[6:20] involved the entire time
[6:23] Hello. Good evening, everybody.
[6:27] Thank you so much for coming
[6:30] out to our 2027 budget meeting.
[6:31] >> I appreciate you being here.
[6:33] It's more important this year
[6:34] than any year that I've been on
[6:36] city council to have public
[6:36] engagement in our budget
[6:39] process because it is such a
[6:40] tough budget year and councils
[6:44] really wrestling with what we
[6:45] cut and what we keep too to bad
[6:46] thread that needle of providing
[6:47] you the level of service you
[6:50] deserve while also minimizing
[6:55] any potential ad rate increases
[6:56] to their tax bill. So know that
[6:57] we are still wrestling with
[6:59] this budget. So if there's
[6:59] something in it, you see the
[7:00] night that you have concerns
[7:02] about our questions now is your
[7:03] opportunity to voice that to us
[7:05] because we are still in the
[7:07] process of mold in this budget.
[7:08] Again, thank you all so much
[7:09] for coming out. We really are
[7:10] depending on the feedback we
[7:11] get this year more so than ever
[7:15] to make sure we're providing
[7:16] that adequate budget for the
[7:16] city. And we give you what you
[7:18] want in this tough year.
[7:20] And so with that, the man who's
[7:23] made it all happen, MR. Jay
[7:29] Chapa, thank you.
[7:30] Thank you. Council woman.
[7:31] >> Good evening. Thank you all
[7:31] for being here. Really
[7:34] appreciate you all taking the
[7:35] time out of your day.
[7:36] To come to this meeting.
[7:38] And we've had years in the past
[7:39] where we have these meetings,
[7:40] we have like 25 staffers and
[7:41] like 2 people show up. So it's
[7:44] really good to a good crowd
[7:46] I'm gonna turn it over here in
[7:49] a minute to Kristin Simmons.
[7:51] Our street chief's trip
[7:53] strategy. Officer she's over
[7:55] are what we call a forward lab.
[7:56] It's a lot of data and numbers
[7:57] the cut. They had no budget and
[8:00] data analytics. All those type
[8:00] of things and children through
[8:02] a presentation. But I want to
[8:03] start off by just a little
[8:06] protection as was mentioned.
[8:07] This is a tough this year.
[8:08] And from a budget perspective
[8:13] for the city and and probably
[8:15] about. 13 or 14 years. I was
[8:15] here when we had to deal with
[8:19] the downturn of the economy
[8:19] did too 2008 and the whole
[8:21] mortgage issues and those kind
[8:22] of things and those are pretty
[8:25] pretty tough budget years as
[8:25] well.
[8:29] This year's not as drastic.
[8:29] And I think we've come up with
[8:31] a hopefully you'll see with a
[8:32] happy medium. What's being
[8:35] proposed, what you're going to
[8:35] see tonight is the proposed
[8:36] budget to the city council from
[8:36] the city manager. And of
[8:40] course, my staff that's
[8:41] involved.
[8:43] It is. We have to balance the
[8:45] budget in Texas. We can't do
[8:46] the deficit budgets that they
[8:46] do at the federal level rights
[8:47] and local government. We have
[8:49] to come up with a balanced
[8:51] budget. So you'll see that all
[8:52] of the budget to balance the
[8:54] city is basically a
[8:57] conglomerate. A whole lot of
[8:58] different businesses.
[8:59] And one of the things that
[9:01] happens, people especially
[9:02] talking about the general fund.
[9:05] People. Look at the issue with
[9:06] the general Fund and
[9:06] they see that and they say will
[9:10] like like you to take some of
[9:10] that other money. And move it
[9:13] and pay for police or pay for
[9:15] fire pay for.
[9:16] Community centers. And it's
[9:19] because you can't it's it's
[9:20] legal issues. So the aviation,
[9:22] for instance, their revenues
[9:24] have to stay with aviation
[9:26] golf, their revenue. Stay with
[9:27] golf. The water Department
[9:29] utility water stays that
[9:29] revenue stays with the the
[9:31] utilities. We don't have any
[9:33] issues really in those areas.
[9:34] The general fund where we have
[9:36] the issues and it's really tied
[9:39] to a property tax values, our
[9:41] property values overall.
[9:41] With that in mind, I'm gonna
[9:44] turn it over to Christine and
[9:44] she does a great job of of kind
[9:48] of breaking it down going
[9:48] through the whole process.
[9:49] The majority, the discussions
[9:49] on the general fund because
[9:52] that's usually what folks want
[9:53] to talk about. But as you go
[9:54] along, if you have a question
[9:54] that she's going to slide to
[9:56] raise your hand, we'll bring
[9:57] you a bike. So you can ask your
[9:58] question. This is being live
[10:00] streamed and it's also being
[10:02] recorded so that anybody can
[10:06] go back and look at it. This
[10:06] is the 4th. 4th of our 10
[10:08] public meetings. We're having
[10:12] one in each district. And so
[10:12] if you if you
[10:15] MISS It and come back, you can
[10:15] tell folks that, you know, that
[10:17] could make when they can look
[10:17] online and looking at any of
[10:19] those as well. So I'm gonna
[10:22] turn over to Kristen and thank
[10:25] you again for being a.
[10:32] >> I don't need that. I used to
[10:33] going her own because I'm so
[10:34] short and that's why I can
[10:35] stand behind the podium either.
[10:35] I can be back there. You can
[10:38] even see me. I'll be like this
[10:40] talking to you.
[10:43] I know. Yeah, like hello.
[10:45] I'm from
[10:45] the government. Okay. So I but
[10:49] I do have to like sort of refer
[10:51] to my my thing here.
[10:51] All right. So I'm like I said,
[10:52] my name is Christine Simmons
[10:55] and the director of the Fort
[10:58] Worth Lab Data, Budget
[10:59] performance for the city.
[11:00] And it's my pleasure to present
[11:01] the budget to yutan. I'll try
[11:02] to keep it interesting week
[11:05] night budget. Thank you so much
[11:06] for coming.
[11:07] >> Like the council member and
[11:08] Jay both mentioned your
[11:08] engagement in this process is
[11:12] really valued and important in
[11:12] the budget is not totally
[11:14] fully, you know, done. We've
[11:14] proposed it. And now it's in
[11:17] kind of council deliberations
[11:18] stage. So your feedback is very
[11:21] welcome. And if any of you
[11:23] participated in our earlier a
[11:24] budget priority survey or any
[11:26] of the bond stuff. We always
[11:26] appreciate your engagement
[11:28] through the city's engagement
[11:29] processes. So thank you for
[11:30] being here in week night and
[11:33] for listening to our
[11:35] presentation.
[11:36] So we've kind of start with
[11:38] like high-level themes and
[11:39] every budget years, a little
[11:41] different. This year's kind of
[11:43] theme that emerges really about
[11:44] the fact that the city's growth
[11:46] in population and all the
[11:47] businesses that are coming
[11:50] here, people moving here is not
[11:51] necessarily translating to
[11:55] growth in property values in
[11:55] property tax revenue. And
[11:56] that's primarily because of
[11:57] the tear an appraisal district
[12:01] in the activities that that are
[12:02] under way there. So the city
[12:04] sits in 4 different appraisal
[12:04] districts. But by and large,
[12:06] you know, most of our revenue
[12:08] comes from Tehran about 92%.
[12:10] And some of you MAY know that
[12:12] they adopted a reappraisal plan
[12:13] a couple of years ago where
[12:15] they're only appraising
[12:17] residential property every
[12:17] other year. And we knew that
[12:20] and we're kind of planning for
[12:20] that in our expenses. Don't
[12:22] follow like in every other year
[12:22] cycle that way. But, you know,
[12:26] we can sort of project how that
[12:28] will go. But the situation was
[12:29] worse than we anticipated this
[12:31] year. We're in our second year
[12:32] of frozen values. And we're
[12:35] just seeing historic levels
[12:36] of mid-year value. Lawson
[12:39] protests being granted at that
[12:41] had level. And so we've
[12:42] projected for a 49 million
[12:43] dollar gap. And then when we
[12:44] got our certified values from
[12:47] Tad, which happened at the end
[12:48] of JULY, we're up to like a
[12:50] 78 million dollar Israeli were
[12:51] sent or worse case scenario.
[12:56] Historic value lost between
[12:57] APRIL and JULY and really all
[12:58] the taxing entities in Tarrant
[13:00] County are looking at are
[13:01] similar patterns. And so we
[13:02] kind of had to we had the
[13:03] budget pretty well balanced and
[13:07] had to go back to the drawing
[13:09] board a bit. So really looking
[13:10] at reductions that we feel are
[13:12] equitable and prioritize the
[13:14] things that are important to us
[13:15] residents and to city council.
[13:17] And you'll see a lot of focus
[13:19] on public safety in this budget
[13:21] because, you know, every time
[13:22] we do a priority Surveyor
[13:22] community survey, public
[13:25] safety, police and fire is
[13:27] always at the top. And so this
[13:28] budget does prioritize those
[13:29] services and other key city
[13:31] services. So we'll walk through
[13:32] a little bit of what we're
[13:33] adding and what we had to
[13:35] reduce to balance the revenue
[13:37] and expenditures.
[13:39] One graph that we added that
[13:40] MAY help you see kind of what
[13:42] Terrence doing compared to
[13:43] Dallas and Collin County.
[13:45] This is average taxable home
[13:48] value over the last few years.
[13:50] So you can see Terrence on the
[13:51] bottom and then you'll see
[13:51] Dallas and Collin. Let's see.
[13:54] Dallas is the light blue line
[13:56] Collins,
[13:57] the yellow. So he'll see that
[13:58] we're just kind of in a
[13:58] different situation here in
[14:03] Tarrant County. Has the value
[14:05] falls from this clear? 26 to
[14:06] 27. And so that's what you'll
[14:07] see later in the presentation
[14:09] that even with the proposed tax
[14:11] rate increase, actually the tax
[14:12] bill for the average home goes
[14:13] down because as the value
[14:15] falls, even when you apply a
[14:18] tax rate increase, you're still
[14:19] coming out slightly on top.
[14:20] So just a unique situation.
[14:21] But you can see Dallas and
[14:21] Collin County, they're growing
[14:22] just like parent, but their
[14:25] values are reflecting the hours
[14:25] are not necessarily reflecting
[14:28] that on the residential side.
[14:32] All right. We'll get into some
[14:33] numbers. So the total operating
[14:34] budget for the city of Fort
[14:38] Worth is 3.3, 2 billion dollars
[14:40] for fiscal year. 27. That
[14:41] includes all operating not just
[14:42] the general fund. We will focus
[14:45] a bit on the general fund here
[14:46] in a moment.
[14:49] But here's kind of a car like a
[14:50] nerdy finance table of the
[14:53] budget. So current year fiscal
[14:55] year, 26, you'll see 3.1
[14:58] billion dollars growing by
[15:00] about 7.5% to fiscal year.
[15:02] 20 Seven's 3.3, 2 billion
[15:02] dollars. And you see the kind
[15:04] of different, you know,
[15:04] grossing a little bit of
[15:05] reductions here and there.
[15:09] But general Fund is the biggest
[15:10] of the operating funds, a
[15:11] growing its are taking up about
[15:13] a 3rd of the operating budget.
[15:14] The next category. That's the
[15:16] biggest operating as is
[15:17] enterprise funds. And we'll
[15:20] talk about in a little bit.
[15:21] But enterprise funds are fun to
[15:21] operate more like a business.
[15:23] So they're not funded by
[15:24] property taxes. They're funded
[15:28] by rates and fees of those who
[15:30] use the Think of like water,
[15:32] solid waste, those kinds of
[15:34] things. And then the 3rd
[15:35] biggest operating category, a
[15:36] special revenue funds so that
[15:39] when you might be most familiar
[15:40] with is ccpd so special revenue
[15:43] funds are funds that have like
[15:45] a dedicated revenue sources
[15:46] restricted for a specific
[15:49] purpose. So ccpd funded by a
[15:52] half-cent sales tax restricted
[15:53] to crime control and prevention
[15:54] activities. And we'll get some
[15:55] more examples later. But those
[15:58] are kind of the big 3 of the
[16:01] operating funds.
[16:03] So when we walked through
[16:05] counsel, well, that the
[16:06] recommended budget with council
[16:06] on the 11th and you're more
[16:09] than welcome to go and watch
[16:11] that. If you'd like, we talked
[16:11] about sort of the whole budget
[16:14] process and we looked like
[16:15] thing by thing by thing.
