Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The Alert Center allows visitors to stay up to date on potentially disruptive, non-life threatening events such as road closures, parking alerts, boil water advisories, and more. Active alerts will display at the top of the website. Visitors can also sign up to receive notifications on specific categories to always stay informed. Learn more about the Alert Center today!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
Notify Me allows you to subscribe to an unlimited number of email lists. Receive email or text message updates regarding the information you have requested. Check out Notify Me today!
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
The Alert Center allows visitors to stay up to date on potentially disruptive, non-life threatening events such as road closures, parking alerts, boil water advisories, and more. Active alerts will display at the top of the website. Visitors can also sign up to receive notifications on specific categories to always stay informed. Learn more about the Alert Center today!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
Notify Me allows you to subscribe to an unlimited number of email lists. Receive email or text message updates regarding the information you have requested. Check out Notify Me today!
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
The Alert Center allows visitors to stay up to date on potentially disruptive, non-life threatening events such as road closures, parking alerts, boil water advisories, and more. Active alerts will display at the top of the website. Visitors can also sign up to receive notifications on specific categories to always stay informed. Learn more about the Alert Center today!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
Notify Me allows you to subscribe to an unlimited number of email lists. Receive email or text message updates regarding the information you have requested. Check out Notify Me today!
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
During the past year, residents may have heard us talking about “Growing Victoria”—that is, enhancing Victoria’s amenities and, by extension, our tax base through retail recruitment, small business development, housing and related initiatives. In order to be effective, growth must be also be strategic. In particular, developing with density in mind—using existing structures or developing near existing streets or utilities—helps to ensure the most efficient use of resources and the greatest return on investment.
My department was created to help the City pursue goals related to economic development. Residents often confuse us with the Victoria Economic Development Corporation, which focuses specifically on attracting employers and creating jobs. Although the City works to support the VEDC in achieving goals; my department focuses more on supporting new and existing businesses and making our community a great place to live, work and play.
We often hear from residents who are eager to see a particular restaurant or entertainment spot come to Victoria. Although we don’t control which businesses come here, an important part of my job is marketing Victoria to developers. As an example, Victoria Village (the collection of new storefronts being built near Kohl’s) came about through a conversation at a conference with the developer who owns the land. The businesses that open there will be determined by the free market, but regardless of what businesses may come, we are looking forward to having more options for dining and shopping locally, as well as the tax revenue that this development will bring.
With all this talk of popular chains and franchises, it is important to remember that small businesses—of which we have more than 3,000 and counting—are the foundation of commercial industry in Victoria. My department supports small business owners by connecting them with resources and helping them navigate permitting, redevelopment and other stages of their journey. We are in the process of adding a new business retention & expansion manager, who will help to build greater collaboration between the City, business owners and local partners such as Texas A&M University-Victoria and the Chamber of Commerce.
Housing development is another key part of growing Victoria. Recently, my department has been focused on preparing unused City-owned properties for private redevelopment. For example, we will soon begin seeking builders for single-family homes at the site of a former water treatment facility on Pine Street, and we are also exploring the possibility of a mixed-use development downtown near the Street of Ten Friends sign.
Both of these properties are located near streets and utility lines, making them cost-effective options for residential development. When we support private development in this manner, our community reaps the benefits of new housing, new value on our tax rolls and the elimination of maintenance costs for currently dormant properties.
We also provide support and guidance for developers who are pursuing state tax credits for housing developments, such as “Enchanted Gardens” and the forthcoming “FishPond at Victoria” and “The Victorian,” two apartment complexes designed to serve our senior residents and with rooms set aside for those with limited income. Housing—especially for our most vulnerable residents—is a crucial resource with a complex development process, and supporting these and other private developments is key to expanding our community’s housing options in a fiscally responsible manner.
2026 will be a year of building our intentional growth strategy and forging stronger community partnerships as we seek to bring more people on board with the “Growing Victoria” mission. I am looking forward to sharing even more exciting updates about how we are making this mission a reality. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about my department or if you are seeking business-related support, visit www.growingvictoriatx.com.
Danielle Williams is the director of economic development for the City of Victoria.
At this time of year, it is natural to look back at the year’s accomplishments and to think about where we are headed. When thinking about City projects and initiatives specifically, it is often impossible to attribute them to a single year’s work. Many of the City’s most important accomplishments are the result of many years of planning, preparation and execution.
With that being said, this past year has seen the achievement of important milestones for many of our ongoing initiatives, especially when it comes to investing in our most important asset: our people.
