Ashley Kontnier
BUDA — Organizational capacity related to staffing and city budget were at the forefront of Buda City Council's first budget meeting Thursday, June 11, at which time the body was tasked with considering priorities moving forward.
Prior to the discussion of what has been requested for FY 2027, Human Resources director Matthew Wright gave council an overview of the history within his department.
From FY 21 to FY 26, full-time staff positions increased 21%, from 127 to 153. This growth primarily centered around the following:
• Public Works: Added eight full-time equivalent positions (FTE)
• Public Safety: Added three FTE
• Development Services: Added approximately nine FTE
• Parks: Added 4.75 FTE
Internal services, including Finance, Library, Information Technology, City Clerk and HR, have not seen any substantial increases.
In addition to the increase in positions, there have been pay increases. According to Wright, at one point, the city offered a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) equal to the annual inflation rate — which was sitting at 3.8% at the end of April — plus 1%.
Although this has not been the case recently, there have still been adjustments each year.
In FY 2024, the police department was allotted a pay plan increase, including 13% for officers, 14% for detectives and 12% for sergeants. A mid-year pay adjustment was also applied in FY 2026, which saw a 7% increase for officers and detectives and a 3.5% increase for sergeants.
These changes, along with a city pay adjustment and COLA in FY 2025, have still not allowed the city to keep up with inflation over the last five years.
Despite this, Wright noted that retention, which is key for the city, has increased exponentially. In May 2024, the two-year average turnover rate was 26%. Currently, that rate is down to approximately 14%.
Wright continued by sharing a study done by his department that highlighted utilization levels for departments.
This study took the total amount of hours each employee is supposed to work in a year — 1960 — and compared it to the actual number worked per department for FY 2025. According to Wright, utilization between 80-90% would be “healthy.” The utilization levels for the top five departments are as follows:
• Community Relations and Destination Services (CRADS)/Communications: 103.97%
• Parks & Recreation: 100.97%
• Police: 95.53%
• Human Resources: 95.06%
• City Manager: 94.99%
This suggests that several departments are operating with limited operational redundancy and sustained workload pressure, according to the presentation.
“This is the mantra of public service: do more with less. But unfortunately, when you do more with less, this approach has long-term sustainability limits and we're hearing it,” said Wright. “You guys always see the best up here; you're always going to see the best of our employees every time, but I don't see them at their best when they're in my office because life has hit them in the face and they're having to work 80 hours a week.”
In addition to the current pressures, Wright outlined upcoming projects that will inevitably require more work, including Buda Championship Park, which will require year-round operations, tournament and event support and expanded maintenance demand, and Garison Park, which comes with increased park acreage, seven-day operational expectations and expanded programming and maintenance requirements.
Also on the horizon are multiple housing developments, which will increase calls for public safety services and public works/parks service.
To this end, city departments have requested 27 positions for FY 2027, which council will vote on as a part of the proposed budget later this summer. This includes two in Finance, two in Library, one in City Clerk, one in CRADS, seven in Parks (Buda Championship Park), one in Facilities, seven police, one in Flood Prevention, four in Public Works and one in Wastewater.
The city is also in the process of negotiating a step increase for the police department.
To close his presentation, Wright posed the following questions for council consideration throughout the budget process:
• What level of service does council expect as the city grows?
• Should staffing remain reactive or become proactive?
• How should the organization balance internal and external growth with operational sustainability?
• What investments today reduce organizational strain tomorrow?
• How does the city maintain exceptional municipal services while remaining financially responsible?
Moving forward, the budget schedule for council consists of the following:
July 23 — Second budget workshop
Aug. 7 — Proposed budget and Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan posted on city website
Aug. 13 — City manager’s budget presentation to city council
Sept. 1 — Public hearing on budget
Sept. 15 — Public hearing on tax rate
FY 2027 will begin Oct. 1.