[16:17] So this is a summary of that
[16:18] story. But I wanted to share it
[16:19] just because I think it can be
[16:22] helpful knowing what the city
[16:23] did to get to what you're
[16:25] seeing today. So we knew like
[16:27] I mentioned because of a
[16:28] property tax issues that we
[16:31] were facing a gap between our
[16:31] revenues and expenditures.
[16:34] And so from the beginning, when
[16:36] we start the budget process in
[16:37] MARCH and APRIL, we asked
[16:40] departments to reduce their
[16:40] budgets by one percent.
[16:41] So we actually deliver them a
[16:42] target budget. That was already
[16:44] one percent reduced from the
[16:47] current year. That got us about
[16:49] 7.8 million dollars in savings.
[16:52] So just some initial belt
[16:52] tightening there. And then that
[16:54] continued because we asked them
[16:57] also to submit an additional
[16:59] 3% reduction for their
[17:01] department. That came in a
[17:02] number of packages and ideas.
[17:03] Unlike program reductions in
[17:04] all kinds of things,
[17:05] departments do a lot of
[17:07] different things to get there.
[17:10] And so we did take a lot of
[17:11] those 3% reductions in that
[17:13] garnered us about 14 and a half
[17:15] million more dollars in
[17:15] savings. So those things
[17:20] happened early in the APRIL MAY
[17:21] and JUNE and then we're getting
[17:23] pretty close to balancing the
[17:23] budget with some other
[17:24] strategies along the way.
[17:25] But then, like I mentioned at
[17:27] the end of JULY, we got those
[17:27] tad values and we had to go
[17:31] back to the drawing board for
[17:33] some even deeper cuts. So some
[17:34] of the 3% reductions that we
[17:34] didn't, you know, feel like
[17:38] we're the best idea. We then
[17:39] did take those ideas and and
[17:40] continue to look at other
[17:42] strategies like reducing
[17:43] employee pay for performance
[17:44] and looking at revenue
[17:46] increases that we had maybe
[17:47] looked at yet. And then at the
[17:48] end of the day, we were still
[17:52] facing nearly a 40 million
[17:53] dollar gap. 36.9 million.
[17:53] And that's when the city
[17:55] manager made the decision to
[17:57] propose a tax rate increase
[17:58] to sort of better reflect the
[17:58] need with all these kind of
[18:04] tad issues that we're having.
[18:06] The tax rate increases. 3.2
[18:07] cents, not percent to keep
[18:12] saying percent a sense. So
[18:12] current year, 67 dot us nc per
[18:16] $100 valuation. And then next
[18:16] year, be 70.0, $0.02 And we'll
[18:17] show you in a bit kind of how
[18:20] that stacks up on the the bill.
[18:23] And for those of you who MAY
[18:24] have been at budget
[18:25] presentations before you might
[18:25] be familiar with kind of how
[18:29] the property tax rate breaks
[18:30] down deluxe plane. So this
[18:31] 70.0, $0.02 kind of splits into
[18:34] 2. The first is operating on
[18:36] the top. There. And then in
[18:37] Fort Worth, we further split
[18:39] that amount into just
[18:41] operations on the top. $0.48
[18:42] That is what funds the general
[18:43] fund so think about like the
[18:48] city's main operating fund for
[18:49] police and fire parks and
[18:50] libraries. Transportation.
[18:51] And then that part that says
[18:55] Capital is 7 and a quarter cent
[18:56] for capital maintenance.
[18:57] We use cash or pay go pay as
[18:58] you go capital to fund some
[19:01] of that capital maintenance
[19:02] rather than doing in debt.
[19:02] And in the bottom portion of
[19:04] the tax rate to 14, 75 is the
[19:08] actual debt, a portion of the
[19:10] tax rate. And so like if you
[19:10] came to any of the bond
[19:11] meetings, that was the right
[19:13] guy. We said we're not going to
[19:14] increase that. That rate with
[19:17] the 2026 bonds. You can see
[19:17] it remains the same. But we do
[19:20] have to keep it because we have
[19:21] to support her. Our current
[19:24] debt to that includes the end
[19:25] of the 2018 2022 bond programs.
[19:28] And then the 2026 bond payment
[19:31] go program going forward.
[19:31] So City Council has 5 strategic
[19:33] priority. So we kind of like to
[19:37] talk about the budget in terms
[19:38] of those. So first being
[19:40] community safety. Again, this
[19:42] is where a lot of the budget
[19:43] focuses because this is the
[19:44] number one priority of most
[19:45] residents when we when we
[19:49] survey and certainly councils
[19:50] a priority as well. And so
[19:51] police and fire get the lion's
[19:51] share of the growth in this
[19:55] budget. You'll see that in a
[19:55] moment as well. The one kind
[19:56] of out calling an elimination.
[20:00] But it's really like a pivot
[20:02] of services. There's a 4 person
[20:03] team right now in the fire
[20:04] department that does homeless
[20:06] outreach and prevention and
[20:07] education. Those our those are
[20:10] dual role, firefighters.
[20:11] So they're actually
[20:11] firefighters who are trained in
[20:12] fire suppression, but they're
[20:14] not doing those duties. They're
[20:16] doing the hope duties full
[20:17] time. So this budget proposes
[20:21] moving those people back to
[20:23] fire suppression and then
[20:23] continuing the hope activities
[20:24] through a mobile integrated
[20:28] health team that the city
[20:28] acquired when we started and
[20:30] working with MedStar when we
[20:33] acquired ems. And so it doesn't
[20:35] stop the services. But it
[20:37] returns the firefighters to
[20:38] firefighting and therefore
[20:39] saves the overtime. That's cars
[20:40] when they're not doing that and
[20:41] still have to like staff a fire
[20:42] truck. So that's one thing
[20:45] that's a little different in
[20:47] the fire budget. We also added
[20:48] funding for fire overtime in
[20:49] fleet to better reflect their
[20:52] actual spending in their
[20:53] contractual obligations.
[20:56] On the police side, we added
[20:58] 76 patrol officers. So we
[20:59] continually look at police
[21:00] staffing to make sure that
[21:00] they're keeping up with a
[21:02] growing, you know, growing need
[21:03] growing city. And so when we
[21:06] revamped their staffing study
[21:08] this year, we determined that
[21:08] in order to continue the
[21:10] meeting response, time goals
[21:10] and pro activity goals that
[21:13] they did need some additional
[21:15] support in patrol. This budget
[21:17] also changes 30 patrol officers
[21:19] to corporals, which is like the
[21:21] next rank up out in the
[21:21] community. That's because in
[21:24] the city of Fort Worth right
[21:24] now, if you're a patrol officer
[21:27] and you want to be promoted,
[21:28] you actually have to leave
[21:30] patrol and go be a detective
[21:31] or like a corporal in a
[21:32] specialized unit. And so a lot
[21:33] of times people don't like
[21:33] really go back to patroller
[21:36] takes a long time for them to
[21:37] go back and do this. Allows for
[21:39] a good promotional path in
[21:40] patrol and allows us corporate
[21:42] also to train new officers in a
[21:43] more consistent way. So we're
[21:46] excited about that opportunity
[21:49] and police.
[21:51] And then emergency management
[21:51] and communications. This budget
[21:54] fully funds the Axon 9-1-1,
[21:56] program which we piloted this
[21:58] year. That is assistive called
[22:00] taking technology for
[22:01] non-emergency calls. So if you
[22:01] call with a non-emergency, your
[22:04] call gets triage short of with
[22:05] the help of technology. And
[22:09] so it saves some workload on
[22:10] the like human called takers to
[22:11] deal with some of the more
[22:12] complex 9-1-1, emergency calls.
[22:14] So they've been really happy
[22:15] with that program. And so this
[22:18] budget, fully funds that one.
[22:22] All right. Moving right along
[22:23] here on the infrastructure
[22:24] side. I mentioned that pago
[22:27] portion of the tax rate being
[22:28] 7 in a quarter cents. So we
[22:30] did maintain that investment.
[22:30] We certainly don't want to
[22:33] decrease our investment in
[22:34] capital and maintenance.
[22:36] However, remember that as our
[22:37] values full 7 and a quarter
[22:39] since doesn't produce the same
[22:41] revenue that it produced this
[22:42] year. So we see a corresponding
[22:46] reduction in the pay go budget.
[22:47] 2.8 million dollars is what we
[22:48] see. And so that's a little
[22:51] bit of a decrease. But keeping
[22:53] the tax rate static.
[22:53] Reduction spread across a lot
[22:56] of the different peco bucket.
[22:57] So it's not necessarily in in
[22:58] one spot, but there is there is
[23:01] one program that it's sort of
[23:01] like you can you'll be able
[23:03] to see it. It's a neighborhood
[23:03] services, but I'm going to
[23:06] explain kind of why that's not
[23:08] a reduction in service, but it
[23:09] it really maintains the
[23:09] investment in transportation
[23:11] and public works there pretty
[23:12] much flat actually growing a
[23:13] tad and same with parks are
[23:16] kind of pretty much flat.
[23:16] So when you think about capital
[23:17] maintenance for transportation
[23:18] and parks, those aren't really
[23:20] affected by that reduction.
[23:23] This budget also authorizes
[23:23] the pavement management fee.
[23:25] You might have heard this
[23:26] called the street maintenance
[23:27] fee. We're sort of updating
[23:29] that nomenclature as we go
[23:31] forward to better reflect that.
[23:31] The point of the program, is it
[23:34] really just to maintain streets
[23:35] and go fix things? Reactive
[23:36] Lee, but who managed the full
[23:38] life cycle of pavement like
[23:40] from start to finish and sold
[23:42] more proactive naming there.
[23:44] You won't start to see that
[23:45] fee in fiscal year 27, but it
[23:45] just enables us to continue to
[23:48] work toward that
[23:51] implementation.
[23:51] And then this budget also
[23:54] continues water significant
[23:54] capital program. So with water
[23:55] being a regional utility, they
[23:58] have tons of capital investment
[24:00] going on a cast iron
[24:00] replacement in the Marias Creek
[24:03] facility. And so this budget
[24:07] also continues that work.
[24:08] Community investment. So here's
[24:10] where some of our addictions
[24:12] come in that have been
[24:12] particularly sort of painful to
[24:15] talk about. And the council has
[24:15] certainly have questions on.
[24:16] Remember that a lot of our
[24:17] general fund budget is tied to
[24:19] public safety. And so when you
[24:21] talk about community
[24:22] investment, you still see
[24:23] public-facing activities like
[24:25] code and libraries and parks.
[24:26] But those are also the areas
[24:29] that have sustained some
[24:30] reductions in this budget
[24:31] because of that prioritization
[24:32] of public safety. And so our
[24:34] attempts here really to
[24:37] minimize service level impacts
[24:40] but still have to balance the
[24:40] budget. So our original
[24:41] recommended budget recommended
[24:43] closing the Alliance PetSmart
[24:45] Adoption Center, which son the
[24:47] northern part of Fort Worth.
[24:49] It's a off-site adoption center
[24:50] and council. I'll tell you on
[24:51] Tuesday if you didn't tune in,
[24:52] they they most of them said
[24:53] like We don't we don't love
[24:55] that. And so we're looking at
[24:57] some other options so that we
[24:58] don't lose associate grant
[24:58] funding or affect our live
[25:01] release rate, which was really
[25:02] high this year. And so that one
[25:05] is being kind a reworked now.
[25:08] Neighborhood services has a
[25:09] priority repair program.
[25:10] It's a 2 and a half million
[25:10] dollar program. And then as
[25:12] another 2 million dollars in
[25:15] grant funding. So this is a
[25:17] 75,000 read Dollar Reduction,
[25:18] which is a 3% reduction in the
[25:20] in the peco portion of that
[25:22] program. It's not great to
[25:23] reduce that program. It's
[25:23] highly used for repairs.
[25:25] People kind of apply and then
[25:27] they can have home repairs done
[25:29] to keep them in their home.
[25:32] But it's not an elimination by
[25:33] any means either.
[25:36] The mobile tool shed program
[25:36] comes out of code compliance
[25:37] in. We actually piloted that
[25:40] last year and invested more in
[25:41] it this year. So therefore,
[25:43] people working that program
[25:44] right now they deliver tools
[25:46] like lawn mowers and weed
[25:47] eaters and those kinds of
[25:48] things out to neighborhoods in
[25:53] order to help people comply
[25:53] with the code issues. And so
[25:54] again, we don't want to
[25:55] eliminate that program, but we
[25:56] are reducing it by one person
[25:59] in order to balance the budget.
