Page 18 - Fort Worth City Budget 2019

Executive Message

Budget Message

December 13, 2018

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
City of Fort Worth, Texas

I am pleased to present you with the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019) Adopted Budget. For a third consecutive year, the
city’s economic outlook remains positive—from improvements in local job growth and sales tax collections to
increases in residential and commercial values and new construction. As we have seen this continued growth we
have also seen increased demands on city services and infrastructure, and ultimately the requests for city funding.
We will continue to build upon previous years’ efforts to make the city leaner and more effective to ensure the
long-term protection of our quality of life.

I am presenting you with a balanced $731 million General Fund budget that achieves the following:
• Increases the cash funding dedicated to capital projects, including funds for street maintenance and repair,
neighborhood vitality and safety, park maintenance and improvements, and information technology
• Staffs Fire Station 43 in southwest Fort Worth
• Allocates resources to implement the city’s Economic Development Strategic Plan
• Balances “pay for performance” and health benefits
• Commits resources to improve the retirement program’s viability
• Continues the practice of not using reserves to fund operations
• Lowers the property tax rate by two cents; the tax rate drops to 78.5 cents from 80.5 cents per $100 of
assessed taxable value – marking the third consecutive year of property tax rate decreases

Addressing the growing demands on our city’s resources, the citywide FY2019 Adopted Budget—which includes
the Debt Service Fund and most operating funds—totals just over $1.9 billion, an increase of 2.84 percent over
the FY2018 Budget. The citywide budget also includes a total of 7,645 approved positions (AP) or 7,173.1 full-time
equivalent positions (FTE), an increase of 81.3 FTE (84 positions) from the FY2018 Budget.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, as well as one of the most livable communities, we believe the
future is bright for the City of Fort Worth. We expect the continuation of both job and population growth as more
companies and people move to Fort Worth. The FY2019 Adopted Budget represents our plan to meet our
responsibility to ensure appropriate investments toward infrastructure while maintaining quality levels of
services. The future of Fort Worth continues to look bright.

Respectfully submitted,

David Cooke
City Manager

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