Page 374 - Hurst FY20 Approved Budget

ANTI-CRIME HALF CENT SALES TAX FUND

The Anti-Crime Half Cent Sales Tax Fund is a special revenue fund established to record receipts
collected by the State for a one-half percent sales tax on taxable items sold within Hurst for crime
control and prevention programs. The Hurst Crime Control District was authorized to collect the
sales tax by voter referendum on September 9, 1995.

In 1989, legislation had been passed which authorized a Crime Control and Prevention District
(Article 2370c-4, Section 3.01, Vernon Civil Statutes) to allow cities and counties to establish a
district and impose a local sales tax of 3 or 2 percent to fund its programs; however, only one
county qualified. In 1993, legislative changes extended eligibility for creating and funding a district
to include several other counties, more areas within the counties and a few cities in large counties.
The legislation allowed a city's governing body to propose its own crime control and prevention
district if the municipality was located (wholly or partially) within a county with a population of more
than 1 million and the combined local tax rate would not exceed 2 percent. Therefore, cities in
Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties were eligible. Early in 1995, the City of Fort Worth was
the first city to enact the tax. Hurst was the second city in the state to enact the tax. The Hurst
Crime Control District has the same boundaries as the City of Hurst with sales tax collected from all
businesses located within the City. A crime control plan and a two-year financial plan were created
by the Board. The Crime Control Plan outlined the prevention strategies for the district and included
a method for evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies. The Two-Year Financial Plan included a
budget for each strategy, revenue projections, and project-ending balances. After overwhelming
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voter approval of the tax on September 9 , the anti-crime budget was included in the 1995-1996
Operating Budget and was approved on September 12, 1995. In the 2014-2015 budget process,
due to the continued economic downfall, the City Manager implemented a $5 million reserve to
ensure continued financial stability of this fund.

The revenue source allows the City to provide funding for Police personnel and capital equipment
which would not be available through the normal budget process. Some of the benefits that Hurst
citizens receive from the Anti-Crime tax are programs targeted to strengthen gang intervention
activities, enhance neighborhood and business crime watch programs, and enforce domestic
violence programs. Also, additional patrol officers reduce response times for emergency calls.

Revenues generated by the Crime Control District provide relief to the General Fund for expanded
crime prevention and enforcement activities. The new tax created an opportunity for the City
Council to provide tax relief to Hurst citizens in the form of an Ad Valorem tax rate reduction of 1/2
of one cent and to maintain senior citizen and disabled citizen exemptions at $35,000 to offset the
impact of the tax increase to Hurst citizens.

The 1/2 cent increase in sales tax was effective on January 1, 1996; one complete calendar quarter
after the State Comptroller was notified of the results of the election. The City began receiving
sales tax on March 1, 1996. Previously, the law provided that one complete calendar quarter must
elapse for the new rate to take effect on the following October 1, 1996. Police Department staff was
instrumental in changing the law to remove this requirement through Senate Bill 7974 in order for
collections to begin in Fiscal Year 1995-96 instead of fiscal year 1996-97.

An election was held on August 12, 2000 for the purpose of renewing the Crime Control and
Prevention District for ten years. Voters approved the renewal of the District and the continuance of
the half cent sales tax with 91% of voters favoring the proposition. The Crime Control and
Prevention District went before the voters again in May 2010 and was passed by an overwhelming
majority. The 2010 election approved a twenty year continuance of the sales tax.

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