[26:03] Let's see the neighborhood
[26:03] improvement program. This is a
[26:04] program. I mention that it's
[26:05] going to look like we're
[26:08] reducing, but it's a little
[26:10] tricky. So in a neighborhood
[26:11] improvement program costs about
[26:12] 4 million dollars to do one
[26:13] neighborhood. And it takes 3
[26:16] years to sort of implement the
[26:17] whole program. So the first
[26:17] year is usually planning with
[26:20] the neighborhood, all the
[26:22] activities
[26:23] that will be underway over the
[26:25] delivery of the program.
[26:25] So the neighborhood comes
[26:26] together and with the city
[26:28] staff and they say, you know,
[26:30] we need sidewalks here. We need
[26:31] cameras here and a light MAY be
[26:34] a signal or like a street light
[26:36] or something. And and then
[26:38] here's 2, 3 are like doing the
[26:40] plan. And so what we've done
[26:41] in in help helping to balance
[26:42] the budget and also to kind
[26:45] of phase the delivery of those
[26:46] programs. Better and is instead
[26:47] of funding the whole 4 million
[26:48] right up front. We're funding
[26:50] that 1 million dollars of
[26:52] planning activities in year.
[26:53] One knowing that in years, 2,
[26:55] 3 will then match the budget to
[26:58] the activities for those years.
[26:59] And so it's more right-sizing.
[26:59] What's really It also help
[27:05] happens to help balance peco
[27:08] this year, too. What c?
[27:09] Economic development is the
[27:11] other read a second to last
[27:13] year to chick priority. So
[27:14] right now, the general fund
[27:17] trance for years about
[27:20] 5 million dollars a year to an
[27:21] economic development
[27:22] initiatives fund. And so that
[27:24] fund does have a balance in it.
[27:25] The strategy behind that fund
[27:26] is to be able to it, you know,
[27:28] attract business and we don't
[27:28] have a 4 year for be sales tax
[27:30] and Fort Worth like some of our
[27:32] competitor cities, our
[27:34] dedicated sales tax goes to
[27:35] ccpd. So this is sort of the
[27:37] cities like hybrid solution
[27:40] for having cash on hand and
[27:43] that way. But that fund does
[27:43] have a balance in it. So we
[27:44] thought will reduce that
[27:47] transfer from the General fund
[27:48] this year. It helps to balance
[27:49] the budget. Keep a little bit
[27:50] of a transfer going out to its
[27:54] going from 5 million to just
[27:55] 500,000. We didn't want to
[27:55] reduce it all together. So
[27:58] hopefully that can grow again
[27:59] in the future.
[28:02] But in economic development, we
[28:02] do continue our partnership
[28:04] with the local chambers and
[28:05] continued to implement the
[28:07] small business program that's
[28:09] really under way this year.
[28:10] It also transitions management
[28:11] of the Will Rogers Memorial
[28:13] complex system of you MAY know
[28:17] that's moving to a 3rd party
[28:17] management agreement and then
[28:19] an economic development we do
[28:20] at a position to support
[28:21] neighborhood revitalization in
[28:24] our targeted areas for those
[28:26] those efforts.
[28:27] And then responsible growth.
[28:28] This is one of those categories
[28:29] like a lot of things can fall
[28:32] under responsible Grosso tried
[28:33] to highlight a couple of things
[28:36] here. And so we will continue
[28:36] to replace vehicles and
[28:37] equipment that will just using
[28:38] a bit of a different funding
[28:40] strategy for those rather than
[28:41] doing them in the general fund.
[28:44] We'll do them in available debt
[28:45] capacity through tax notes.
[28:47] Also, we've experienced as a
[28:48] city rising cost of health
[28:49] claims. As I mean, I think
[28:52] that's happening all over the
[28:54] place. And so we did not want
[28:55] to pass that cost on to our
[28:57] employees. So the employer
[28:59] contributions to the group
[29:00] Health Fund for the city have
[29:01] grown. So when you see
[29:01] departments budgets growing a
[29:03] bit, it's because we're having
[29:05] to right-size some of that
[29:08] fund. We continue to provide
[29:09] support for public information
[29:10] process is that are state
[29:12] required. We see our open
[29:13] records request growing and so
[29:16] this budget continues to
[29:17] provide support for that
[29:21] function. We talked a little
[29:22] bit about the inflationary
[29:22] increases, including vehicles
[29:23] and maintenance and fuel.
[29:26] So the city experiences that
[29:29] just like Holmes do. And so I
[29:29] think I mentioned we added some
[29:30] funds to fire fleet for those,
[29:30] but that's kind of a theme
[29:33] across a lot of departments.
[29:36] We'll talk a bit more about
[29:38] fee structures and then for
[29:39] this building in the attached
[29:40] parking lot and garage, we
[29:43] reduced our maintenance budgets
[29:45] for for that.
[29:47] All right. So those are the
[29:48] highlights. And the general
[29:49] fund is where will focus for
[29:53] just a few more sides. 1.1,
[29:53] 5 billion dollars here is
[29:55] revenue and expenditures you
[29:56] can see on the bottom were
[29:59] presenting a balanced budget
[30:00] and the general fund as
[30:01] required revenue. We've talked
[30:02] a little bit about the property
[30:05] tax issues that we're having.
[30:06] Sales tax is the other big
[30:07] revenue source. So property and
[30:09] sales tax together about 80%
[30:10] of the general fund. So we are
[30:14] seeing good growth in sales
[30:15] tax. About 5% growth projected
[30:15] for next year, which helps a
[30:17] little bit with the property
[30:18] tax issues. And so we'll
[30:21] continue to watch in forecast
[30:23] that carefully. And then on
[30:23] the expenditure side about 70%
[30:26] of the general fund to salary
[30:27] and benefits. And a lot of
[30:30] that, of course, is police and
[30:33] fire. But about 4.6% growth
[30:35] there in the general fund.
[30:35] And here's a view of the
[30:37] departments that are in the
[30:39] general fund. And so these are
[30:42] in alphabetical order and you
[30:43] can see the growth like not
[30:44] growth. The increases and
[30:46] decreases are kind of all over
[30:47] the place across the general
[30:48] fund. And so I'm going to show
[30:52] you a different graphic here in
[30:54] a moment. But again, we're
[30:55] growing about 4.6%, very
[30:56] similar growth to last year.
[30:57] Actually, I was surprised when
[30:58] I saw that because it feels
[31:00] like such a different budget
[31:01] year. It's just that the growth
[31:01] in revenue you're like very,
[31:04] very differently spread than
[31:06] last year. I think so. We have
[31:06] some modest growth in many
[31:10] departments and some pretty
[31:13] big reductions and others.
[31:14] This is a I think, a helpful
[31:15] graphic for some that
[31:18] communications created. And
[31:18] this just sort of re emphasizes
[31:19] what Jay was talking about.
[31:22] And what I mentioned a couple
[31:23] times about our total budget
[31:24] and then how we kind of narrow
[31:27] it to where the reductions can
[31:28] really come from. So on the
[31:30] left-hand side is the total
[31:31] operating budget. 3.3 billion
[31:34] dollars. The general fund being
[31:35] about a 3rd of that and most of
[31:36] those other funds on the left
[31:38] are restricted to certain
[31:40] purposes. So like Jay
[31:42] mentioned, you know, water, you
[31:43] can use water for like a police
[31:44] short fall in the general fund.
[31:44] And you can't, you know, use
[31:46] aviation for anything that's on
[31:48] aviation or faa. You know,
[31:50] approved in that kind of thing.
[31:52] So in the middle, you have the
[31:56] actual general fund and that's
[31:58] 57% public safety. So police
[31:59] fire emergency management and
[32:00] communications. So when you
[32:04] talk about budget reductions
[32:06] and you are prioritizing public
[32:06] safety and you can't reduce
[32:07] their budgets because of their
[32:09] contractual, you know, labor
[32:09] agreements and obligations.
[32:11] Then where can your reductions
[32:14] come from? And that's what's on
[32:16] the right hand side. So every
[32:17] other general fund department.
[32:20] And so that's why you see some
[32:20] of those reductions in
[32:23] community investment, right
[32:27] when we saw that priority.
[32:28] Here's another view of
[32:29] department increases and
[32:32] decreases in next year's
[32:33] budget.
[32:33] Cc Fire, a gun fire police kind
[32:36] of taking the lion's share of
[32:38] where where we are growing and
[32:39] most of these are contractual
[32:41] obligations again, with fire in
[32:43] police's labor agreements.
[32:45] And they're scheduled pay
[32:48] raises on the fireside. This
[32:48] also includes the subsidy to
[32:50] ems. So some of you remember,
[32:54] we took over ems services,
[32:54] JULY, first of 2025, that fund
[32:56] and and function is not fully
[32:58] self supporting at this time.
[32:59] We would love for it to be.
[32:59] I think we have staff working
[33:03] on that and trying to close the
[33:04] gap. But right now General Fund
[33:05] is still supporting the ems
[33:08] function by about 30 million
[33:09] dollars. So that growth was,
[33:12] but in a fire department's
[33:13] budget this year.
[33:14] And we have a place holder for
[33:17] their new labor agreement which
[33:18] is under negotiation. And
[33:18] again, we added some funding
[33:21] to for fleet and over time.
[33:24] Police is almost all growth
[33:26] from just their scheduled pay
[33:28] raises. They they have a big
[33:29] budget. And so those pay raises
[33:30] out up year over year, they're
[33:33] in active labor contract right
[33:34] now.
[33:36] And then the 3rd kind of
[33:36] growing department is the other
[33:38] public safety department, which
[33:40] is emergency management and
[33:41] communications and part of
[33:41] their growth is that acts on
[33:44] pilot that I mentioned. That's
[33:45] assistive called taking.
[33:49] Go through the bottom 3, 2, So
[33:50] very bottom is property
[33:52] management and that reduction
[33:54] is really just the movement of
[33:55] vehicles and equipment
[33:57] replacement out of the general
[33:58] fund into tax notes. So it
[33:58] looks like a big reduction, but
[34:01] it's just a different funding
[34:03] strategy. There.
[34:04] Economic development, that
[34:05] reduction is pretty much all
[34:07] tied to the reduction in that
[34:08] transfer out to the
[34:09] initiatives. Fund kind were
[34:11] mentioned. We're taking a pause
[34:12] on that transfer this year.
[34:14] And and then the other one is
[34:17] neighborhood services and
[34:18] that's tied to that phased
[34:19] delivery of the neighborhood
[34:20] improvement program where we're
[34:21] doing, you know, just the
[34:24] million dollars in year one for
[34:25] all the planning and then bump
[34:26] up in your 2. So this reflects
[34:29] that sort of phasing of that
[34:32] program.
[34:34] So almost kind of done. We're
[34:36] going to go to enterprise funds
[34:40] that we have a question.
[34:42] Yes, no, yes. You know,
[34:43] grandfathers are pretty
[34:43] special.
[34:44] >> Well, I have a friend who's
[34:48] passed away. Retired Fort Worth
[34:51] police officer. He told his
[34:51] grandson who want to be a Fort
[34:52] Worth go away because they
[34:57] don't pay us anything. Okay.
[34:58] Right here in this. Well,
[34:59] there's people that read to
[35:02] kindergarteners. We used to,
[35:05] but who's responsible for the
[35:08] lousy school system? Tuchman.
[35:17] >> That's not the city.
[35:18] Defense. What school system we
[35:19] have 14 different school
[35:22] systems within the city of Fort
[35:23] Worth.
[35:27] Its schools. The school system
[35:27] has its own board right?
[35:28] The state provides the funding
[35:31] most of the funding schools.
[35:42] >> Good questions and e-mails
[35:45] for now. Thank you.
[35:48] Should be too.
[36:00] Where most of our money goes
[36:03] to it. We need that. We need
[36:04] the police and
[36:07] >> fire and our safety. But
[36:12] I just don't understand why we
[36:15] have a reduction and the parks
[36:18] budget.
[36:26] >> We talked about the
[36:29] appraisal, the values going
[36:32] down. Balance the budget and
[36:32] one of the press and the
[36:33] priorities been public safety
[36:36] and not impacting public
[36:37] safety. Also to make sure that
[36:38] we're keeping up with our
[36:41] growth and public safety.
[36:42] Needs to keep up with that.
[36:43] So it's the rest of those.
[36:45] He put it back on that slide.
[36:49] It's all the other departments.
[36:52] The only place you can go to
[36:55] reduce costs and
[36:56] you know, basically all the
[36:56] costs associated with those
[36:59] departments, our personnel.
[36:59] And so if you're going to
[37:02] reduce costs, that's really.
[37:04] Whenever we do. Our surveys
[37:07] parks is always high, but it's
[37:08] always. Public safety. First
[37:11] responders, police fire MS.
