At a Fort Worth City Council meeting on August 8, City Manager David Cooke unveiled a proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-2024. Several additional meetings are scheduled to take place on the budget throughout August and September before finalization, but several items stand out as being of potential interest to the business community.
Overview
The theme of the budget is “So Safe | So Clean | So Green”, which was often alluded to in the City Manager’s presentation. The City Council’s stated strategic vision priorities for quality of life included 1) economic development and community investment, 2) community safety, and 3) infrastructure, responsible growth, and fiscal responsibility. The total proposed operating budget is $2.6 billion, an 11.5% increase compared to last year’s budget.
General fund revenues are broken down as follows:
Property Taxes
For homeowners and commercial property owners, property taxes are the city budget item that most directly impacts their bottom line. Taxable value in the City of Fort Worth has increased from $100.1 billion last fiscal year to nearly $115.7 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The $15.6 billion increase is driven primarily by increased property values ($12.4 billion) and supplemented by new construction ($3.2 billion).
The recommended tax rate is 67.25 cents per $100 valuation, a 4-cent decrease compared to last year. According to the City, the increased taxable value combined with the property tax rate decrease would result in an overall 10.8% increase in revenue, or $71.6 million more than last year.
Public Safety
Police ($299 million) and Fire ($193 million) comprise the two largest departments in the City, totaling more than half of the general revenue budget (53%).
In total, the proposed budget supports the creation of 106 new police positions, including 21 new patrol officers, 14 additional 9-1-1 call takers, 10 specialized sworn personnel, and nine new school resource officers.
The Fire Department stands to gain 76 new positions and new technology with a $20 million increase compared to last year’s budget.
Homelessness
Homelessness has emerged as a top issue facing Fort Worth businesses.
As a percentage of funding from last fiscal year, Neighborhood Services is the individual department with the largest increase in funding, moving from $14.3 million last year to a proposed $23.1 million. The Neighborhood Improvement Program’s proposed funding is $8 million, double the amount from last budget. An additional $2 million is allocated for the priority home repair program for homeowners, enough for an additional 200 homes. The initial presentation did not contain specific details, but stated that the increased funding in Neighborhood Services would include enhanced efforts to reduce homelessness.
Included in the Police budget is a staffing increase for the HOPE Team, which “works to find housing programs for the homeless to keep them out of jail or the hospital”, according to the City’s website.
City Manager David Cooke also stated that more money would be allocated in Code Enforcement for homeless camp cleanups.
Infrastructure
Costs for utilities will increase for residents and business owners in Fort Worth, as follows:
These represent the first rate increases for each utility in several years. The stated reasons for the fee increases are to increase capital investment in infrastructure, and to keep pace with inflation and rehabilitation needs.
The budget calls from wrapping up the 2018 bond program, which included hundreds of millions in road construction and repairs, as well as continuing implementation of the 2022 bond program, which totals $560 million primarily for roads and parks/recreation. The budget proposal indicates another bond should be planned for 2026.
Future meeting dates regarding the proposed budget can be found on the City of Fort Worth’s website.
Advocacy at Work
The Fort Worth Chamber joined with more than 100 fellow chambers of commerce and industry trade associations in opposition to anti-arbitration legislation in Congress. Read the full letter and list of organizations signed onto the letter here.
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