PRESENTER: Presenter
Jared Werner, Assistant City Manager
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SUBJECT: Title
Approval of a contract between the City of New Braunfels and the Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area for FY 2025.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning and Development Services
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City of New Braunfels has partnered with the Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area, Inc. (HSNBA), a local not-for-profit, to share administration and operation of various animal-related services for the community since 1980.
In 2023, HSNBA experienced major financial hardships and insolvency. After evaluating their financials last summer and researching other municipal/shelter partnerships across the state, we brought forward a one-year agreement for FY 2024 that increased contract revenue from the City of New Braunfels as well as established a board liaison, our team worked collaboratively with Comal County on amending their contract so that our fee structures were aligned (City and County).
During the last year, HSNBA has made great progress towards achieving long term fiscal sustainability, including establishing reserves and setting a fund balance target/policy. In addition, they have identified a variety of small, medium, and large capital repairs and enhancements that are needed for the facility and property. For HSNBA to have the financial capacity to move forward on some of these capital projects, the organization needs to reduce their reliance on grants and donations for operating costs, which has been a long-term practice for their organization and played a major role in the insolvency issues previously referenced. The only way to reduce the HSNBA’s reliance on one-time revenue for operating costs is by increasing contract and donation revenue.
Increasing contract revenue to eliminate the use of grants and donations to support operating costs is a multi-year strategy. Similar to last year, it is recommended to enter into another one-year agreement (10/1/2024-09/30/2025), with a 10% increase in intake fees and dispatch services. The fiscal impact from this increase is approximately $40,000 annually, which has been included in the FY 2025 Proposed Budget.
ISSUE:
Establishing contract services with HSNBA for FY 2025.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☐Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☐Community Identity
☐Organizational Excellence ☒Community Well-Being ☐N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
As mentioned earlier, the fiscal impact from the amendments to the FY 2025 contract have been incorporated into the FY 2025 Proposed Budget.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Approval