[37:14] And then transportation streets
[37:15] is always next. And then you
[37:17] have the rest of the usually at
[37:17] parks and libraries next.
[37:20] And so the reductions really
[37:21] come out. Where we had the area
[37:25] where you could cut really come
[37:25] out of there. When you go, that
[37:28] next slide that shows the
[37:29] reductions.
[37:32] You see, it's mostly the
[37:32] administrative.
[37:33] Departments there at the bottom
[37:37] that took the biggest cuts.
[37:40] They're going negative.
[37:41] That are the go up every to
[37:42] put. We also had a big bump
[37:47] and health care costs. We just
[37:48] had a lot of. Large claims our
[37:49] health care some of those
[37:49] departments that are actually
[37:52] positive like Environmental
[37:54] Services, human.
[37:55] Resources. I really pushed over
[37:56] that line by the health care
[37:59] costs that we had to include
[38:01] for employees. But that's
[38:02] you know, we have 2 choices.
[38:04] We only have one lever to pull
[38:06] and that's increased the tax
[38:07] rate. And so we're trying to
[38:07] balance how much we increase
[38:11] the tax rate to not impact
[38:12] taxpayers as much.
[38:12] That's one of the questions
[38:15] that came from the city Council
[38:16] is.
[38:17] You know, the reductions and
[38:19] library reductions in the end
[38:21] of the Alliance, Animal Control
[38:23] Peas Productions in code
[38:25] compliance and reductions in
[38:26] parks. And so tomorrow we
[38:26] actually have a workshop where
[38:29] we're coming back to the city
[38:31] Council with. With options on
[38:31] on what they'd like to see if
[38:32] you want to put back into it
[38:36] and what we can or can't do.
[38:40] Thanks for the feedback.
[38:43] Hello, everybody. My question
[38:46] is about senior living.
[38:47] >> There's no cap for all the
[38:49] people that are coming into
[38:49] Fort Worth building apartment
[38:51] is no cap on the rent. We had
[38:52] to seniors. There's a cap on
[38:55] our income. So how can we keep
[38:58] up with living in different
[38:59] diss in neighborhoods when they
[39:02] can get there's no cap on the
[39:04] rent for up with the city.
[39:05] Unfortunately in Texas, we
[39:06] can't. And New York City and
[39:08] other places where they put
[39:09] caps on rents. It's not allowed
[39:11] in Texas. So it's just that.
[39:12] Something that the city can
[39:15] do at the local level. To do
[39:17] rent caps. There are the city
[39:19] does participate through our
[39:19] neighborhood Services
[39:24] department with developers to.
[39:25] To develop senior affordable
[39:28] housing apartments. Those kind
[39:30] of things.
[39:32] You know, most of the rents are
[39:33] set by market. And so the
[39:35] developers or Senate. To the
[39:40] market. To make their returns
[39:41] like most places and Texas and
[39:42] North Texas, especially with
[39:46] all the growth. We do need more
[39:47] affordable.
[39:49] Units and not necessarily real
[39:52] deep units. It's more on that
[39:54] 80 to 120%.
[39:55] Income levels that were trying
[39:57] to target. And so the city that
[40:00] the voters did pass for for the
[40:01] first time.
[40:03] A bond with some affordable
[40:05] housing dollars. And and what
[40:06] we're targeting is that 8220%
[40:09] with those dollars to try to
[40:10] develop more of that type of
[40:11] housing because it's at missing
[40:12] what they call the missing
[40:14] middle. And the market. There's
[40:17] a lot of higher-end and then
[40:18] there's a
[40:18] probably not enough. But
[40:19] there's more of the lower end
[40:22] and not necessarily in the
[40:22] middle there.
[40:33] >> I noticed you said no
[40:35] widespread cuts and libraries.
[40:36] And to the gentleman's point,
[40:37] I'm concerned about the
[40:40] literacy of our children in
[40:44] Fort Worth. Also our library
[40:45] system provides wonderful
[40:46] programs for toddlers to
[40:48] prepare kids to start
[40:50] kindergarten, full speed.
[40:52] And so I urge you not to cut
[40:56] their budget, their staffing
[40:57] or their hours because kids
[40:58] need those places to go study.
[41:02] They need the Internet, the new
[41:02] computers to do homework.
[41:05] I take my granddaughter down to
[41:05] Vivian Lincoln for toddler
[41:09] reading our were participating
[41:11] in 1000 books before
[41:12] kindergarten. And I think so,
[41:13] please. I urge you not to cut
[41:13] libraries and you're when
[41:16] you're considering things.
[41:20] You know.
[41:24] That program out and fired the
[41:26] lady. We had some respect.
[41:29] They fired lady that was
[41:29] responsible for an imminent,
[41:32] I think part of the school
[41:38] system.
[41:40] >> When will the Terra
[41:40] Appraisal District price
[41:44] property values? And will that
[41:44] make a difference?
[41:45] >> This coming JANUARY, there
[41:49] is the year they're supposed
[41:50] to reappraisal JANUARY. Yes,
[41:50] next year. If you own a home
[41:53] and you have a homestead
[41:54] exemption or if you don't.
[41:55] They're going to re appraise.
[41:55] And so it's going to go way up.
[41:56] So everybody is going to
[41:59] protest to think again, it just
[42:00] thought. A big issue is is how
[42:03] much do they what what ends up
[42:03] happening is once we have a
[42:05] 10% capsule can't go more than
[42:09] 10%. On the year for the tax
[42:10] rules. But the question is, how
[42:11] much will they accept the
[42:13] protests? Because that's what
[42:15] actually surprised this this
[42:17] year. That didn't happen last
[42:21] year as they received a lot
[42:22] protests and you would think if
[42:23] they hadn't appraised in 2
[42:24] years and most of the market's
[42:26] going up that they would left
[42:27] alone. But people people
[42:28] protested and they dropped the
[42:29] values. And so that's what
[42:35] caught us off guard this year.
[42:39] I saw the Exxon assist of fund
[42:43] that's being directed for the
[42:44] ems services. Yes, is it
[42:47] projected to possibly save on
[42:47] labor? That would be yes.
[42:50] So basically what it does, a
[42:53] triage is non 9-1-1, calls to
[42:53] the non-emergency side before
[42:54] it even gets. So we're we're
[42:57] projecting that we're not going
[42:58] to have to continue that call
[43:00] takers as the city continues to
[43:04] grow and get more phone calls.
[43:06] So it's initially like a
[43:09] something will have to take on
[43:10] initially. And then eventually
[43:10] it'll kind of pay for it.
[43:12] It's an it's an investment so
[43:14] that we save dollars going
[43:16] forward every every call taker
[43:16] with benefits and everything.
[43:19] Probably 80, 90,000 a year.
[43:22] I mean, a person. So once you
[43:24] you continue that folks.
[43:25] And that's a really tough job
[43:27] to. We always have vacancies in
[43:28] that area because people get
[43:30] burned out so quickly. And so
[43:31] that's allowed us to and a deal
[43:34] with some of that turnover.
[43:39] You mentioned that the average
[43:43] home price was about $250,000.
[43:45] Is that correct to 50?
[43:45] >> And the average the praise
[43:48] value with the Homestead and
[43:49] all the exemptions on okay.
[43:53] >> So the proposed increases
[43:54] $0.70 per 100.
[43:55] >> It's the proposed increases.
[43:58] 3.2 cents on top of the
[44:01] current. Rate, which is $0.67
[44:03] So the new rate is 70 point.
[44:05] >> So for a $250,000 a tree
[44:07] priced home. What does that
[44:08] look like?
[44:10] >> She's going to show that we
[44:11] actually it's a reduction when
[44:13] you when he sits in at about
[44:13] $21 too much. Yeah, we're going
[44:16] to she's going to get that in
[44:16] a minute.
[44:17] >> There it is right. There it
[44:21] is. If you want a sneak peek.
[44:23] Yeah, we'll go over it. But
[44:26] on the top section there you'll
[44:26] see because the value that
[44:27] average home taxable values
[44:31] dropping from current year to
[44:34] next year, the annual variances
[44:37] a savings of 16. 69.
[44:38] Okay. I'll get through the rest
[44:41] of these and then we can keep
[44:42] going. Is that sound good?
[44:44] So enterprise funds are the
[44:46] group of funds that I mentioned
[44:46] that operate more like a
[44:49] business. So again, not tax
[44:52] funded, but funded by rates and
[44:54] fees that the users pay.
[44:55] And so the biggest of these
[44:58] is water and wastewater coc
[45:00] their growth there. And just
[45:01] as a general note, when you
[45:02] see percentage growth in in
[45:03] these funds, that doesn't mean
[45:04] that's what translates to like
[45:07] a radar fee increase. That's
[45:08] just there. Overall budget
[45:10] growth. So water and wastewater
[45:14] continuing to invest in capital
[45:17] as well contractual costs,
[45:18] solid waste. Same thing.
[45:20] 14.8 5%, not necessarily
[45:21] translating directly to a rate
[45:22] increase, but they do show some
[45:22] fee increases which I'll show
[45:26] you in a minute, kind of how
[45:29] those stock up, but solid waste
[45:29] continues to fund their
[45:31] relationship with waste
[45:32] management, which is our
[45:33] collection vendor as well as
[45:33] more long-term planning.
[45:36] So think about like replacement
[45:37] of the landfill eventually in
[45:40] some other capital needs that
[45:41] are more short term than that.
[45:43] The storm water utility is also
[45:44] an enterprise fund. And so
[45:47] they're continuing on with
[45:49] their capital plan for flood
[45:51] mitigation projects, midsize
[45:53] flood mitigation projects also
[45:54] participating in some
[45:54] partnership projects and
[45:55] increasing the amount of
[45:57] channel inspections they're
[45:58] doing. That's all life safety
[46:00] work. When it comes the risk
[46:02] for flooding. And then we have
[46:04] 2 others municipal airport.
[46:07] So that's the 3 city airports
[46:08] that are self-sustaining and
[46:09] their budget kind of looks like
[46:12] it's growing a lot. And that's
[46:14] actually because they're
[46:14] helping the general fund by
[46:17] reimbursing us in the General
[46:17] Fund Fire Department for the
[46:20] 2 different fire stations and
[46:22] actually like coincide with
[46:24] the airport, which is allowable
[46:25] and that was a great balancing
[46:26] strategy that we use there at
[46:29] the end because aviation was
[46:31] able to pick up that cost and
[46:31] then parking at city owned
[46:35] parking garages, parking lots
[46:37] and meters and they are also
[46:37] a self-sustaining sort of
[46:38] enterprise and they're just
[46:39] investing in some additional
[46:42] parking technology and
[46:43] maintenance.
[46:45] The other kind of of the of the
[46:46] big 3 that we talked about, a
[46:48] special revenue funds. And so
[46:50] these are funds again with a
[46:53] restricted purpose and a
[46:55] dedicated revenue source.
[46:57] So ccpd, it's primarily police
[46:58] in ccpd and they're funded by
[46:59] the half-cent sales tax that
[47:03] voters authorized last in 2020
[47:04] for a 10 year period. And so
[47:06] the the main source of their
[47:07] revenue is that sales tax.
[47:09] So they're growing by about
[47:09] that much 5%, which is it?
[47:11] What are sales tax is projected
[47:13] to grow? They have some other
[47:14] revenue in there to like they
[47:15] get reimbursed from the school
[47:16] districts for school resource
[47:18] officers. They are adding 2 of
[47:20] those in this year's budget
[47:21] and they're also taking on a
[47:22] couple of officers that used to
[47:23] be in the general fund in a
[47:27] relief to in a relief to the
[47:27] general Fund for eligible
[47:28] costin ccpd. There's some bike
[47:32] officers that I think are
[47:33] moving over.
[47:35] Public events is kind of a
[47:36] grouping of funds or the
[47:37] culture and tourism fund.
[47:38] So they're dedicated revenue
[47:41] source is the hotel occupancy
[47:42] tax and the likes of those are
[47:43] restricted to tourism related
[47:46] activities. So think about the
[47:48] convention center and the Will
[47:49] Rogers Centre, which I
[47:49] mentioned is kind of moving
[47:50] out of the city's management
[47:55] this year. The budget reflects
[47:56] that. Ems is our newest, I
[47:57] think, of the Special Revenue
[47:57] Fund. So this is like going to
[48:01] be their second full year of
[48:03] being budgeted and they are
[48:04] also growing by projected
[48:04] contractual increases in
[48:07] overtime and fleet. This does
[48:08] include that 30 million dollars
[48:08] subsidy that comes from the
[48:11] General Fund Fire Department's
[48:12] budget.
