A Laredo Public Infrastructure Subcommittee on Dec. 3 voted against a motion to add $30 million for street paving to the city’s 2025 bond referendum, with members saying the proposal lacked a dedicated funding source and clear priorities for where the money would be spent.

The committee’s discussion followed a brief presentation from Ramon Chavez, city engineer, who described the city’s pavement inventory and offered an example of how a multi-year infusion could be stretched. Chavez said the city has roughly 856 miles of streets, about 85.9% of which are residential, and that the city’s pavement condition index study drives repair and preservation decisions. “I don’t have the exact amount, but from previous conversations, I understand it’s close to 5,000,000,” Chavez said when asked about what 5% of property tax collections would represent annually.

The nut of the debate was whether to place an unconditional $30 million ask on the ballot or to require clearer budget commitments and targets before asking voters for more debt. Committee members repeatedly raised that the city already assigns some annual funding for paving through the budget and other sources, and they questioned whether bond proceeds would be used as intended. “I’m not in favor of just throwing the money out there, the $30,000,000 without really understanding clearly that the willingness of the council to…,” said Jerry Schwebbel, expressing a preference for a funding plan with specified sources and uses.

City staff presented an illustrative allocation that divided the package into multi-year amounts (the examples treated $30 million as roughly $6 million per year over five years). The presentation also included a worked example that, for purposes of illustration, assumed $33,000,000 for residential streets and $3,000,000 for nonresidential streets to show how preservation, resurfacing and reconstruction could be phased. Chavez emphasized those were examples to show scale and trade-offs, not final designations.

Public Works staff member John Rafeala described recent paving history and how funding levels have varied. “The last 3 years, we’ve been paving. Again, the paving stopped when … that team left. It was not till council member district 6, Martin Martinez, he brought it back in 2022,” Rafeala said, summarizing why staff view an injection of funds as important to catch up on deferred maintenance.

Committee members also noted dependencies that affect pavement work. Several said water and sewer infrastructure under streets often must be repaired before resurfacing, and that failing to coordinate could lead to early rework. Commissioner (name on transcript: Narayas/Nadais) urged that underground utilities be assessed before repaving.

A motion to approve adding $30 million for street paving to the 2025 bond referendum was made and seconded for discussion but failed on roll call. The subcommittee recorded a roll-call vote of 0 yes and 5 no, and the motion did not pass. Following the vote, members agreed to return to the larger bond committee meeting and to send reminders and materials ahead of that meeting so subcommittee members can present a unified position.

The committee also discussed alternatives to the bond ask, including recommending the city council direct the city manager to dedicate a 5% share of property tax (ad valorem) revenue to street paving on an ongoing basis. Staff and several commissioners said such a dedication could be implemented administratively while a charter timing restriction on formal charter amendments remains in force. Chavez and others said the city attorney had advised that certain charter amendments could not be placed on a concurrent bond referendum because of timing rules following recent charter changes.

What happened next: staff said they will send meeting reminders for the larger bond committee meeting and supporting documents in advance, and subcommittee members said they will attend to press for clearer funding commitments before placing additional bond asks on the ballot.

Ending: With the motion defeated, the subcommittee declined to place a $30 million street-paving add-on on the 2025 bond referendum and signaled members will press for either targeted budget commitments or smaller, phased funding proposals at the next full committee meeting.