I

now declare the Plano City Council is convened in open session.

That all council members are present with the exception of Council Member Two.

Our first item on the agenda is overview of the 2526 budget and community investment program.

Mark.

Mayor and council.

Wow, that was really loud.

First of all, happy, geez.

You're good.

Okay.

It's coming back pretty pretty harsh, so I'm gonna uh tone it down just a little bit.

Well,

happy budget season.

We are now focused on the budget in the CIP for uh fiscal year 26-27.

This budget that I'm recommending maintains excellent municipal services, invests in critical infrastructure, and funds both organizational and community priorities.

This year, our budget discussions we had as a team started in May, and it was the best example of staff engagement and collaboration I've seen in my 27 years with the city.

It

was a phenomenal experience with our executive team who are a strong example of our dedicated and talented members of Team Plano.

So I want

to

uh express my appreciation for all the work that they put in as well as our budget and finance teams that have worked uh diligently to get this budget put together.

Last year, the city continued on our implementation of our fiscal roadmap.

This year we move into year three of our five-year program of really transitioning from a fast growth city to a city that is more focused on redevelopment.

And for us, we want to continue to take actions towards reducing costs, revising policies, and updating our budget practices to make sure that we are on a solid financial foundation and ensure Plano stays fiscally resilient into the future.

As

a reminder, the city is a service organization.

We've fund programs and services, and so we are very focused on staff, but we are also subject to the same elements as our business community, including labor scarcity, wage escalation, and inflation.

This year, as an example on the inflationary side of things, our health plan, if you took the exact same health plan with the exact same claims,

this

year versus last year is an 8% increase, a significant increase uh over and above what we're seeing for inflation in other areas.

So the city needs to continue to adapt to how we're actually responding to that.

In addition, we have aging infrastructure, changing population, and technology elements that we need to make sure that we're addressing.

Plano has also been innovative.

We've adopted policies like a 2472 shift structure for Plano Fire Rescue,

and

we're working on the lateral hire policy for Plano Police.

Those both will keep Plano competitive for top talent into the future.

And

while it's a priority to attract and retain top talent, revenue growth must match increased costs for programs and services, and the city has to match that year over year.

The

26-27 recommended budget maintains the current RAC tax rate to support the investment in infrastructure maintenance, repair, and replacement that was approved by the Plano voters in the 2025 bond referendum.

But I need to make sure this council is aware that future capital expenditures are going to require action in future years, and we will talk about that in a little bit with our uh CIP presentation.

I

believe the City of Plano maintains the best overall value among DFW cities,

and

Plano will maintain its reputation as a city of excellence.

The

five goals that we have had uh for our budget are the same five we've had since I've been city manager.

First is maintaining our financial policies,

so

maintaining our fund balances and make sure that we retain our triple A bond rating are paramount to the best interest long-term interest of the city.

Additionally, for personnel, they are our greatest assets.

That's how we deliver our programs and services.

This year we have a 3% across the board pay increase, and we also have the addition of two personal days.

Now

those will be available for folks that are not currently under contract for meet and confer.

Additionally, we are adding 34 new positions, 22 for Plano Fire Rescue and 10 for Plano Police, as well as one in human resources and one in parks to help address some of our CIP uh elements.

Our infrastructure this year, we have a 290 million dollar capital investment program or community investment program, and that will continue to make progress on the bond authority that our citizens granted us in 2025.

The only alternative uh service that we have right now, or the only service change that we're really looking at.

We're not reducing or or changing programs or services, but we have introduced via this year, as y'all are aware for alternate transportation.