Page 8 - Haltom City FY20 Approved Budget

City of Haltom City Annual Budget, FY 2020 Introduction

Priorities for the FY2020 focus on economic development, community revitalization,
public/private partnerships, continuing a compensation plan for City employees,
performance measurements, and capital improvements to include an infrastructure
replacement plan.

Economic Development – Three major economic development projects for the City are
the North East Loop 820 Corridor, the Belknap Corridor and Overall Community
revitalization / redevelopment. Beginning in FY2019 and continuing in to FY2020, the City
will experience approximately $600 million in new growth through private sector
investments. In FY2020, the City, with the help of a commercial marketing firm, will
proactively pursue innovative solutions for development along the 820 corridor. Analyzing
the needed goods and services for this area will help shape the identity of our community
and provide a significant economic impact.

Community Revitalization / Redevelopment—Development plans for code
enforcement and community beautification continue to be a priority to the City Council.
As such, plans will be re-evaluated and formulated to encourage investments and
enhance the attractiveness of the community for further revitalization and redevelopment.
This initiative will require a significant investment in enhanced code enforcement
operations, public space beautification, and owner-occupied home improvement
assistance. These efforts have the goal of making our city a great place to live, visit, and
conduct business.

Compensation – The Council’s first Long-term strategic goal is to “continue to build and
maintain an empowered and loyal workforce.” The City’s investment in personnel is
important. Beyond the cost of salaries and benefits, is the value of experience and
knowledge inherent in a tenured workforce. The value of continued investment in the
employees through training and continuing education cannot be minimized. There are no
merit-based adjustments proposed for FY2020. However, there is a planned salary
adjustment for all employees, as follows:

 For sworn employees, a 2.5% increase along with any scheduled step increases
 For non-sworn (general) employees, there will be a 2.5% increase for those in their
current position over a year—or for those in their current position less than a year
who are making less than $50,000 annually

For the outlying years, the challenge will be to provide a competitive compensation
package of salaries and benefits in order to attract and retain employees. Complicating
this challenge is the evolving issues of unfunded pension costs, health insurance industry
changes from Federal legislation, and other post-employment benefits.

Personnel Expenditures/Expenses—There are six added positions for FY2020: 1
firefighter, a sign technician, an environmental service technician, an environmental

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