Bellaire City Council | Contributed photo
Bellaire City Council | Contributed photo
City of Bellaire officials are weighing the impact of the economic shutdown due to the COVID-19 virus as they work to revise the city budget.
The City Council met April 6, with agenda items including ways to keep residents safe and submission of the prepared budget. However, the Council took no action.
Council member Nathan Wesely said he had the effects of the virus in mind when working on the city budget.
“Obviously I don’t know what is going to happen; none of us do, but clearly there’s going to be an impact in terms of both sales tax and permits,” Wesely said.
As of April 11, Texas reported 11,671 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 226 deaths. Harris County leads the state with 3,047 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Wesely said the drop in oil prices is also impacting the city's ledger.
“All of those may be impacted by current events,” Wesely said. “Not only the COVID-19 virus but also the fairly dramatic drop in oil prices.”
He says he also recommended that the council consider a hiring freeze for the city.
“If we decide a month from now or two months from now that we should not have hired somebody, it’s not impossible, but it’s an extensive proposition to hire somebody, go through all that, then turn around and let them go,” Wesely said.
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