[48:13] Environmental protection.
[48:14] This is a fee that you see on
[48:18] your water bill. I believe it's
[48:21] raising from 2.25 To 2.50, this
[48:21] fun citywide litter abatement
[48:22] to think about street sweepers.
[48:25] If you ever see this street
[48:26] sweepers around illegal camp,
[48:30] cleanup nuisance abatement,
[48:31] some of those
[48:32] services and see what am I
[48:34] missing? Gulf municipal golf.
[48:35] So again, this came up more
[48:37] last year than this year, but
[48:37] municipal golf, not funded by
[48:40] taxes. It's not subsidized by
[48:43] the general fund funded by the
[48:44] people who play golf
[48:45] and so we continue to see
[48:48] growth in the number of
[48:49] golfers, which is great.
[48:50] So they're adding a couple of
[48:51] food and beverage positions and
[48:52] maintenance position to
[48:54] continue to keep up with demand
[48:57] at the city's golf courses.
[48:58] And finally, a community tree
[49:01] planting is a small but mighty
[49:03] Special
[49:03] Revenue fund and their somebody
[49:04] asked last night, why are we
[49:05] why do we have a street in the
[49:08] budget that's out. It is.
[49:09] It's just that in this year
[49:10] they bought some equipment next
[49:11] year. They won't need to buy
[49:12] that equipment until it looks
[49:13] like a budget reduction.
[49:16] But it's actually was just like
[49:19] a a onetime bump there.
[49:22] Fee increases as part of the
[49:24] budget development process
[49:26] departments always look at
[49:26] fees. And so there are 9
[49:27] departments that are
[49:30] recommending fee changes for
[49:31] fiscal year. 27. I keep telling
[49:33] people if you really want to
[49:34] read all about these, we did a
[49:36] long budget response for
[49:38] council earlier this week.
[49:40] That's online. It's quite long
[49:41] I think 170 pages or something
[49:44] because it's just a big, long
[49:45] table full of fees. But that's
[49:46] not to say that all those fees
[49:47] affect every resident. In fact,
[49:49] very few of them will affect
[49:50] you will look at the ones that
[49:53] do. But just think about, like,
[49:54] if you, you know, I don't know
[49:56] like used to pay for a city
[49:58] program or your participate in
[50:01] maybe an athletic league or you
[50:01] pay a fine or you can pull a
[50:02] permit like just all those
[50:03] different kinds of scenarios in
[50:04] which a person or a business
[50:06] might interact with the city.
[50:08] It kind of details all of that
[50:10] but will go over kind of the
[50:11] ones that your most used to
[50:14] seeing. I'll remind you about
[50:16] the 3.2 cents here for the
[50:17] property tax rate and then
[50:19] we'll get back to this, which
[50:21] we spoiler alert it earlier.
[50:24] But this is kind of the impact
[50:25] on the average taxpayer of the
[50:27] different fee increases and the
[50:29] property tax rate increase.
[50:31] So at the top, you'll because
[50:31] the average home taxable value
[50:35] is falling from this year to
[50:36] next year. The property tax
[50:40] bill, even with the 3.2 cent
[50:40] increase also falls by 16.
[50:41] 69 a year again for this like
[50:45] average hypothetical resident.
[50:46] And then you'll see the
[50:47] different charges that appear
[50:49] on the water bill sort of
[50:50] stacked up beneath those with
[50:53] this year's and next year's
[50:55] rate. So total of those for
[50:55] this average person with
[50:59] typical usage is about $7 and
[51:00] $0.09 a month in different.
[51:02] And so, you know, I know that
[51:03] you pay your tax bill
[51:03] differently than your water
[51:05] bill. But if it was sort of
[51:07] offsetting against each other,
[51:09] then you'd be paying about $5
[51:10] more a month next year. Then
[51:11] you're paying this year for
[51:11] the summary of all of the
[51:14] things we've talked about
[51:17] today.
[51:19] This is a graph to kind of show
[51:20] that we're counter intuitive
[51:22] thing about how values are
[51:23] dropping in the tax rates,
[51:24] increasing. And so you see on
[51:26] the left side of the scale,
[51:27] this year's values times, this
[51:27] year's tax rate in the bill.
[51:30] That's the city's portion of
[51:31] the tax bill. Because remember
[51:32] on your tax bill, you pay it up
[51:33] a bunch of different taxing
[51:35] entities, the school district
[51:36] and maybe a hospital district
[51:39] in the county. And so this is
[51:40] just the city's portion.
[51:42] And then next year with your
[51:44] taxable value decreasing and
[51:46] then the rate increase, you'll
[51:47] see you're you're coming out
[51:48] a little ahead there as a as
[51:51] the average person here does.
[51:56] C okay, I'm I'm landing the
[52:00] plane here. So in the eu summit
[52:04] in with him in the front.
[52:06] I know. So we update the ci
[52:09] peer the capital plan every
[52:10] year when
[52:10] we did the budgets, a rolling
[52:12] five-year plan. So everybody,
[52:13] every department that has
[52:14] capital needs to some, it's
[52:15] those 2. So that's kind of
[52:17] going into the overall budget
[52:20] picture. So for fiscal year
[52:21] 27, the total plan is 1.0, 0
[52:23] 3 billion dollars. The large
[52:25] majority of that Waters capital
[52:27] plan. And you can kind of see
[52:28] like the protected capital that
[52:30] will happen over the next 5
[52:31] years. A big growing city, 3.8
[52:34] billion dollars over the next 5
[52:35] years.
[52:36] And then a little against a
[52:39] small but mighty portion of the
[52:40] the capital is pay go, which I
[52:43] think for the 3rd or 4th time
[52:45] is that 7.2 $0.05 of the tax
[52:46] rate. Remember, there's a
[52:48] little bit of a decrease
[52:49] because we've left that rate
[52:51] flat. And since Soyuz fall, the
[52:54] rates flat not creating as much
[52:55] revenue the revenue we are
[52:57] creating, which is 85.7 million
[52:59] dollars. This is how it breaks
[53:00] out. So you see about 82% of
[53:01] that goes to transportation and
[53:05] public works for things like
[53:06] streets and sidewalks and
[53:06] bridges in all of those kinds
[53:10] of things. And then parks has
[53:10] a portion neighborhood services
[53:12] has a portion. It looks like
[53:13] it's getting reduced. But
[53:14] again, that's because of that
[53:15] kind of phase delivery of the
[53:16] neighborhood improvement
[53:19] program where the year one
[53:20] spends a little less see
[53:21] property management which
[53:23] manages the city's facilities
[53:24] has a small bucket there for
[53:24] managing all the different
[53:26] facilities across the city and
[53:29] maintaining those. And I guess
[53:31] those are the the Maine people.
[53:33] So tp w still growing a bit
[53:36] parks very flat and some others
[53:36] are sustaining some flatness
[53:40] in small reductions as we
[53:41] decrease.
[53:43] So total budget year-over-year
[53:45] operating plus capital front.
[53:49] Share 4.3, 5 billion dollars
[53:51] for fiscal year. 27.
[53:55] This is the budget engagement
[53:56] schedule, which you
[53:58] clearly saw somewhere because
[54:00] you're here and we're glad.
[54:03] So I'm glad that you're here.
[54:04] I hope that you have the
[54:04] ability that you do have the
[54:07] ability to go in and watch it
[54:08] back. If you just really want
[54:09] to alright, joked last night,
[54:11] like I think I've done a better
[54:12] job in some of these others.
[54:14] You can like go and see me
[54:15] doing it in a different way and
[54:16] maybe learn something new since
[54:18] I just like don't say the same
[54:19] thing. Every dime. But all of
[54:21] them are livestreamed. They're
[54:22] all on the city's YouTube page.
[54:25] We have a budget public hearing
[54:26] on SEPTEMBER first. So that's
[54:29] here at City Hall in front of
[54:30] council. Just another way to
[54:31] sign up and speak and let the
[54:32] whole council here. You have
[54:33] a council member here tonight,
[54:36] of course. But then the whole
[54:38] council can hear your comments.
[54:39] And then council is projected
[54:40] to adopt a budget and the tax
[54:41] rate on SEPTEMBER. 15th, sort
[54:45] of like the legal state
[54:46] required timeline. There.
[54:47] And and then our next budget
[54:48] public hearing just getting
[54:51] community engagement meeting
[54:52] is Saturday. If you looked at
[54:52] an earlier version of the
[54:54] schedule, just want to point
[54:54] out that the Saturday meeting,
[54:58] which is districts Eleven's was
[54:59] at 10, it's been moved to the
[54:59] afternoon. So it at 01:00pm now
[55:05] which I think this does
[55:05] accurately say that. And this
[55:06] is my last slide and I'll just
[55:08] leave it here unless we need to
[55:09] pull up any of our other
[55:10] detail. But on the left-hand
[55:13] side is. Connect Fort Worth,
[55:16] which is all things city
[55:19] engagement and Ty. Yeah, I just
[55:21] wanted to advocate for our
[55:22] libraries. So I'm concerned
[55:22] that.
[55:26] >> That they might be reduced
[55:29] in some way.
[55:30] Ice travel
[55:30] 7 miles, too. The video Lincoln
[55:35] Library with my granddaughter.
[55:37] And on a
[55:37] weekly basis. And now it's
[55:42] becoming cost prohibitive
[55:43] because of the cost. The
[55:45] Fortunately it sometime in the
[55:46] future, hopefully in the near
[55:48] future are some of the South
[55:49] Branch Library will be
[55:52] reopening and that'll cut my
[55:53] travel time and my travel
[55:55] distance to less than 2 miles.
[55:58] So I'm really excited about
[56:00] that. But I just want to and
[56:01] the size how important it is
[56:04] that the library system is
[56:07] still one of the last places
[56:09] that a family can go to for
[56:09] free and take your whole
[56:11] family. And and every every
[56:13] age group, you can find
[56:14] something at our libraries.
[56:18] And so I really think that in
[56:19] the east difficult times budget
[56:22] times because all families are
[56:25] strained right now that the
[56:25] libraries are not are not cut
[56:28] in any way. And in fact, they
[56:30] need to be enhanced. I have
[56:33] visited most of the inner city
[56:35] libraries and they were their
[56:38] aging and they all need some
[56:38] kind of improvement in their
[56:41] facilities. So I hope in your
[56:41] preventive maintenance budget
[56:45] that you consider that as well.
[56:46] Thank you. Thank you so much.
[56:47] Thank you for your calm.
[56:50] I see library staff nodding
[56:51] your your comment.
[56:54] >> We're getting a new downtown
[56:57] library.
[56:58] >> Yes, we can talk about that
[56:59] downtown library timing.
[57:00] You won't see it as part of
[57:01] you won't see the impacts
[57:04] really in this budget. But go
[57:05] ahead.
[57:06] >> We should be we should be
[57:07] closing on the land for the
[57:10] downtown library. Fairly soon.
[57:14] We'd be moving forward with.
[57:17] To put out for design in the
[57:18] spring.
[57:23] >> Okay. She's gonna bring in
[57:23] Mike, but I interrupted my I
[57:25] interrupted myself on this last
[57:26] night. Time literally. Just
[57:29] going to tell you the last part
[57:32] on the right hand side is the
[57:33] 4 budget page and it has every
[57:34] video that we've like every
[57:36] council meeting where we talked
[57:37] about budget since APRIL and
[57:38] below that every written
[57:40] response that we've given to
[57:40] counsel about their various
[57:43] questions. So don't hesitate
[57:43] to use that as a resource to
[57:47] and actually in my
[57:49] presentation. Okay.
[57:51] >> We still have a few
[57:55] questions. Hello, friends on
[58:00] >> Up could you tell me that
[58:01] the it's a street fee, but it's
[58:02] not street beat the pavement
[58:05] management fee. Got it. How
[58:06] much money with that generate
[58:07] and how what impact will it
[58:10] have on the backlog of streets
[58:13] to be read?
[58:16] >> Last year lands here is lane
[58:18] here. Yeah. So I'll mention as
[58:20] she comes up that I think the
[58:23] maintenance gap, that funding
[58:24] gap that we were facing with
[58:25] 6 66 million dollars a year
[58:25] between what we have budgeted
[58:29] for streets and what we needed
[58:29] for streets and by the fee is
[58:33] not intended to close that hole
[58:35] gap and you won't see that fee
[58:36] in the fiscal year, 27 budget
[58:40] just as a reminder about that.
[58:43] Okay. Can. Has a good question.
[58:45] So our gap to 66 Million.
[58:48] Fee is we're proposing it which
[58:49] would start in 2028. Would
[58:50] generate about 27.4 million.
