ODEM, Texas — City officials of Odem have been rebuilding financially since last September's budget crisis. They addressed certain issues and the future of the city during the a town hall meeting Saturday afternoon.
Mayor David Maldonado said they have overcome many challenges like dealing with state agencies, the $1.2 million deficit and getting up to date with city audits.
"So we've been doing a lot on the financial side, the city looks more better than it did when I first came on," Maldonado said. "Obviously, because of the issues with our finances, we've had to cut our budget by around half a million dollars."
The police department's budget was cut and Maldonado said at the moment the city is looking to hire a new police chief, but it will be a while until police officers are hired.
"Financially we really are not in the position to have a full blown 24-hour-7-day-a-week police department, we're just not there financially," he said.
As part of repairing finances, last year, officials approved saving 14 percent of the annual budget for the city's reserves. Maldonado said with a lot of hard work, the city seems to be on the track to reaching that goal.
"We look like we might make it, if we're not at 14 percent we will be close," Maldonado said. "So we'll be able to meet that goal and put money back into those reserves."
Robert Ybarra has lived in Odem for nearly 40 years and said the city has gone through a lot changes, but he's happy to see the city improving.
"Those are great," Ybarra said. "They have done some improvements and it's good for the city."