Page 24 - Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

special projects. The use of $920,000 in General Fund unrestricted reserves is scheduled to replace and to upgrade the
Fire Department’s communications system. General Fund revenues, excluding transfers, are projected to exceed
expenditures by approximately $799,586. By using $1,670,000 in unrestricted reserves and transferring $100,000 from
the Road Damage Fund, the fund balance of the General Fund is projected to decrease from $8,791,267 to $8,020,853
by the end of 2018-19.

The 2018-19 Budget does not include the use of Debt Service Fund reserves to finance principal and interest payments
for General Obligation bonds. For this fiscal year, an estimated $217,797 will be added to Debt Service Fund reserves.
The fund balance of the Debt Service Fund is projected to increase from $166,288 to $384,085. Reserves are restricted;
the only allowable use is to pay principal on general obligation bonds and certificates of obligation bonds, interest on
bonds and certificates, and agent fees.

MAINTENANCE OF THE PROPERTY TAX RATE

A major concern of the Council during the deliberation of the 2018-19 Budget was the City’s property tax rate. After
reviewing the change in assessed valuations and considering potential commercial development in the upcoming
years, Council established the property tax rate at $0.6400 per $100 valuation. The 2018-19 rate is rate as the 2017-18
adopted rate of $0.6400. The General Fund portion of the property tax rate was reduced by one-half cent from $0.6125
to $0.6075. The Debt Service Fund portion of the property tax rate was adjusted by one-half cent from $0.0275 to
$0.0325.

The certified tax roll received from the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) in July 2018 shows the total appraised value of
property in Benbrook at $2,377,391,093; TAD provided revised assessed valuation and property tax data in September
2018; however, the July 2018 totals are used for all 2018-19 budget calculations. Total exemptions (over-65,
homestead, disability, veterans, pro-rated absolute, and nominal value - below $500) for 2018-19 are $141,502,574.
Total adjustments (absolute exemptions, cases before the Appraisal Review Board, and incomplete accounts) are
$196,837,153. TAD’s minimum projected value of property under protest and/or in incomplete accounts is $49,617,849.
The total net taxable value used to project revenues for 2018-19 is $2,088,669,215. Based on the tax rate of $0.6400,
current property tax collections are projected to be $13,367,483 for both the General Fund and the Debt Service Fund
property tax revenue.

CITY OF BENBROOK 2018-19 ANNUAL BUDGET
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