During the last six years, we have made significant improvements to our employee health insurance program as well as how we compensate our employees, with pay program investments totaling nearly $11 million. Starting pay for first responders increasing by about 40% during the same six-year period, along with greater investment in crucial areas such as Public Works and Solid Waste.
Investing in employees is a multi-year effort that reached new heights during the past year. With the help of the City Council Compensation Committee appointed by Mayor Duane Crocker, we were able to invest a historic $4.8 million in compensation and related initiatives for our employees that went into effect Oct. 1. The pay program includes a record-breaking $3.8 million in pay increases, with nearly 70% going toward our first responders, along with additional pay raises for frontline utility workers and 911 dispatchers that will go into effect in January.
The numbers alone show that the new pay program is a historic achievement. However, what makes me proudest of this new pay program is that we are already seeing improvements in our retention and recruitment efforts in critical areas.
Another way that we invest in our employees is by giving them the right tools and resources for the job. This year also saw the completion of the new Public Safety Headquarters at the intersection of Airline and Main. This modern facility will bring together our entire Victoria Police Department (including our 911 dispatch center and our substation that is currently located within the Victoria Mall), Victoria Fire Department administration and Municipal Court services, which are currently scattered throughout the City and often lack adequate space for our growing public safety services. The move-in process will begin after the holidays.
We also were more aggressive with vehicle upgrades across departments, with the fiscal year 2026 budget setting aside more than $8 million for police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, garbage trucks and other necessary vehicles.
Earlier this year, we also provided the public with a plan to upgrade the Victoria Community Center with a new arena and other modernizations. With the successful venue tax election in May that received over 60% support, we are excited to move forward with this project next year. I have often said that our residents deserve a high-quality, modern community center, and this plan makes effective use of our resources to provide residents with an improved space for a wider variety of events and community gatherings.
This year has brought its share of challenges as well, particularly the two boil-water notices during the summer. With help from the Water System Review Subcommittee appointed by the mayor, we rose to this challenge with significant system-wide improvements in the areas of people, processes and technology to better protect the integrity of our water system.
One improvement that has been in the works since long before the boil-water notices is a grant-funded improvement to our SCADA system. This year, we finally received notice from the Texas General Land Office on our receipt of $19 million in grant funds, which will allow us to begin working on this important project and upgrades to our Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was built in the early 1970s.
Other signs of growth were seen throughout Victoria this year, such as the groundbreaking for new retail options, like the Victoria Village shopping center near Kohl’s, and the recent upgrades at Cinemark, both of which were made possible through the collaboration of the Victoria Sales Tax Development Corporation; improvements to our parks, most recently the renovation of Pine Street Park; and steps toward affordable housing, like the two senior-serving apartments that broke ground this year. All of these projects are part of multi-year initiatives to enhance livability and are steadily making Victoria a better place to live, work and play.
We’re finishing the year on a celebratory note, including our recent traditional Lighted Christmas Parade and the lighting of the H-E-B Christmas Tree, which saw a historic turnout this year as we held both events on the same day for the first time. We hope that residents will join us for our New Year’s Eve fireworks show as we ring in a new year of continued, intentional commitment to enhancing livability for our residents. I’m proud of what we have accomplished in 2025, and I look forward to serving our community and growing Victoria in 2026.
Jesús A. Garza is the city manager for the City of Victoria.
Did you know that the City of Victoria’s Solid Waste program is financially self-sufficient? Our Solid Waste service—from the trucks to the salaries of the people driving them—is funded entirely by the rate on your utility bill, not by taxes or other funding sources. When we make decisions about the services that we offer, we work hard to strike a balance between quality service and reasonable rates.
This balance is something that we keep in mind, for example, when we determine the replacement schedule for our Solid Waste trucks. Solid Waste received a new truck this month, and we will receive two more at the start of next year. These trucks will replace the three oldest in our fleet, which will help prevent delays caused by breakdowns.
Because trash and recycling trucks are regularly on the road for 10-12 hours a day, they tend to wear out quickly. Our trucks are a valuable resource, and we try to keep them in use for as long as possible, but as they reach the end of their lifespan, they break down more frequently.
I am sure that our residents will be excited about the new trucks, but perhaps no one is more excited than my staff. Our drivers serve 1,200-1,500 houses per day, and a breakdown can mean the difference between finishing up by 5 p.m. and staying on the roads until 9 p.m.
