Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen Regular Meeting - May 12, 2025
Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen Regular Meeting - May 12, 2025
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen met on May 12, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included an invocation, pledge of allegiance, approval of minutes, public comments, special recognitions, three beer board hearings, and the first reading of four budget ordinances. Key discussions centered on the proposed FY2026 budget, a recommended 29-cent property tax increase, and funding for Germantown Municipal School District (GMSD).
Consent Calendar
- Contract Extension No. 2 – Brightview Landscape and Irrigation: Approximately $270,000 approved unanimously.
- Contract Extension No. 2 – Brightview Mowing: Approximately $476,000 approved unanimously.
- Donation – Parks and Recreation: A tree planted in honor of the Crosby family accepted.
- Grant – Germantown Charity Horse Show: $25,000 as grand prix sponsor approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Karen Viotti (2205 Duntrreit Valley Drive) thanked the board for reaching out to PTO presidents and urged open, transparent communication. She emphasized that the city's success is tied to the schools, noted that $8 million for schools is a nice start but not enough, and called for greater support for facility upgrades and marketing.
- Julie Anna Demateo (9255 Forest Estates Cove) thanked the mayor and staff for meeting with PTO leadership. She stressed the importance of the high school master plan for property values and urged the board to prioritize school improvements, noting competition from private schools and voucher programs.
- Amy Smith (address not stated) expressed support for the previous speakers and shared similar concerns about school funding.
Discussion Items
- Special Recognition: The mayor read a proclamation declaring May 18–24, 2025, as Public Works Week in Germantown. Alderman Ulicky also announced National Safe Boating Week (May 17–23) and urged residents to boat safely.
- Beer Board Hearings: Three beer permits were approved unanimously after public hearings:
- Chalin Thai Cuisine (7867 Farmington Blvd.) – On-premise beer permit. The applicant, a first-time business owner, stated he would train staff to check IDs and refuse sales to minors. Alderman Sanders emphasized the importance of training and compliance.
- The Grand Krewe of Luxor – Temporary on-premise beer permit for June 4, 2025, 6:30–11:30 PM at the Great Hall Conference Center, benefiting children’s charities.
- The Grand Krewe of Ramet – Temporary on-premise beer permit for June 1, 2025, 4:00 PM–midnight at the same venue, also benefiting children’s charities.
- Ordinance 2025-1 – Year-End Budget Adjustments (City): Senior Budget Analyst Dekisha Fonden presented two adjustments: (1) reimbursement for Madden Phillips construction change order for Wolf River Boulevard/Germantown Road intersection improvement, and (2) reimbursement for police patrol vehicle repair. Approved on first reading.
- Ordinance 2025-2 – GMSD Year-End Budget Adjustments: Budget Manager Sherry Rowell presented adjustments previously approved by the GMSD board. Approved on first reading.
- Ordinance 2025-3 – FY2026 Budget Adoption: City Administrator Jason Heisman presented the proposed $211.3 million total budget ($78.7 million general fund), structurally balanced and aligned with the Germantown Forward 2035 plan. The proposal includes a 29-cent property tax increase (to $1.79 per $100 assessed value) to address inflation, pension obligations, and capital needs. Key elements: three new firefighter-paramedic positions, full funding of four police officer positions by FY28, $11.6 million in general fund capital projects, and $16 million in new debt over six years, including $8 million for Houston High School phase one renovations. The mayor challenged staff to explore increasing the school bond allocation from $8 million to $10 million. Board members (Aldermen Ulicky, Hicks, Sanders, and Vice Mayor Gibson) discussed economic uncertainty, pension volatility, interest rate risks, and the city’s strong support for GMSD, citing over $100 million in school investments over the past decade. The ordinance was approved on first reading.
- Ordinance 2025-4 – Real and Personal Property Taxes: Finance Director Adrian Royals explained the certified tax rate rollback due to Shelby County reappraisal (average 30% increase in property values). The current rate of $1.8382 is rolled back 35.85 cents to a certified rate of $1.4987, plus a proposed 29.13-cent increase for a total FY26 rate of $1.79. Approved on first reading.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes Approved: Minutes of the April 28, 2025 regular meeting were approved as modified (adding Vice Mayor Gibson to the attendance list).
