, pool reopening, staffing at 95% fill rate.
Planning Inspections
- Director Kevin Smith presented a $9.6 million budget (net decrease of $189,000) with deletion of 5 vacant positions. Focus on improving permitting process through Bloomberg Harvard Initiative. Council discussion: fee structure review (over 500 fees) to align cost of service. Addressing residential decline and commercial activity.
Police Department
- Chief Peter Passius reported overall crime reduction of 6.81% (violent crime -7.47%, property crime -10%) from 2024 to 2025. Budget increases due to salary and contractual obligations. Priority on reducing response times (currently averaging 22 minutes for priority one calls). DWI task force expansion to 19 officers. Retention efforts include wellness programs, psychologist, and technology improvements.
Public Health
- Director Dr. Vinny Taneja presented a budget impacted by grant reductions (over $3.2 million lost last year). Staffing reduced by 25 vacant positions. Key programs: WIC (over $10 million in benefits), preparedness (BioWatch grant regained), and mobile unit outreach. Discussion on Ebola outbreak preparedness and funding challenges; council commended department for sustaining services despite cuts.
Purchasing and Strategic Sourcing
- Director Claudia Garcia presented a budget with increases for salary and continuing education. New contract administration division. Focus on increasing supplier participation, implementing high-impact recommendations from department assessment, and enhancing local business opportunities through the Harold Paso program.
Strategic and Legislative Affairs
- Director Ian Volvoy presented a budget focusing on climate action plan implementation, veteran services, grants, and legislative advocacy (90th Texas legislature). Discussion on deck park funding strategy: council directed staff to pursue federal/state resources; a $10 million rider for future proofing was referenced, but councilmember expressed concern about deadline (October) and expenditure of staff time. Also noted hiring of federal lobbyist for border port funding.
Streets and Maintenance
- Director Randy Garcia presented a $110 million budget ($4 million increase) for maintenance of 304 city buildings, 2,400 miles of streets, 442 employees. Highlighted facility assessment program, traffic signal maintenance ($3.4 million), and resurfacing contracts (four active, over 10% completion). Council discussion: illumination costs (light pole damages on state roads costing taxpayers), resurfacing needs, traffic signal installation funding, staffing retention improvements (vacancy down to 14% from 24%).
Sun Metro
- Director Anthony DeKaiser presented a budget with $3.2 million reduction in contract services, benefiting from sales tax increase. Fund balance now $176 million (up $26 million). Emphasis on Sun Metro Rising implementation and route adjustments. Councilmember raised concerns about Route 65 change affecting elderly and disabled residents; residents expressed distress at community meeting. Chief acknowledged issue and stated they are exploring alternative solutions prior to the six-month review.
Tax Office
- Director Maria Pasimus presented a budget with $359,000 increase for indirect costs and salary. Adding one position for automatic refunds mandate. Highlights: temporary tax office at appraisal district, drop box, community outreach. Emphasized transparency and education.
Zoo
- Director Gary Lunsford requested a static budget focused on maintenance and infrastructure. Nine programs split between animal care and visitor experience. Priority on reclaiming AZA accreditation.
City Manager Department
- Julie Baldon presented the city manager's budget, emphasizing strategic planning, budget monitoring, and community-driven innovation. New community hub platform and data governance plan. Acknowledged 283 programs and 200 priority actions.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to conduct operational efficiency review: Representative Nino moved to direct the city manager to conduct a citywide review of materials and supplies, outside contracts, and professional services to identify potential cost savings while preserving frontline services. The motion passed 5-2 (Ayes: Chavez, Acevedo, Boya Trejo, Niño, Limon; Nays: Maldonado Rocha, Fierro, Canales, Trejo [note: roll call discrepancy – transcript shows Limon yes, but earlier listed as aye; final tally 5-2). The review will be presented as part of the FY2027 budget process.
- Retirement recognized: Philip, Planning Inspections Director, honored; council expressed gratitude.
- Next steps: Community budget forums begin June 1; budget adjustment forms due June 14; next council budget meeting June 22; proposed budget to be published July 17.
- Sun Metro concerns: Councilmember urged immediate action on Route 65 changes; city manager assured continued engagement.
- Libraries: $100,000 added for collection development to support accreditation.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good morning, everyone. We are going to. Did we lose some money? We're going to get started, Ms. Bryan. Yes, sir. Good morning. This is a special meeting of the El Paso City Council for Thursday, May 28th, 2026. It is 901 a.m. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, Representative Maldonado Rocha, Representative Boya Trejo, and Alternate Mayor Pro Tim Fierro and Representative Nino. Mayor, we have a quorum. Okay, thank you. Representative Vier, would you lead us in the Pledge Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Well, yesterday was an incredible day, and I know today's going to be even better. And I think we are on page 74. Yes, sir. And this is a presentation discussion in action for FY2026 2027 budget as presented by the city manager, and we continue with the departmental presentations with the libraries. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Council. It's great to be here this morning. I wish I would have gone last night, but here I am. What we do, I don't know. Am I supposed to? There it is. What we do? We provide resources for educational, recreational, and cultural development to the El Paso community. And our budget variances, it includes an increase in salary, janitorial and security service expenses, rising fuel costs, and an additional 100,000 dollars for collection development. In our positions, we will see that we have 176.5 FTEs across general and non-general fund. And we did lose a position to a grant, but we were able to provide full time to our OIA mentors, and I'm happy to say that we only have one vacancy at the moment. And it is very hard to pick one from the other. But the first one listed is our career online high school, and I'm just going to tell you a little bit of what we have been doing with in our programming this year. The next three listed programs are family programs, literacy and adult basic education, and literacy initiatives. This year we have an increase in attendance of 25,731 for all our programs in the library. It has been an incredible honor for me to participate in this program. I had the opportunity to hear from young adults who expressed gratitude for the space and highlighted its positive impact on their lives. One individual returned to school, another secured a job, and the third mentioned that the she found housing with the help of our mentors. It is truly rewarding to hear that we are making a difference one life at a time. Our passport program is offered at four locations, and we are the only agency that is open on Saturdays. During this physical year, we have processed 8,414 applications. But most interestingly, we have interacted over 17,000 people inquiring about passport services. Our signature programs, we have six uh citywide programs that the library conducts, and this year we had our first year holding library con, and which attracted 3,000 participants. Team Tober had approximately 5,400 participants, and the was a major success, drawing about 13,000 attendees. And we want to thank Mayor Pro Temp Chavez, Representative Rocha, and Representative Limon for joining us and participating in the parade. It was a lot of fun.
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