[58:53] That's our estimate right now.
[58:57] >> The impact of that, the
[59:00] benefits of that will be
[59:01] widespread.
[59:04] It continues to be a very high
[59:04] priority for all of our
[59:07] residents. And we've grown a
[59:09] lot in our sophistication.
[59:10] So how we are planning now to
[59:15] use that 27.0 4 million dollars
[59:16] is too
[59:17] proactive 5 year preservation
[59:20] cycle on all of our good
[59:22] streets. Okay. You have to keep
[59:25] those good streets. Good while
[59:26] you repair the bat.
[59:27] The other thing we're going to
[59:30] do is increase our contracted
[59:34] heavy maintenance by 50%.
[59:35] And so. These are the projects
[59:38] that we really want to keep.
[59:44] Maintain a bull before they go
[59:45] to the bonds and they get.
[59:48] Exceedingly more expensive.
[59:52] And the last thing that we
[59:54] really want to do is
[59:55] increase our in-house at
[59:58] Milling and overlaying. All
[1:00:01] right. So will be able to like
[1:00:05] triple that. So through all
[1:00:06] of these things, the
[1:00:07] impact us that we will slow
[1:00:13] the deterioration of our
[1:00:14] network. And we will also so
[1:00:14] it'll it'll be for all the good
[1:00:16] streets, all the fair streets
[1:00:19] and all the poor streets
[1:00:21] because as we maintain the good
[1:00:22] and fair streets. What's
[1:00:25] happening is that the backlog
[1:00:27] for the bonds? There's less
[1:00:30] demand for the bot, right.
[1:00:31] And so the un amount of time
[1:00:35] that the streets have to wait
[1:00:38] for their bond project to be
[1:00:39] delivered, gets reduced by
[1:00:41] about 34% is what we
[1:00:45] calculated.
[1:00:50] If you want to do at the
[1:00:54] follow-up.
[1:00:55] >> Is there a way to me
[1:00:58] generate more revenue for
[1:00:59] preserving or are building
[1:00:59] new roads.
[1:01:00] >> Through transportation
[1:01:04] impact, fee increases so that.
[1:01:05] Developers of people, the
[1:01:09] benefit from the new Roads.
[1:01:13] I contribute more. So that we
[1:01:18] do it have to do this. You're
[1:01:18] probably more of an expert on
[1:01:18] transportation.
[1:01:19] >> Currently the city does
[1:01:20] collect transportation impact
[1:01:22] fees that can only be that can
[1:01:25] only be collected on you.
[1:01:27] New developments in use streets
[1:01:27] and I think we can occur and
[1:01:33] collect 68% of the potential.
[1:01:34] Fyi. So they're very few street
[1:01:37] cities or do 100% because it
[1:01:38] end up costing so much that
[1:01:41] project to move forward.
[1:01:42] But we do collect.
[1:01:42] But yet the one thing about
[1:01:45] the impact, these it's you have
[1:01:49] to use them. In the area where
[1:01:49] the impact is happening.
[1:01:50] So around the new development
[1:01:50] and it's for Arterials only for
[1:01:53] major streets, Arterials and
[1:01:54] collectors now for the streets
[1:01:59] within the neighborhoods.
[1:02:00] So we do collect on the
[1:02:00] transportation, impact the side
[1:02:04] and then also on the water
[1:02:05] wastewater to try to get.
[1:02:06] To have new development pay for
[1:02:08] the cost of that
[1:02:11] infrastructure.
[1:02:15] >> All right. I would like to
[1:02:19] advocate. You increase the tax
[1:02:20] rate. Not just the 3.2 cents.
[1:02:21] You have the ability to go up
[1:02:22] to what is known as the voter
[1:02:26] approved tax rate. Plus, the
[1:02:28] unused increment. The
[1:02:29] legislature makes us calculate
[1:02:30] and no new tax rate, which
[1:02:31] means that you collect the same
[1:02:34] amount of tax on the same
[1:02:36] properties year-over-year.
[1:02:36] So we're looking at it, which
[1:02:40] currently we're below the no
[1:02:41] new tax rate. You've asked for
[1:02:44] an increase above the no new
[1:02:45] tax rate.
[1:02:47] The no new tax rate basically
[1:02:47] says you can keep the same
[1:02:50] services if those services
[1:02:51] don't cost any more. We know
[1:02:54] costs for everything are going
[1:02:55] up. If you want to give raises,
[1:02:58] that has to be from you.
[1:02:58] Increasing your tax rate during
[1:03:01] a time when property values are
[1:03:03] going down. The voter approved
[1:03:07] tax rate is put in place by
[1:03:08] the Legislature to say.
[1:03:09] You can take the no new tax
[1:03:12] rate, increase it by 3 and a
[1:03:13] half percent. You're looking
[1:03:15] at raises for fire at 8 and a
[1:03:20] half percent. You're looking
[1:03:20] at raises for police a 6%.
[1:03:21] You're looking at your staff at
[1:03:24] only one and a half percent
[1:03:25] this year. And it's and it's
[1:03:26] because you're asking for
[1:03:27] you've done a tremendous job,
[1:03:30] putting this budget together.
[1:03:31] But as I've gone to both the
[1:03:33] first meeting and listen to
[1:03:36] the other meetings. Everybody
[1:03:39] here has said, please don't
[1:03:42] cut this service.
[1:03:42] The vast majority of phone
[1:03:44] calls that you're councilmen
[1:03:46] the received and your staff
[1:03:49] receives is never you know what
[1:03:50] could you cut the library
[1:03:54] hours? No one is ever asking
[1:03:56] for services to decline.
[1:03:58] We all want to live in a city
[1:03:59] that is doing well for itself
[1:04:00] doing well for its employees
[1:04:04] doing well for its citizens.
[1:04:06] We have that ability to go up.
[1:04:09] The fact that you're going up
[1:04:10] at all is all the pressure that
[1:04:11] anyone on council in anyone
[1:04:13] on staff is going to see
[1:04:16] whether you go up. You know,
[1:04:17] the tiniest bit.
[1:04:18] Or whether you go up the entire
[1:04:21] amount, you're legally allowed
[1:04:24] to go up. They're gonna say the
[1:04:25] same thing. So you'll always
[1:04:29] have your people that say you
[1:04:32] need to cut my tax rate.
[1:04:34] Cutting tax rates is not just
[1:04:36] about financial cutting tax
[1:04:41] rates means cutting services.
[1:04:42] I'm advocating that we in this
[1:04:43] city one to our services and we
[1:04:47] want to expand our services.
[1:04:51] We protect our seniors already.
[1:04:51] Our seniors have had a cap on
[1:04:57] their property tax since 2004.
[1:04:58] They pay no matter what maximum
[1:05:01] amount of their taxes that does
[1:05:03] not go up. It can go down if
[1:05:04] their property value goes down.
[1:05:10] But their value was capped.
[1:05:11] The rest of us are here and
[1:05:14] want to see the improvements
[1:05:16] made in this city.
[1:05:26] Yes, I want to also thank
[1:05:27] everybody about the nuisance
[1:05:27] abatement programs that we've
[1:05:30] been having. We need to keep
[1:05:31] that up to keep that funded.
[1:05:34] >> Because in district 9, it's
[1:05:38] helped out in Carter Park and
[1:05:38] over there, Rockies. Those
[1:05:40] businesses that were affecting
[1:05:44] the neighborhood. Those will
[1:05:44] also help. But I want to tie or
[1:05:48] buy. So I actually had to hike
[1:05:48] Mount Area. And then I notice
[1:05:52] differences. And I said the
[1:05:52] reason is education. So on the
[1:05:53] thing with the libraries, with
[1:05:56] education going on, probably we
[1:05:57] had 4 dies d we need to help
[1:05:58] out with the library's we stem.
[1:06:01] We need a stem lab there.
[1:06:02] We also need to do we actually
[1:06:05] increase the funding because we
[1:06:06] also have problem with the
[1:06:07] after school programs that the
[1:06:08] kids are not being able to go
[1:06:11] somewhere where they can be
[1:06:11] safe.
[1:06:16] And also have a 2 two's being
[1:06:17] there. Also to meet their needs
[1:06:17] because the difference in the
[1:06:18] West side and other
[1:06:20] neighborhoods that any side
[1:06:23] is education. So we need to
[1:06:25] focus on education as and when
[1:06:27] you put those are dollars
[1:06:31] toward that. So I don't want
[1:06:32] I want we're going to look for
[1:06:33] other ways, despite not just a
[1:06:36] raise in taxes and it's going
[1:06:38] to be the
[1:06:39] tough things such as data
[1:06:40] centers and other things there
[1:06:43] that and bring it.
[1:06:43] >> Taxes to it because outing I
[1:06:45] think we still have a
[1:06:48] shortfall. Even if we raise
[1:06:52] taxes. That's thank you.
[1:06:54] >> All right. I just wanted
[1:06:57] to compliment City staff and
[1:06:59] your judicious effort to reduce
[1:07:00] the budget without trimmings,
[1:07:01] significant city services.
[1:07:01] It's clear that you've looked
[1:07:03] for every opportunity. I do
[1:07:04] want to echo your sentiments.
[1:07:08] Many of the property owners I
[1:07:08] talked to expect a high
[1:07:09] standard. We talk a lot about a
[1:07:12] world class city and a high
[1:07:13] standard of service and all
[1:07:14] of the services that are listed
[1:07:16] are ones that are regularly.
[1:07:18] There's a hopeful wait list of
[1:07:19] >> projects and efforts that
[1:07:20] they expect services from the
[1:07:22] city related to those. So I do
[1:07:25] think that there is support.
[1:07:26] I would ask just so that we
[1:07:30] understand as a community what
[1:07:30] action can be taken if we're
[1:07:31] concerned about reductions to
[1:07:34] libraries, parks and kind of
[1:07:36] the core public spaces, what
[1:07:38] actions could the business
[1:07:39] community lead or get involved
[1:07:41] with to help reduce some of
[1:07:42] the burden. If there are going
[1:07:44] to be impacts is are there
[1:07:45] adopt a park programs or
[1:07:46] anything that would maybe
[1:07:49] preserve those services through
[1:07:51] partnership from citizens
[1:07:52] adopting Parks or business
[1:07:53] community advocating or
[1:07:55] supporting some of the core
[1:07:56] services you're concerned
[1:07:57] about.
[1:07:57] >> So, yes, there's those
[1:07:58] programs exist. Dave Lewis
[1:08:01] Reserve, and really there is
[1:08:04] parks directors here. We have
[1:08:06] adopted part programs. We have
[1:08:07] opportunities to partner, you
[1:08:10] know, but business wants to
[1:08:11] take over in the median in
[1:08:13] front of their, you know,
[1:08:15] reducing the causes city mo
[1:08:17] in median system of the parks
[1:08:19] Department. The library side of
[1:08:20] the library foundation that
[1:08:22] provides raises dollars and
[1:08:22] so businesses can partner with
[1:08:25] them. So there's a lot of those
[1:08:28] opportunities.
[1:08:36] I agree with you.
[1:08:37] >> He said this is the best,
[1:08:38] the best city in the work you
[1:08:43] lived here, you'd live to the
[1:08:46] heaven. And I mean, that.
[1:08:54] >> Side a quick like what kind
[1:08:57] of maybe macro level question.
[1:08:57] But I know that some people
[1:08:59] have mentioned that police and
[1:09:01] fire. We're seeing a huge
[1:09:03] increase relative in the
[1:09:04] general fund, maybe like
[1:09:05] 79 million dollars. I think
[1:09:08] roughly is what's on the
[1:09:12] screen.
[1:09:12] So can you expand a little bit
[1:09:13] on the relationship between the
[1:09:16] contractual obligation that we
[1:09:17] have with police and fire?
[1:09:19] To raise to give them salary
[1:09:22] increases. Things like that
[1:09:25] and how that relates to the
[1:09:25] survey that we take with
[1:09:26] citizens. The indicator that
[1:09:29] public safety is a big
[1:09:32] priority. And what kind of like
[1:09:33] the way there actually is in
[1:09:38] like is that I think a 6 in
[1:09:38] 8.5% are those fully
[1:09:40] contractually obligated?
[1:09:45] Are those above something
[1:09:45] that's been previously
[1:09:46] negotiated its its contractual
[1:09:47] >> Both of them, both police
[1:09:47] and fire. Have it have
[1:09:49] associations basic like a
[1:09:52] union? And so we do for your
[1:09:53] contracts.
[1:09:54] And so the four-year contract
[1:09:57] spells out each year. What
[1:09:58] there are across the board
[1:10:01] increase will be and you have a
[1:10:03] negotiation to go on.
