Page 30 - Hurst FY20 Approved Budget

Information concerning the Debt Service fund is provided in the Other Funds section.

Long Term Strategic Plan Process

Each year, a formal review and revision of the Strategic Plan is performed by the City Council
before the budget process begins. In 2017, the City Council met in March for a strategic planning
session and took a new step in establishing the city’s first vision statement and community
values along with six strategic priorities. They met again in 2018 and 2019 to evaluate the
strategic plan and reaffirmed the city’s vision, mission, strategic priorities, and values. The results
were communicated to city staff to ensure they understood City Council’s policy direction. Staff
Action Plans prepared from the review influenced and guided the development of the approved
budget and the multi-year financial overview. The Action Plans and strategic priorities for 2019-
2020 are included in the budget. The strategic priorities of Redevelopment, Public Safety,
Leadership, Innovation, Economic Vitality, and Infrastructure guide the actions plans and goals
for each department. A few particular focus areas will be highlighted below.

Redevelopment and Economic Vitality: An extremely important part of the Action Plans for
the city of Hurst’s long-term success is the Economic Development and Transforming Hurst
policies. Among other strategies, the policies focus on the following:

• Continue aggressive business retention and development programs
• Strengthen relationship with North East Mall to remain vital and community friendly
• Target businesses that are underrepresented in the area but growing in Region
• Continue to utilize state-of-the-art technology for economic development
• Continue work with development partners to implement actions identified in the
Sustainability Plan
• Work with the Hurst Conference Center to enhance its volume and take advantage of
the newly connected hotel

Under these priorities revenue sharing and other economic development tools will help the
city be successful in our efforts. Approximately 20 years ago, Simon Property Group, owners of
North East Mall, approached city officials and requested their participation in the expansion of
the mall, a practice that has become increasingly prevalent between developers and cities in a
competitive retail environment. Simon’s plans evolved from the addition of one anchor tenant,
and remodeling, to a major expansion with three additional anchor tenants and expanded
specialty shops, and the addition of an adjacent retail center called The Shops at North East Mall.
The Shops at North East Mall out performed expectations and the city made its final revenue
sharing payment sooner than expected. The agreement for revenue sharing at North East Mall is
still in effect and it is expected that the city will continue sharing revenue on the Mall agreement
until the end of the contract term in March 2023.

The projects were determined to be financially beneficial through a comprehensive cost/benefit
analysis, which verified city projections of an annual net benefit to the city of approximately
$7 million dollars over a 20-year period. In addition, the city benefits from the expanded
employment base of around 3,000 jobs. Of primary importance, the project was deemed
necessary to preserve the financial integrity of the city’s sales tax base. The mall area makes
up approximately one third of the city’s sales tax base. The North East Mall expansion with its
generation of additional sales tax, and property tax revenues, and its positive effect on the area’s
economy, is considered one of the city’s best investments. Additionally, the city is currently
working with Simon Property Group to plan the next major redevelopment at North East Mall.

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