Brittany Kelley
KYLE — At a special meeting, held Saturday, Sept. 5, Kyle City Council dove back into the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, held the first of two sets of public hearings on the budget and tax rate and discussed the future of the city’s Flock cameras.
Budget amendments
Prior to the discussion, interim city manager Perwez Moheet recapped the budget that has been presented to council, along with amendments and potential tax rates.
The $417 million recommended budget includes operations and maintenance expenditures, debt service and capital improvement projects. This is nearly $200 million less than the fiscal year 2025-26 budget. However, council made several amendments requests at the Aug. 27 meeting, for which Moheet shared numbers.
Council member Lauralee Harris requested a 3% general wage increase for all civilian city employees, with the exception of the management team and all sworn positions, at the previous meeting. The total impact would be $798,197, said Moheet. Offering another option to provide for employees was council member Claudia Zapata, who suggested a one-time employee rest and recognition payment of $1,800, which she stated could be lowered to $1,200, if needed. For the $1,800 payment, the impact to the budget would be $795,065.
“We can’t make votes based on just our feelings because we have a duty to our taxpayers. We have a duty to our staff and I’d like to think we’ve done really well taking care of them. Sometimes, you don’t get a raise and sometimes, you don’t get a bonus. That’s not to say we don’t appreciate you [or that] we don’t like you. It’s the fact that you can’t afford it,” said Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale.
“I also think that we’re coming up on Labor Day [and] to be anti-worker right before Labor Day to me isn’t the best of moves,” said Zapata.
“Do I think Monday is a holiday, yes. Do I think I need to make a vote because Monday’s a holiday? Absolutely not,” stated Flores-Cale.
Ultimately, the mayor made a motion to move forward without either the raise or bonus check. The item passed 4-3, with council members Marc McKinney, Harris and Zapata dissenting.
The next request was by McKinney, who discussed a proposed increase of $950,000 for KPD, which included $800,000 for the fleet budget and $150,000 for training, according to the presentation. Currently, the police budget is proposed at $21,948,238, which includes $723,299 for fleet lease requirements, though KPD’s latest lease cost estimates amount to $964,280, said Moheet.
KPD Chief Jeff Barnett took to the podium to discuss the fleet budget.
“Obviously, this year this budget has been a challenge and something that everybody's had to work through very diligently … So, one of the tasks — or challenges or call it opportunities — that we were given as staff to work to collectively try to avoid a 10% pay cut for staff,” explained Barnett, adding that this cut wouldn’t include meet and confer officers. “As part of our offer to avoid that, we found where we could reduce our original budget for fleet by about $330,000 … Out of that $330,000, which was part of about a $600,000 ask of the [police department], we recommended about 20 vehicles that we could remove from the police fleet and minimize the impact to operations.”
The $330,000 was found by eliminating lease contracts for 20 vehicles. Some of the vehicles to be removed include: five damaged, marked police cars that need to be replaced, but are on hold; a command Tahoe used by the chief and assistant chief; one victim services vehicle; and more. Additionally, the department decided that six leased cars that were at the end of their term could be purchased for approximately $400 each, instead of being replaced with newer, leased models, as is standard.
Separately, a gap of $240,981 was identified. This amounts to 12 additional vehicle leases that would have to be terminated, said Barnett.
“I think the concerns that I was hearing from some of your section is that if we reduce these 20 vehicles, I guess the perception would be that you would be left with maybe 13 vehicles or maybe less than that per shift,” shared council member Michael Tobias. “I was [also] hearing that you would not be able to have that response time for situations or critical incidents. You would also have to have officers doubling up in vehicles.”
Barnett confirmed that some officers would have to share cars, stating that if the police were able to have the $240,000, that it “keeps from diving into something that really might impact the available fleet, as it relates to community services and response.” Furthermore, he stated that if council approved $157,764 nine vehicles could remain from the 20 that are planned to be cut.
He also said that , in an attempt to find savins, he tried to negotiate deferrals for Axon contracts, but was unable to do so in the time before budget presentations began.
In response to this, Zapata brought up the artificial intelligence Axon plan, which she stated is $2 million over 10 years or $200,000 a year. She wanted to know if KPD could potentially remove this part of the contract, essentially providing them with the amount requested.
