Fredericksburg City Council & Gillespie County Commission Joint Special Meeting – July 14, 2026

On Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 1:30 PM, the Fredericksburg City Council and Gillespie County Commission met jointly at City Hall at East Campus in Fredericksburg, Texas, for a preliminary discussion of shared services and the FY 2026-27 budget. Mayor Randy Briley and County Judge Daniel Jones presided. No votes were taken on budget items; the meeting was informational and ended with a motion to adjourn at 2:54 PM.

Opening Comments

• Judge Jones said the county does not yet have a proposed budget and viewed the meeting as a preliminary discussion; another joint meeting may be needed later in the budget season.
• Mayor Briley noted the city completed its preliminary budget discussion that morning.
• City Manager Clinton Bailey proposed holding joint meetings even earlier and meeting two or more times a year because several critical services are jointly funded.

Economic Development Commission Funding

• Tim Lamberg, executive director of the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission, reviewed a flat proposed FY 2027 budget. Total EDC funding is $264,000, split equally by the city and county at $132,000 each.
• He stated that more than 90% of funding pays for his salary and benefits, and that the accounting line item doubles because an outside audit is required every fifth year.
• Lamberg said he was not requesting additional funding; expenses may exceed income in the coming year, but reserves remain at about seven months.

Gillespie County Health Services

• Kelly presented the county health services budget, noting a proposed 4% increase to retail health permit fees, equal to about four cents per day for lower-tier establishments and seven cents per day for larger facilities.
• Because of House Bill 2844, the county is no longer in the mobile food truck permit business, so that revenue stream ends; state inspection responsibility may not be fully delivered, and she expects the bill to be revisited.
• The budget also includes new software to allow online credit card payments and a small increase in gas costs.

Emergency Management Services

• The emergency management coordinator reported on a full city-county assessment completed over the past eight months, including the federal IPAS alert system, public information efforts, and the $1 million SB3 flood-siren grant.
• He identified deficiencies, including the absence of a threat/hazard assessment, up to 28 missing emergency response plans, and a state mandate to convert the emergency operations plan to an ESF template within about 30 months.
• He proposed adding one full-time deputy emergency management coordinator and modest increases for shelter/operations supplies, EOC supplies, advertising, materials, and software; he said no new vehicle is requested.
• County Judge Jones and commissioners expressed concern about the coordinator being on call 24/7 and asked whether part-time support was possible; the coordinator said full-time would be best but was open to negotiation.

Fire, EMS, and County Rural Fire Services

• Fire Chief Bizzle presented combined fire/EMS data. Call volume is slightly down with three months left in the fiscal year; EMS transfers are down, while fire responses are up.
• The busiest response period is 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., spread consistently across all seven days of the week.
• Response times are longer in eastern and western county areas; a study found that a full-time ambulance in Harper would reduce response time from 29 minutes to 12 minutes, and in Stonewall from 17 minutes to 9 minutes. About 460 calls per year would be affected.
• The budget requests one additional gear extractor ($18,000) and annual state-required cancer screenings for personnel at about $2,100 per person.
• He proposed adding three firefighter/paramedic/EMT positions and discussed a future battalion chief/medical officer concept. No new fire apparatus is in next year's budget because of multi-year delivery schedules, but a new fire engine (~$1.3 million, 20-year lifespan) and ladder truck are already on order.
• For rural fire services, the county presented a preliminary proposal with base funding of $37,000 per volunteer department plus call-volume-based funding; the largest changes were about $3,000 down for one department and $2,000 up for another. County officials said the proposal is not final.

Law Enforcement Center (LEC)

• Judge Jones reviewed LEC needs: an $85,000 request placeholder for employee compensation, replacement of one AC system, carpet replacement, and a bullet-resistant glass project that may be completed this fiscal year.

Emergency Dispatch Center

• Dispatch leadership requested about $13,000 in maintenance/operations increases, including a maintenance contract increase of about $11,000.
• The main request is personnel: raises and a night differential totaling approximately $100,000, split $50,000 each between city and county.
• The budget also includes about $11,000 to replace 24/7 dispatch chairs; headsets may be funded by ACOG, and the 100 Club may assist with chairs.
• The director explained a longstanding pay-period quirk creates a roughly $1.80/hour overtime differential between day and night shifts. The center currently has 12 dispatchers with two openings, plus a supervisor and director.

Animal Shelter

• Animal control reported that annual shelter operating costs range from $277,000 to $350,000, depending on vehicle replacement. The city employs three animal control employees at a cost of about $235,000.
• In the first six months of FY 2026, there were about 500 cat/dog intakes and 729 animal incidences; 276 animals came from the county and 237 from the city, with roughly 54% of intakes from outside the city limits.
• Intakes doubled from 526 in 2015 to 1,106 in 2025. County residents may drop off animals with no fee; the shelter works with SBCA for adoptions.

Outstanding FY 2026-27 Budget and CVB

• The CVB director, about two months into the role, said she budgeted flat at $5.4 million. The proposal adds two staff positions, including a data and insights manager, and 3-5% raises for staff who have not received raises since 2023. Bonuses would shift to performance-based incentives tied to room nights.
• Marketing remains the largest budget area; travel is being narrowed to targeted markets, primarily the UK and Germany. Sponsorship funds were renamed 'bids and sponsorships' and would be tied to measurable ROI.
• She said the requested city/county contribution is 'five-sevenths,' and she hopes to negotiate a three-year contract with both entities.
• Agenda materials stated that for the median-valued homestead property ($473,057), current FY 2026 taxes were $1,075.86 and prior FY 2025 taxes were $971.31; FY 2026-27 estimates were not yet calculable because certified values were expected in late July.
• City Manager Bailey raised the possibility of a county short-term rental/HOT collection and permitting position, possibly housed at City Hall and paid from HOT revenue. County Judge Jones said he was not opposed and liked the idea of a one-stop shared shop; Bailey noted additional HOT revenue could support shared emergency services.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Esther Schneider expressed concern about the county's financial situation, noting the city's bond rating increased while the county's decreased. She said the county fire budget for the city/volunteer fire departments, which she described as 'only 2.5 million dollars or 100,000 dollars,' was not enough and should be increased exponentially. She also raised concerns about the county's audit status affecting grants.

Additional Discussion

• Councilmember Tony Klein asked about grant efforts to address erosion/floodplain problems south of town and near a future development. City Manager Bailey said work is in progress, but it is long-term and not yet finalized; Klein urged the county to address the issue before problems grow.

Key Outcomes

• The meeting was informational; no formal votes were taken on FY 2026-27 funding requests.
• The county will continue internal budget workshops and may schedule another joint meeting later in the budget season.
• The city and county will continue discussing emergency management staffing, dispatch pay/equipment, rural fire funding, and a possible HOT-funded county collections position.