By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members received an overview of the enterprise funds included in the city budget during a special meeting Tuesday.
Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez introduced the presentation, saying it was part of an ongoing series of workshops on the city’s proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget. He thanked members of the finance department and the council for their continued work on the budget.
Interim Finance Director Roxy Soto told the council she would review the debt service, enterprise and internal service
presentation on the city’s enterprise funds during a special city council meeting on Tuesday.
Joining Soto were City Purchasing Agent/Interim Assistant Finance Director Luis Menchaca,
center, and Jorge Reyes, city budget analyst. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
funds included in the city’s annual budget.
Soto began with the debt service fund, noting its purpose is to manage money used to repay the city’s debts, including bonds, notes, loans and short-term financing. She said the city has strict internal policies to ensure funds are available to make debt payments on time.
Soto said the city’s enterprise funds “account for operations that are financed and operated in a manner similar to private business.” The cost of providing goods or services to residents through those funds is paid through user charges, she said.
“Enterprise funds cannot be supported by tax revenues, but rather by service charges and fees,” Soto said. “They must operate as a ‘standalone business’ and generate the necessary revenues to provide services.”
The city has seven enterprise funds: gas, water, international bridge, international airport, refuse/landfill, municipal facilities and wastewater/sewer.
Soto reviewed each fund and provided details about its purpose and finances, beginning with the gas fund.
The gas fund has 19 full-time employees, and the city’s gas system serves 4,238 customers. The proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget includes $3,904,000 in gas fund revenue and $3,810,900 in costs.
One of the fund’s major projects during the coming year will be converting to automated meters. Soto described the technology as “a smart system that uses digital radios to send gas consumption data to utility billing.” The conversion will cost approximately $2 million.
The water fund has three divisions — water distribution, water production and utility billing — with 60 budgeted full-time employees. The proposed budget includes $13,070,500 in water fund revenue and $13,058,900 in costs.
Soto said the water fund is operating under a five-year rate recovery plan adopted by the council last year. On Oct. 1, the city will begin charging the water rates established for the plan’s third year.
The city’s international bridge has 13 full-time and three part-time employees. Soto said the city is reviewing possible toll increases for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The proposed budget includes $8,952,000 in bridge revenue and $8,299,500 in costs. Soto also provided information about current bridge wait times and the Del Rio bridge pass available to residents who cross frequently.
The city’s international airport has five full-time employees. Its proposed budget includes $868,000 in revenue and an equal amount in costs.
The airport charges a 10-cent-per-gallon fuel flow fee that generates an average of $4,768 per month. Landing fees generate an average of $6,341 per month, and the airport also receives revenue from hangar leases.
The refuse/landfill fund employs 13 full-time and one part-time employee. Its proposed budget includes $8,516,600 in revenue and $8,502,700 in costs.
Council members spent some time asking questions about the city’s new trash collection and landfill operations contract. That discussion is covered in a separate story.
Soto continued with the municipal facilities fund, which has one budgeted full-time employee. The fund includes the Del Rio Civic Center, Chihuahua Neighborhood Facility, Joe Ramos Center, San Felipe Events Center and the buildings housing the Del Rio Council for the Arts, Casa de la Cultura and the legal aid office.
The proposed budget includes $424,200 in municipal facilities revenue and the same amount in costs. Soto said the fund is subsidized by the city’s hotel occupancy tax revenue and transfers from the general fund.
The wastewater/sewer fund includes 28 budgeted full-time positions, with 22 in the collections division and six in the treatment division. Its proposed budget includes $7,644,000 in revenue and $7,304,700 in costs.
Soto said new wastewater and sewer rates were adopted last year and are also governed by a five-year rate recovery plan.
Soto concluded with an overview of the city’s internal service funds, which include computer services, fleet services and facility maintenance.
The internal service funds also include health claims because the city’s employee health insurance program is self-funded. Soto said the city pays employees’ medical bills directly from that fund.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
