{"id":213660,"date":"2025-09-09T20:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T20:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213660\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T20:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T20:02:10","slug":"la-marque-leaders-approve-emergency-plan-as-city-faces-possible-shutdown-within-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213660\/","title":{"rendered":"La Marque leaders approve emergency plan as city faces possible shutdown within weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>LA MARQUE, Texas<\/strong> \u2013 One day after warning residents that La Marque could run out of money in just weeks, city leaders have approved an emergency financial plan aimed at keeping basic services running.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">At a press conference on Tuesday, La Marque\u2019s interim city manager, Barbara Holley, and finance director Worth Ferguson revealed the city has only $1.2 million in reserves, enough to last about two weeks under current spending. <\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">La Marque spends roughly $60,000 a day to operate, not including utilities.<\/p>\n<p>Council adopts stabilization plan<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Late Monday, La Marque City Council unanimously approved a three-point strategy to shore up finances:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Raise property taxes from $0.39 to $0.45 per $100 of valuation, adding about $30 a year for a home worth $50,000. The increase would help the city secure a short-term loan until tax revenues arrive.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Slash non-essential spending, including a freeze on 15 open jobs, cuts to travel and training, and halts on new technology purchases.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Seek emergency loans to cover disaster costs still awaiting FEMA reimbursement, while also asking the city\u2019s Economic Development Corporation for assistance.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Holley said La Marque could need an additional $3 million to $5 million to make it through the rest of 2025, depending on hurricane season.<\/p>\n<p>How did it get this bad?<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Holley, just five weeks into the job, said she discovered the crisis around Labor Day after reviewing city finances with Ferguson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey did not bring in the revenues that they projected, and they spent more than they said they were going to spend,\u201d Holley said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">She added that previous leadership did not provide monthly financial statements, bank balances, or timely audits, leaving the city without adequate oversight. Both officials stressed that no fraud has been found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The city is also creating a financial oversight committee with council members, citizens, and the Economic Development Corporation to restore transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Residents, meanwhile, are expressing concern. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cApparently, it\u2019s gone somewhere\u2026 it\u2019s sad that we\u2019ve gotten ourselves here, and it hasn\u2019t happened overnight,\u201d said longtime resident Laura Divine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Holley and Ferguson said the city will provide monthly financial updates moving forward, and that the immediate changes are critical to prevent essential services from shutting down.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA MARQUE, Texas \u2013 One day after warning residents that La Marque could run out of money in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":213661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,6679,2961,116901,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-213660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-galveston-county","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-marque","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115176128275485772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}