“At the same time, I think it’s fair to say that KPD are the only ones experiencing an increase in pay. The general fund impact for the meet and confer [agreement] is $788,990,” she said. “So, while the rest of every other single staff member at the city of Kyle is not experiencing that support, KPD is. I’m not saying that y’all don’t make sacrifices every day. I understand that you do, but what I’m trying to understand is how we can’t [remove] these softwares, these AI softwares, specifically, that are dangerous, that are harmful, that are inconsistent and that also lead to the creation of AI data centers.”
The budget has to be finalized in 10 days, said Barnett, which most likely wouldn’t be enough time to have legal and staff negotiate a new contract, though he said he would try.
“I do have a concern with the number that we were given of $800,000 by council member Marc McKinney. My question to you is, how did you get that number,” asked Flores-Cale. “I’ve had people reach out to me concerned that we’re defunding the police. So, I need to ensure that people understand the information that you provided to us because we could have said yes at the time. We could have approved $800,000, if this were a different council that could have passed. I think it’s important that when we bring these numbers to council that they’re accurate … I think that’s reasonable, but we can move on.”
Flores-Cale motioned to approve $400,000 to “make [KPD] whole,” consisting of the $240,981 and $157,764 presented. The item passed 7-0.
Additionally, the budget and amendments for two part-time library positions, drainage improvements for Moreno Street and CR 158 acceleration and deceleration lane improvements, as well as the revenue neutral Kyle Vista Park improvements, passed 7-0.
Flock Safety
After the votes, Zapata motioned to cancel through non-appropriations the 2024-25 Flock Safety contract at a total of $381,000 per year, with no legal fees or liability. Flores-Cale seconded for discussion.
“The 2024 and 2025 contracts in total together fund 47 flock cameras,” began Zapata. “A majority of those are going to be [automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)]. There are some [pan-tilt-zoom] cameras in there, as well, and two drones that come at a cost of around $782,000 each. We do not own this equipment. We rent this equipment. So, at the end of these terms, if we never renew our contract, we don't own this. We return it back to Flock. There has [also] been a statewide pause. Governor [Greg] Abbott asked for state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras and in particular, I did receive clarification that it is specific to ALPRs.”
She also noted that the city has applied for grant funding, though since 2023, has not received any money from the state, making the systems entirely funded through taxpayers. The security concerns that have been brought up over the past year were repeated by Zapata.
In response to questions from Flores-Cale, Barnett shared that there have been zero complaints filed against KPD for the misuse of Flock and that KPD was one of the first agencies to have a prohibition on searches within their system, both from within the organization or elsewhere. They also advocated for additional requirements within Flock to require a case number to reflect an official investigation from a law enforcement officer, said the chief.
Additionally, he stated that the department has submitted for grant reimbursement for 2025 and they expect to receive this, though they cannot submit for 2026 until 2025 is processed.
“I do want to state that I'm torn because I hear the residents — some of them want them, some of them don't. I want to respect our residents’ privacy, but I also have a duty to protect our residents. So, when we're asked to remove something like Flock, it's difficult because what do we use instead of it? It can't be just take[n] away and then, we're going to be a safer city. We've never had a problem or a complaint or a misuse in our city. It makes it difficult for me to just say, ‘Yeah, these cameras placed on public property are invading people's private privacy,’ when you're not in a private place … We have a lot of things that do invade our privacy. For me, this is about safety,” emphasized Flores-Cale. “What if we just put it on a ballot … That’s how we get the feedback from residents. I think we can put this on hold; we can just keep it as is, put it on a referendum and then, that’s when we take action because this is such a divisive issue.”
The time needed to put this together for November would be nearly impossible, said city attorney Aimee Alcorn-Reed, though it could be ready for the May 2027 election.
A motion to have staff bring back options to have Flock Safety on the May 2027 ballot passed 7-0.
Tax Rate
The tax rate is expected to decrease by $0.0357, for a total of $0.5600, consisting of $0.3687 for maintenance and operations and $0.1913 for interest and sinking. According to the presentation, the average homeowner, with a home value of $301,530, will pay $1,688.57 in taxes or $1,464.57 after the homestead reduction.
Council approved the tax rate at $0.5600 6-1, with council member Melisa Medina dissenting, as she wanted the lower tax rate of $0.5340.
“I couldn’t consciously vote for the $0.5600 when most of my constituents have been asking me for the $0.5340 because that makes a bigger change in their taxes that they have to pay as so long as we’re not crazily approving amendments to our budget, we could afford to go with that lower tax rate,” she explained.
This was council’s first of two public hearings and readings for the budget and tax rate. The second will occur Tuesday, Sept. 15.
To listen to the full discussion, visit bit.ly/4yobelt.
