City Attorney's Office
FY 2023 Annual Budget
Department Description
The City Attorney's Office provides in-house legal services to the Mayor, City Council, the City Manager, and other City officials. The office of the City Attorney is created by the City Charter, which provides that the City Attorney shall represent the City of Victoria in all litigation and controversies and shall prosecute in person or by an assistant all cases brought before the Municipal Court. It is also the duty of the City Attorney to approve in writing the form and legality of all "papers, documents, contracts, and other legal instruments" of the City. The City Attorney's office drafts all ordinances and resolutions considered by City Council.
Organization Chart
Department Mission
To reduce legal exposure by providing legal advice without unnecessary administrative burden.
FY 2022 Highlights
Legislative Review
The City Attorney's Office revived the city's legislative efforts in 2021 after the Intergovernmental Relations Director position was eliminated six years ago. We reviewed 2,100 city-related bills; we tracked the 225 that would impact operations. We presented 41 to the Council IGR Committee and engaged at the capitol on 20. The City Attorney testified at capitol hearings on 5, and had one-on-one discussions with senators, representatives, or their staff on nine others. The Legislature passed two bills that we supported, and our efforts greatly reduced the negative impact of one that we opposed.
Charter Review
At Mayor Pro-Tem Soliz’s request, The City Attorney's office led a citizen committee through a comprehensive review of the City Charter. Working with outside Counsel Charlie Zech, the committee proposed fourteen amendments to the charter, and all 14 amendments passed.
Redistricting
The City’s timeline for redistricting was very compressed by COVID-19 and related delays to the US Census. The City Attorney's Office worked with outside attorneys from the Bojorquez Law Firm and our citizens to complete redistricting within the time allowed.
Animal Code
After the community rejected many of the concepts in the Animal Control Division’s initial draft, The City Attorney's Office successfully led a series of town hall meetings to determine what our residents wanted to see in our animal regulations. This project not only created a better version of the animal code, but also demonstrated to community members that the city government is responsive to their concerns.
Goals and Objectives
- Reduce unnecessary workload to create a greater level of efficiency and legal expertise.
Performance Metrics
Departmental Efficiencies
FY 2023 New Program/Initiatives
- Hire and train 3rd attorney to fill vacant position.
- Amend Animal Ordinance to reflect recent departmental changes made by the County.
- Amend City Ordinance(s) to create administrative procedures for junk and abandoned vehicles.
- Work with Development Services to create and implement Unified Development Ordinance.
- Work with VPD to create and implement Catalytic Converter Ordinance.
- Legal Education Program- Focus continued legal education on more specialized areas of legal expertise.
FY 2023 Budget Highlights
The City Attorney's Office budget request equals $566,189 , an increase of $6,161 or 1.1 percent, compared to Fiscal Year 2022 Adopted Budget, $560,028. The Fiscal Year 2023 budget includes $15,000 in one-time expenses and $551,189 in recurring expenses, a decrease of $8,839 or 1.1 percent, from last year's recurring budget.
Personnel decrease is due to $25,270 in baseline adjustments and includes $2,981 for Phase III of Compensation Plan. (Baseline adjustments: include payroll reorganizations, new hires, retirements that took place in the prior fiscal year, as well as longevity and TMRS rate that will be captured in this fiscal year.)
Contractual Services increased by $25,000, $15K is one-time due to current trends.
Interdepartmental for IT Services increased by $3,450 due to current trends.
Total Expenditures for Corresponding Fiscal Year Presented
Department Full-Time Employees
- In Fiscal Year 2022, one (1) Administrative Assistant was eliminated.
Department High-Level Descriptions of Personnel:
City Attorney (1) - Chief legal advisor and general counsel to City, City Council, VSTDC and HFC.
Assistant City Attorney (2) - Assistant Legal Advisor, providing primary legal responsibility to select City departments, Boards and Commissions.
Recommended/Not Recommended List
*** NOTE: Other items have been requested, however, they are not listed below due to the fact that the amount requested is in line for normal operating funding. ***