The Levelland Economic Development Corporation held their monthly regular meeting Thursday at the Levelland City Hall.
The meeting included covering the proposed budget for the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year, monthly financials and update from LEDC Director Justin Balderas.
Balderas opened the budget discussion with the proposed total for sales tax collections with $840,000, which translates to roughly to $70,000 monthly. A large number, he explained it is less the 2.94%, however, the group has been operating on a historical high the past three years. Coming out of the pandemic, Balderas explained that citizens are getting back to their purchasing ways and people are becoming more eager to spend money.
In terms of a rail access fee and rail maintenance fee, both line items were proposed at $40,000 each. Balderas reflected back to the past two years as both line items were budgeted for $23,000. The reason for the increase was the actual revenue for both line items each reached $56,000.
Feeling comfortable setting those items at $40,000, Balderas explained that the rail park operated with only two business instead of their normal three due to PennyNewman facing cotton seed hardships due to the recent drought. Even with only two other businesses operating, the city still generated well above the proposed amount.
Other items highlighted were on the expenses side of the proposed budget. Slight increases in equipment and advertising were added to the budget. For the advertising portion of the discussion, Balderas felt the group has continued to stay modest in terms of advertising expenses. The slight increase in the item is to further their reach within the region, but retain their modest expenses in that department.
Overall discussions for the proposed budget were met with all members in attendance approving the agenda item. The groups financial statements showed a positive gain in the sales tax numbers. For the month of June, the group saw roughly $67,000 in sales tax, bringing their total for the year t just over $700,000.
Keeping track of rail car numbers, Titan Transloading, Pipeline Plastics, and Penny Newman Grain make up their totals. The rail park exceeded its rail car numbers for this time last year. In June of last year, 218 cars were utilized at the rail park, compared to 220 this year, with Titan Transloading seeing a large increase in their activity. This brings the total cars used for the year up to 1,870.