- Beer Permits: All three permits (Chalin Thai Cuisine, Grand Krewe of Luxor, Grand Krewe of Ramet) were approved unanimously.
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
- Ordinance 2025-1 (City Year-End Budget Adjustments): Approved on first reading; public hearing set for June 9, 2025.
- Ordinance 2025-2 (GMSD Year-End Budget Adjustments): Approved on first reading; public hearing set for June 9, 2025.
- Ordinance 2025-3 (FY2026 Budget): Approved on first reading; public hearing and second reading set for June 9, 2025. The mayor directed staff to investigate increasing the school bond portion from $8 million to $10 million.
- Ordinance 2025-4 (Property Tax Rate): Approved on first reading setting the proposed rate at $1.79 per $100 assessed value; public hearing set for June 9, 2025.
- Mayor’s Challenge: The mayor asked staff to reevaluate the bonding capacity and report back before the second reading on the feasibility of increasing school funding by $2 million.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting, the regular scheduled meeting for Monday, May 12th. We welcome all those that are in attendance with us this evening, those that are in chambers with us, those that are viewing online and also through GMTV. I'd like to recognize our friends from the school board that are here, specifically Superintendent Manual. Welcome. Thank you for being here. School Board Member Curry as well. Thank you for being in attendance. I don't see other members of the school board here, but thank you. Some PTO members as well. We do have a few highlights this evening, just to make you aware, every meeting we have an item known as citizens to be heard. If you'd like to speak to your neighbor, the community, the board, you can fill out a sheet at People Street right outside the double doors and get that to one of the officers that will get that to Clerk Betty. We have three people so far, so you still have time. That comes as item six on the agenda this evening, and we'll recognize it at that time. Also, this evening we have a proclamation to read into the record. We will recess and go into uh meeting as Germantown's Beer Board for three public hearings this evening. Um, two of those for temporary beer permit and one for a traditional beer permit as well. Uh this evening, uh items 10 through 13 are all related to the budget, just for those that are in attendance this evening and for um our newest member to the board. Traditionally, those items uh 12 and 13 are the primary focus of the budget and uh gen tend to have the most uh commentary um that is the adopting the budget and setting the tax rate while the other two are critically important. Uh they are generally more performative in nature. This uh evening uh we are honored uh to have uh Germantown's uh chaplain with us this evening, uh City Chaplain Dave Phillips will lead us in invocation, and Alderman Tony Salvaggio will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please rise. Our father, we thank you for all of our blessings in life. We give you praise for everything that we enjoy. And this night we pray for our leaders, we pray for government leaders around the world in our states and in our cities. We pray for our business leaders. We pray for our educational leaders. We pray for leaders in the homes. We continue to pray for our civil servants here in Germantown, our police force, our firefighters, our first responders. We're so thankful for their service and we pray for their protection. We're thankful for our mayor and board of aldermen. We pray for this group of men and women who plan, who prepare, and who participate fully so that we might continue to enjoy all that we do enjoy in in this community of Germantown. And we pray that you'll bless us during this meeting and everything that we do to show our gratitude for all of these blessings by our respectful service. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Thank you, Chaplain Phillips, and thank you, Alderman Salvaggio, for leading us this evening. Um sometimes I'll save some of these remarks for the end of the meeting, but oftentimes I'll forget and we won't have as many people here as well. Just a couple of quick um, I guess, uh items of note over the last two weeks uh since we met as a board of mayor in Alderman. I just wanted to give some special recognition and thanks to many different organizations for some events that occurred in the last couple weeks. Uh the city had its second annual lemonade stand day. I want to thank the board and the police department for manning the stand here at City Hall. Also, we had the Big Squeeze Food Truck Festival that was the culmination of Lemonade Stand Day. We had, I think, 62 participants in stands, and while we raised dollars, the dollars are not the most important uh part of the initiative. It's raising community awareness and the spirit of giving. But thank you to all those that were responsible, the Germantown Education Foundation, City Staff from Marketing Communications, uh Stacy Crockett, Jessica Comas, uh Autumn Jones, and so many more people. Um, also over the weekend, we had many, many festivities and just an outstanding Houston High School graduation. I know a couple of folks on the DS tonight were there with children that graduated, and so we were very proud of all the efforts in the entire weekend and the culmination of careers that are the next step. But it was a sweet, sweet weekend and a great ceremony at Bellevue.
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