[1:10:04] Within that parameter just
[1:10:05] based on their tenure. They
[1:10:09] also have step increases.
[1:10:11] So like.
[1:10:11] The percent. That's a
[1:10:13] combination of the across the
[1:10:15] board. Plus, the step increases
[1:10:15] that certain firefighters will
[1:10:16] get based on what the year that
[1:10:19] they're hitting. So that's the
[1:10:22] average across. But those are
[1:10:24] our contractual.
[1:10:24] And, you know, the the fire and
[1:10:27] the fire contract we're
[1:10:28] negotiating right now. But
[1:10:28] police was done 2 years ago.
[1:10:30] And so those are contractual
[1:10:33] straight across. A big increase
[1:10:35] in what you saw there are not
[1:10:37] just tied to the wages. They're
[1:10:37] also, you know, we the city
[1:10:40] council made the decision the
[1:10:41] city made the decision based on
[1:10:42] feedback from the citizens of
[1:10:43] that. We didn't have our
[1:10:46] ambulance service wasn't
[1:10:47] meeting. What we need to
[1:10:49] happen. Right? Response times
[1:10:50] were 12, 13, 14 minutes.
[1:10:54] And so the city brought that
[1:10:55] system n and basically in order
[1:10:55] to improve that the system
[1:10:57] wasn't working is because that
[1:10:59] a lot of deferred maintenance,
[1:11:00] that a lot of turnover, they
[1:11:01] were paying their folks enough,
[1:11:02] their lives in the market.
[1:11:05] So in order to get that up and
[1:11:06] going and get it down.
[1:11:07] And the weave, the city's had
[1:11:10] it for about a year. So as of
[1:11:10] this past JUNE, those response
[1:11:12] times are down to like 8 and
[1:11:13] half minutes. And it's because
[1:11:16] but the city had invest a lot
[1:11:18] of money in.
[1:11:20] Ambulances in personnel
[1:11:22] increases those kind of things.
[1:11:24] The new fire contract, by the
[1:11:25] way, part of that is that the
[1:11:27] ambulance service folks, the
[1:11:27] ems folks became part of the
[1:11:31] fired department and became
[1:11:32] firefighters. So she mentioned
[1:11:33] dual role. Firefighters are the
[1:11:35] ones that are trained to fight
[1:11:36] fires and everything else.
[1:11:37] Then we have single role
[1:11:41] firefighters, which is the ems
[1:11:43] side. So part of that contract,
[1:11:44] the reason it goes up is
[1:11:44] because we have added about
[1:11:45] 500 people to that area.
[1:11:50] So that's one of the big costs
[1:11:51] that's tied to that. And then
[1:11:55] really one of the things when
[1:11:57] I came as city manager is.
[1:11:58] You know, says we need as a
[1:11:58] city manager, his assistant
[1:11:59] city manager over department.
[1:12:01] You need to hold the
[1:12:05] department. Accountable for
[1:12:05] meeting their budget.
[1:12:07] That means you need to make
[1:12:10] sure that their budget is is
[1:12:11] right. You write it if you
[1:12:12] don't provide enough dollars to
[1:12:14] actually provide the service
[1:12:15] that's expected and they go
[1:12:18] over budget. It's kind of hard
[1:12:19] called somebody accountable
[1:12:19] because you never given the
[1:12:20] amount of money. And so one
[1:12:21] of the things that we're doing
[1:12:25] with the fire budget this year
[1:12:27] and and Kristan mentioned is
[1:12:28] right-sizing the overtime
[1:12:29] because in the last few years
[1:12:33] have gone over budget. But it's
[1:12:34] really because they needed over
[1:12:34] time is needed in order to have
[1:12:35] the firefighters are available
[1:12:36] to fight, fire, invite, you
[1:12:39] know, get the response times
[1:12:40] and then on the fleet services
[1:12:40] side, just the cost of
[1:12:43] everything has gone up big time
[1:12:47] and their vehicles are more
[1:12:48] expensive than the most.
[1:12:51] And so, you know, they their
[1:12:52] vehicles get and what?
[1:12:54] Chief Orton of a mile a gallon
[1:12:55] or something like 2 miles a
[1:12:58] gallon. So fuel costs are way
[1:12:59] up. Yeah, you know, just since
[1:13:01] covid in order to get parts
[1:13:03] and all those things along
[1:13:03] order times. So a lot of the
[1:13:06] costs are just up over on.
[1:13:06] So one of the things that we
[1:13:08] needed to do and I wanted to do
[1:13:11] as city manager is right-sized
[1:13:12] the budget so we can. Have a
[1:13:13] real conversation during the
[1:13:15] year with the fire department
[1:13:15] is why are you going over on
[1:13:17] this line item? What's you
[1:13:18] know, causing those things that
[1:13:19] happen as we go forward.
[1:13:21] So those some of the cost of
[1:13:23] kind of drove that. Above just
[1:13:27] the contractual. Wage side of
[1:13:30] things.
[1:13:34] >> My name is Liz Padilla with
[1:13:34] the Town Forest Neighborhood
[1:13:35] Association. So I'm here to
[1:13:39] advocate for Uptown Rock
[1:13:40] Island, Samuels Avenue. These
[1:13:41] are more specific questions
[1:13:42] tonight. Jay, I spoke to you a
[1:13:42] little bit off microphone.
[1:13:43] Sure, but I'm gonna ask again
[1:13:47] to make sure that I'm clear.
[1:13:47] So one of the things that's
[1:13:48] costly brought up at the
[1:13:51] monthly meetings is our street
[1:13:52] lighting.
[1:13:56] And there are multiple streets
[1:13:57] that have been approved for
[1:14:00] lighting because it does not
[1:14:01] meet city coat.
[1:14:01] In addition, also a pedestrian
[1:14:05] walkway, et cetera, which has
[1:14:06] been approved. So how do we
[1:14:07] advocate as a neighborhood
[1:14:10] association for those items?
[1:14:11] Well,
[1:14:12] >> I'm gonna ask you to raise
[1:14:14] your hand so you can see that's
[1:14:14] Lauren Prayer right there.
[1:14:15] Director Transportation public
[1:14:18] works. They probably have a
[1:14:19] list that has your streets and
[1:14:21] sidewalks and they maybe have a
[1:14:22] schedule when that potentially
[1:14:23] happens and it's not funded.
[1:14:27] Then how can we get it on the
[1:14:27] schedule? So I think the the
[1:14:28] that's the first step, right.
[1:14:31] And then ultimately when staff
[1:14:33] tells you. Where we or you're
[1:14:35] on the list and how we can.
[1:14:37] Then that advocate advocacy
[1:14:37] becomes talking to your elected
[1:14:38] officials about how we can move
[1:14:40] up the list potentially.
[1:14:41] But but first, I and have you
[1:14:44] work with staff to see where
[1:14:44] that he's okay?
[1:14:49] >> What what Laura also be a
[1:14:53] person of 4. There is about
[1:14:56] 2 acres north of Part that is
[1:14:56] not part of the park and it's
[1:14:57] not particularly meat
[1:14:57] maintained because the park
[1:15:01] doesn't have what, because it's
[1:15:02] not part of park.
[1:15:05] >> So what more would be coach
[1:15:08] Brian? Brian?
[1:15:10] So, yeah, so but if you like
[1:15:11] I said, he sent me an e-mail
[1:15:12] with those issues because it's
[1:15:15] 2 acres of open space that's
[1:15:16] just north of the park. We
[1:15:19] might be interested in making
[1:15:19] that part of
[1:15:21] the park. It's for self.
[1:15:23] So if you can send us and you
[1:15:24] can send me an email and and
[1:15:25] Dave Lewis and our open spaces
[1:15:29] can look at that. Thank you.
[1:15:30] I'd like to.
[1:15:34] >> I'm Allan Cejka. I live on
[1:15:36] Samuels Avenue and
[1:15:40] I moved here in 1979 and some
[1:15:43] of the street.
[1:15:46] We're not having anything done
[1:15:50] with since 1985. This year are
[1:15:51] getting done. Show your whole
[1:15:54] process of working with.
[1:15:58] >> Old.
[1:16:00] >> To finally getting something
[1:16:03] done. I thank you for finding
[1:16:04] making.
[1:16:05] >> The old the new and the
[1:16:10] already as part of a process.
[1:16:11] Thank you. And that's what lane
[1:16:11] mention.
[1:16:14] >> You know, the pavement
[1:16:17] management. It nearly doubles
[1:16:20] what we have in Pago.
[1:16:21] And so what they're going to
[1:16:22] put into place is to keep your
[1:16:23] streets and fair streets from
[1:16:24] falling into that condition
[1:16:27] is one of the things so that
[1:16:27] you stop. We stopped digging
[1:16:30] the hole, right? At least stop
[1:16:32] digging the hole.
[1:16:32] By having more streets, find
[1:16:34] fall into that so that
[1:16:35] ultimately we can get to those
[1:16:36] streets and fill in the hole
[1:16:37] with bond because the last
[1:16:38] thing you want to do it, I
[1:16:40] mean, think about it. You don't
[1:16:44] want to use your 30 year
[1:16:46] mortgage. To buy.
[1:16:48] We walker that's going to last
[1:16:49] for years, right? Because
[1:16:51] you're paying interest for 30
[1:16:54] years. So we do want to use
[1:16:56] that.
[1:16:56] Do maintenance on the street
[1:16:58] the last 4 years. We want to
[1:17:00] ease cash if we can. And that's
[1:17:02] what that fee will help us to.
[1:17:07] >> Because it took from 19 93.
[1:17:10] Until.
[1:17:13] Hampton Road to not be
[1:17:13] washboard way.
[1:17:15] And it's the only 4 blocks at
[1:17:19] that street that have never
[1:17:20] been touched.
[1:17:21] It hasn't been done yet, but
[1:17:22] it's part of the program.
[1:17:26] They're working on it. That's
[1:17:29] where I'm happy. Again. Going
[1:17:32] back to Creech of traders.
[1:17:35] So part that nobody seems to
[1:17:38] know who owns it.
[1:17:43] The the issue about that is
[1:17:44] in 18. 49, when Traders Oak
[1:17:48] Park had a trading building
[1:17:50] on it, the military, the
[1:17:53] Indians and the settlers went
[1:17:54] there to get water.
[1:17:58] That water system that they
[1:17:59] used is in that create that
[1:18:00] right now. We apparently don't
[1:18:02] know who owns and the city is
[1:18:05] taking care of. We can find out
[1:18:07] who owns it. You can just see
[1:18:09] me as we can do. That thing is
[1:18:11] when the railroad put the spur
[1:18:13] line in on the side of traders
[1:18:16] show park to go to Cargill or
[1:18:17] whatever it is. Well, that is
[1:18:20] all been removed to Snell, void
[1:18:22] land.
[1:18:25] Does the railroad maintain the
[1:18:26] ownership of that land? Does it
[1:18:28] go back to who owned it prior
[1:18:32] to the railroad taking it or
[1:18:32] does it belong to the people
[1:18:35] that use the railroad track to
[1:18:37] move their product out of
[1:18:39] there, commercial building,
[1:18:43] either one set on it. So that's
[1:18:46] my question. Is because that's
[1:18:48] a road of unused.
[1:18:51] Property that MAY or MAY not be
[1:18:54] a part of your original
[1:18:55] traders. Oak property.
[1:18:55] >> All good questions. I've
[1:18:58] never known a railroad to give
[1:18:59] anything away. So.
[1:19:00] Line. Yeah, I know what by the
[1:19:02] road. I've never known the
[1:19:06] beginning. I had one question
[1:19:07] back there.
[1:19:11] >> So I know this is a bit of a
[1:19:12] hot topic recently, that's
[1:19:14] first of my knowledge and I
[1:19:14] wish him more informed as I try
[1:19:16] to be informed when I come to
[1:19:19] meetings like this. But I know
[1:19:20] the police department has
[1:19:23] recently signed a new or
[1:19:25] contract with Flock. With the
[1:19:26] drones that have been. That
[1:19:32] have been developed recently.
[1:19:33] And I was just curious as snow
[1:19:34] when that contract and if you
[1:19:36] would have to turn around and
[1:19:38] has to if it's possible to look
[1:19:39] at that contract been cut
[1:19:45] because I know a lot of people.
[1:19:46] And Fort Worth have concerns
[1:19:46] suffer. Who is accessing those
[1:19:48] cameras and for what purpose
[1:19:51] they have. For accessing.
[1:19:53] And it's just very
[1:19:55] I just I feel very distrustful
[1:19:56] as many others, too.
