Page 14 - City of Arlington FY19 Adopted Operating Budget

Manager’s Message

Street Maintenance Fund
Voters have approved spending one-quarter cent of sales tax receipts for the maintenance, rehabilitation and repair of City
streets. Although annual sales tax revenue growth has slowed in the last two years to its long-term average of approximately
3%, we continue to see a moderate growth trend that provides support for the maintenance of our street infrastructure.

Debt Service Fund

The City incurs debt for the acquisition and construction of capital projects and must make annual payments to repay bonds
previously issued. General Obligation bonds are funded wholly through a designated portion of the City’s property tax rate,
while Certificates of Obligation incorporate other funding sources as well as ad valorem taxes. The portion of the 63.48 cent tax
rate per $100 of property value included in this budget for debt service is 19.20 cents.

With the most recent debt issuances in June 2018, the City is also meeting all Financial Policies established by the Council with
regards to debt per capita, debt to total taxable assessed value, and debt expenditures to total expenditures. By meeting these
policies, the credit rating agencies have upgraded the ratings for the City, Water Utilities, and Stormwater. Currently the City
has the highest credit ratings in its history. The City, Water Utilities, and Stormwater are rated AAA by Fitch and Standard &
Poors, and Aa1 by Moodys.

Conclusion

So what does all of this mean for the average Arlington household in FY 2019?

 Property tax goes up by $5.64 per month
 Water and Sewer rate increases $2.28 per month for 9 months beginning January 1 (the average residence uses
about 7,000/4,000 gallons of water/sewer per month)
 Garbage rate increases $1.00 per month
 Storm Water rate increases 50¢ per month

The average resident will pay $106.20 more per year ($8.85 per month) for City, Water, Sanitation, and Storm Water services.

I want to thank everyone who assisted in the development of this budget. I appreciate the continued dedication to our strong
financial principles and management. Thanks to the City Council for providing clear direction and oversight, and to the Council
and staff for working together to develop programs that advance our priorities. Thanks also to departments who were able to
identify efficiency measures and reductions that allowed us to reallocate resources to our most important priorities.

We respectfully present this budget for consideration by the Mayor and City Council and look forward to finalizing our plan of
work to serve our City’s residents in FY 2019.

Sincerely,

Trey Yelverton
City Manager

2019 Adopted Budget and Business Plan ix City of Arlington, Texas