Residents can help by placing their carts on the curb by 7 a.m. and leaving them out for the entire day. Having the carts out by 7 a.m. is important because when we are shorthanded or experience truck issues, the extra route is divided among our drivers, who will serve these homes first before they move on to their regular assignments. This means that even if you are used to having your trash picked up later in the day, have your cart out by 7 a.m. in case the driver comes by sooner than expected.
Residents are also reminded to follow these tips to avoid delays and missed pickups:
If you need to get rid of something bigger than a trash can—like tree limbs or old furniture—schedule an appointment by calling Solid Waste at 361-485-3220 or using the Victoria Texas 311 app. If you leave these items on your curb without letting us know, they can’t be collected.
Our City’s Alert Center allows us to get in touch with customers to let them know if we are expecting delays. Regardless of whether you receive an alert, please leave your cart out for the entire day until it is picked up. If it has not been picked up by the next day, and if you have not heard from us, call 361-485-3220 or use the Victoria Texas 311 app.
Christy Youker is the director of Environmental Services for the City of Victoria.
The Alert Center allows visitors to stay up to date on potentially disruptive, non-life threatening events such as road closures, parking alerts, boil water advisories, and more. Active alerts will display at the top of the website. Visitors can also sign up to receive notifications on specific categories to always stay informed. Learn more about the Alert Center today!
Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter, becoming our friend on Facebook, or subscribing to one of our RSS Feeds.
By clicking “Log In” on the MyAccount bar at the top of the screen, users may create a login for the site or use their Facebook profile to access MyAccount. Once logged in, visitors can choose the modules, features and keywords that they’d like to see most often, including calendars, news items and emergency alerts. Site users can also save favorite pages within MyAccount, encouraging more-frequent visits and making important information even easier to find! Check out MyAccount and customize your own page at MyAccount!
The latest episode of the City’s Town Talk podcast features Economic Development Director Danielle Williams and her newest staff member, Business Retention and Expansion Manager Chris Conner, sharing insights about why a strong business community is good for Victoria and how the City is improving its support for business owners.
In his new role, Conner will help to improve the City’s support for businesses of all sizes, including better coordination with local economic partners. He will also help to connect new or expanding businesses with services that the City provides.
“My last job dealt with specifically economic development … going out and talking to businesses, trying to gather information and asking them what they need,” Conner said.
Williams also provided updates about new businesses that are coming to Victoria, including a few locally owned franchises.
“When I go to conferences and things and we’re talking to all these retailers … it’s harder to get those franchisees to want to expand so far away from Houston, Austin, San Antonio and so forth,” Williams said. “So to see these local, homegrown franchise owners is super huge and is really great for our community.”
Residents who are interested in becoming franchise owners can reach out to Williams at dwilliams@victoriatx.gov to be connected with franchises that are seeking to expand to Victoria.
Residents can be part of the conversation around community prosperity by attending the Growing Victoria Summit on March 12, which will feature insights from local leaders and invited experts. Residents can register through March 6 at www.growingvictoriatx.com.
To learn more, watch or listen to the latest episode of Town Talk on YouTube at Victoria Texas Videos or on Spotify at Town Talk (City of Victoria).
City of Victoria staff and leadership; the Victoria Chamber of Commerce; current and former elected officials; current and former leaders of the Victoria Police Department, Victoria Fire Department and City of Victoria Municipal Court; and representatives of FGMA Architects, AGCM construction management firm and SpawGlass construction cut a ceremonial ribbon to celebrate the opening of the new Public Safety Headquarters, 2525 N. Main St. The City of Victoria partnered with the Chamber of Commerce for the ceremony, which included remarks from Mayor Duane Crocker, City Manager Jesús A. Garza, Interim Police Chief Clay Fetters, Fire Chief George Gamez, Municipal Court Judge Vanessa Heinold and Chamber of Commerce Chair Sherry McShaffry. After the ceremony, attendees were invited to tour the facility.
The following City of Victoria Public Works employees recently earned occupational licenses from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Utility equipment operator Reynaldo Trevino earned his Class 2 wastewater collection license. This license reflects an advanced level of training and experience in the field of wastewater collection.
Surface water treatment plant operator trainee Richelle Howes, water meter technician Jacob Orsak, utility systems technician Mario Villafuerte and plant maintenance technicians Viviana Villegas and Harris Wiest earned their Class D water operator licenses. This license certifies that an individual has the necessary training and experience to perform process control duties in the production or distribution of drinking water.
Utility supervisor Jamie Diaz earned his customer service inspector license. This license certifies an individual to examine private water distribution facilities and approve or deny water service, including identification of potential contamination and similar issues.