[1:20:01] >> So I would suggest that you
[1:20:01] maybe have a meeting with with
[1:20:02] the folks in the police
[1:20:04] department. They use them so
[1:20:05] you can get clarity on how
[1:20:06] those those are used and and
[1:20:08] wider use and the policies
[1:20:11] around their use. I don't know
[1:20:12] the dates how long the contract
[1:20:16] isn't anything off the top.
[1:20:19] My head. Is there a p d anybody
[1:20:21] from?
[1:20:21] Maybe we can have. Have you
[1:20:26] have a ham have a meeting with
[1:20:27] g for it? 2 car ball.
[1:20:27] Then you can answer your
[1:20:30] questions and provide details.
[1:20:32] I think there's a lot of stuff
[1:20:35] on the Internet that. That's
[1:20:38] not necessarily.
[1:20:41] Not necessarily.
[1:20:41] People say, well, you face
[1:20:42] facial recognition flock
[1:20:46] cameras in the city don't have.
[1:20:47] You know, facial recognition.
[1:20:48] So there's a lot of stuff out
[1:20:49] there that's out there. That's
[1:20:51] misinformation. The people get
[1:20:54] excited about. I can tell you
[1:20:57] this. It. Those cameras have
[1:20:59] been highly effective in
[1:21:00] solving crime and catching bad
[1:21:01] guys. Like really bad, bad
[1:21:04] guys. A lot quicker than
[1:21:07] otherwise would happen.
[1:21:07] >> j I got so caught up in my
[1:21:09] compliments to your staff that
[1:21:10] I forgot my actual question to
[1:21:13] you. But I did mean those
[1:21:14] compliments and sincerely.
[1:21:14] So, Christiane, earlier you had
[1:21:19] that kind of barbell scale.
[1:21:19] Slide, which showed that there
[1:21:21] were was an improvement.
[1:21:24] There is still sort of money
[1:21:26] on the table.
[1:21:27] Between our current tax
[1:21:30] estimated tax value for an
[1:21:36] average. Taxpayer. Here it was
[1:21:41] over. The scale. One.
[1:21:44] It's near the end.
[1:21:45] This witness.
[1:21:47] >> The scandal got Gates and I
[1:21:48] understanding it's quite
[1:21:50] nominal. We're not talking
[1:21:54] about $1000, but there seems to
[1:21:55] be some money for Fy 2027 still
[1:21:58] on the table. And I just wonder
[1:21:59] what was the decision that led
[1:22:02] to leaving that small gap for
[1:22:02] each taxpayer on average.
[1:22:04] >> We then I'd in was an
[1:22:07] attempt to actually it was how
[1:22:09] much we thought.
[1:22:10] Reduce the budget without
[1:22:11] having huge impacts of the
[1:22:15] citizens on the services right.
[1:22:16] And then the difference was
[1:22:19] what I decided to increase the
[1:22:21] tax rate by okay.
[1:22:21] We hadn't even checked to see
[1:22:22] what the actual impact was
[1:22:26] until after the fact. And so as
[1:22:29] more of where we feel
[1:22:29] comfortable reductions that
[1:22:31] and there were still wearing a
[1:22:34] of y'all don't want some of the
[1:22:35] reductions right? But if we let
[1:22:35] we went further would've been a
[1:22:38] lot more people, right? So
[1:22:39] that's that's really. How we
[1:22:41] got to this number was a
[1:22:42] purposeful, pretty close.
[1:22:45] Yeah, it is pretty clear it
[1:22:46] wasn't possible.
[1:22:47] >> And the tax rate change that
[1:22:50] would bring these 2 things in
[1:22:53] perfect alignment is fairly
[1:22:53] nominal, but really the every
[1:22:56] every 100 of the penny. So you
[1:22:57] know that.
[1:22:59] >> The right to 0, you make it
[1:23:00] to one. It's at $110,000.
[1:23:02] Got it. So to the budget.
[1:23:02] So every 100 is about 110 is
[1:23:05] 110,000. Okay. Thank you, Jay.
[1:23:13] We got one back here. First.
[1:23:14] Okay. As a two-part question
[1:23:15] I know is on the boards back
[1:23:17] there. Some of the information
[1:23:18] is general.
[1:23:19] >> It's kind of like I don't
[1:23:19] want to put the sticker on
[1:23:22] there because I don't later on.
[1:23:23] I don't know. Specifics.
[1:23:23] So like I say, oh, I want the
[1:23:28] neighborhood to be transformed
[1:23:29] to me for partnership with the
[1:23:31] a private company that set out
[1:23:33] there on the border on the comp
[1:23:34] plan. Yes, so I was thinking as
[1:23:34] they I say might be a
[1:23:36] partnership with something I
[1:23:39] don't like. But I was which
[1:23:41] leads me to the next part.
[1:23:44] Well, is there something on
[1:23:44] this on the city website are
[1:23:45] some that we can look to the
[1:23:48] What gets cut that way? We know
[1:23:50] what the fight for. I was on
[1:23:52] the year. The city's priority
[1:23:54] to cut on the paygo money.
[1:23:54] So the this presentation and
[1:23:55] also the presentation to
[1:23:59] provide the city council is on.
[1:23:59] >> On our website, the
[1:24:00] itemized, if they're all
[1:24:02] listed, all the cuts are listed
[1:24:07] on there. Okay, ok, thank you.
[1:24:09] So question.
[1:24:10] i'm just a simple resident
[1:24:10] here. So
[1:24:13] >> I you know, this MAY be.
[1:24:16] Really simple how much of this?
[1:24:20] Revenue is from residential
[1:24:21] property taxes and how much the
[1:24:24] companies and corporations.
[1:24:24] Hey, how much of that is is
[1:24:27] that they're contributing and
[1:24:29] I'd like to know that.
[1:24:32] >> On the property tax about
[1:24:32] 60% of our revenue. Is
[1:24:35] residential, but that includes
[1:24:36] apartments as well. Right?
[1:24:39] Multi-family is part of the
[1:24:42] residential. Yes. So I would
[1:24:46] say about 53 to 54%.
[1:24:46] The city's tax base, it's
[1:24:49] probably less now. We have to
[1:24:49] recalculate it. It was 53.
[1:24:53] 54 from just single-family
[1:24:53] residential.
[1:24:55] But that was before the values
[1:24:58] have gone down some so it might
[1:24:59] be close to 50, 50. Then you
[1:25:00] have the apartment with row
[1:25:00] apartments because the
[1:25:03] residential but into the
[1:25:04] residential calculation.
[1:25:07] It's we've the city for the
[1:25:10] last 10 years has been trying
[1:25:13] to more right-size that we were
[1:25:14] at sick almost 65% about.
[1:25:18] Together about 15 years ago.
[1:25:18] And so we brought it down 5%.
[1:25:21] But as as I mentioned last
[1:25:23] night, we had it.
[1:25:24] 2 billion dollars and net
[1:25:28] growth last year and the on the
[1:25:28] commercial side and the
[1:25:29] residential reduction kind of
[1:25:32] took that off the books because
[1:25:33] it's we're a large city.
[1:25:35] So it takes a look. Takes a
[1:25:35] while to get enough values on
[1:25:38] the business side to start
[1:25:40] balancing that out.
[1:25:42] From a long-term perspective
[1:25:42] for us as a citizen as a
[1:25:45] taxpayer, you just thought of
[1:25:47] yourself as a taxpayer.
[1:25:47] You want to have more
[1:25:49] commercial and business paying
[1:25:51] taxes to keep our. Taxes low.
[1:25:54] And so that's the Ying and Yang
[1:25:56] of.
[1:25:57] Everybody wants their taxes
[1:25:57] lower. But lots of times they
[1:25:58] don't want a business located
[1:26:01] in close to where they live.
[1:26:04] So it's that back and forth.
[1:26:09] >> And everyone said earlier, I
[1:26:10] heard you say that hope is get
[1:26:12] hopes team is getting cut.
[1:26:14] And I was asking. If you can
[1:26:15] provide some more information,
[1:26:17] but worth of services are going
[1:26:21] to go and what the city
[1:26:22] apartment will be for our ice
[1:26:24] caps this population. Sure.
[1:26:25] So the.
[1:26:26] >> The actual services not
[1:26:27] being eliminated just can be
[1:26:27] done by a different group that
[1:26:30] can be done by folks on the ems
[1:26:30] side.
[1:26:33] >> Versus the dual role.
[1:26:34] Firefighters who are. We'll go
[1:26:36] back to the stations and can
[1:26:36] fight fires. Because currently
[1:26:38] there doing that work and we
[1:26:42] have to pay somebody else over
[1:26:43] time to be in the in the
[1:26:44] firehouse. So we get him back
[1:26:45] in the firehouse will reduce
[1:26:46] the cost of the overtime.
[1:26:48] That's what the savings is and
[1:26:51] ems folks will continue to
[1:26:54] deliver that service.
[1:26:59] >> I just want
[1:27:01] to support the man over there
[1:27:03] said we need to go for hire
[1:27:06] tax rate.
[1:27:07] >> Just one where you
[1:27:10] can vote.
[1:27:12] >> I mean, I think we can do
[1:27:14] that. And Ed, I must say, as
[1:27:16] we've advocated for libraries,
[1:27:20] but I'm going to advocate for
[1:27:21] the front-facing Parks and
[1:27:23] Rec Department, the co
[1:27:23] compliance folks, developmental
[1:27:26] Services.
[1:27:26] >> I deal with them as a
[1:27:30] neighborhood later every day,
[1:27:32] every day. So I really think
[1:27:36] that if we can. This is not a
[1:27:37] final product under. It's not a
[1:27:39] final product, but if that is
[1:27:41] on possible, an incremental
[1:27:42] increase that could help.
[1:27:44] Those departments would be
[1:27:45] beneficial.
[1:27:46] >> You sound like are council
[1:27:49] members yesterday and the day
[1:27:50] before yesterday.
[1:27:53] I would suggest you tune in
[1:27:56] tomorrow's budget meeting.
[1:28:05] Calming myself.
[1:28:08] >> I get excited very easily
[1:28:14] I'm now thinking about parks
[1:28:18] and recreation. There was a
[1:28:19] bond issue. We voted for.
[1:28:20] We supposedly increase some of
[1:28:24] those dollar amounts. But yet.
[1:28:25] In reference to our
[1:28:28] neighborhood, we're not seeing
[1:28:30] any benefits from it.
[1:28:33] Again, I'm dealing with Park.
[1:28:41] And the other question I have
[1:28:42] is. The coordination of
[1:28:44] the people that read black top
[1:28:50] our streets and when they re
[1:28:51] blacktop them because I waited
[1:28:54] 20 years for Samuels Avenue to
[1:28:56] get a new blacktop.
[1:28:57] One week after it was
[1:29:00] completely done. They started
[1:29:01] digging up for a
[1:29:03] water line that ruined
[1:29:06] everything that they did.
[1:29:09] >> So now you go.
[1:29:09] In front of my house because
[1:29:13] they transfer the water line
[1:29:14] from the odd side of the street
[1:29:16] to the even side of the street
[1:29:20] at my property. And when they
[1:29:23] filled in the black top, they
[1:29:25] didn't They created the ditch
[1:29:26] and it took 2 years before the
[1:29:30] ditch became a only a little
[1:29:30] from come help. So a
[1:29:35] coordination of where the city
[1:29:38] works on road repair and road
[1:29:39] construction and road
[1:29:41] resurfacing. Nice to have a
[1:29:43] little more coordination show.
[1:29:45] We don't pay to have a brand
[1:29:48] new road and a week later get
[1:29:49] something worse than what we
[1:29:49] had.
[1:29:50] >> I agree with you that we try
[1:29:52] to coordinate our
[1:29:54] transportation public works and
[1:29:55] the water to the water
[1:29:55] Department tries to coordinate
[1:29:56] one of the things that you
[1:29:59] can't coordinate or you can't.
[1:30:03] Can't time is one of the water
[1:30:04] line breaks.
[1:30:06] So the water line break, Sarah
[1:30:07] and bright. This was a new
[1:30:10] water line that was larger
[1:30:11] because of the Kelly apartment
[1:30:11] com.
[1:30:14] >> So those development and
[1:30:14] it was for the development that
[1:30:15] was put in a billion. That's
[1:30:17] that's what is more tied to
[1:30:20] the development. Any other
[1:30:22] questions?
[1:30:24] Well, thank you all. Thank you
[1:30:25] for coming out this Council
[1:30:27] Mbeki want to close the show.
[1:30:27] Are you good? Okay.
[1:30:28] >> Well, thank you all. Thanks
[1:30:31] for being here. Appreciate it.