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CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
October 1, 2019
Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
City of North Richland Hills
North Richland Hills, Texas
It is my privilege to submit the City of North Richland Hills Adopted FY 2019/2020 Budget to
the City Council. The budget represents the financial plan for delivering the municipal
services that we believe are desired and expected by residents, businesses and visitors to
the City of NRH. The budget is developed based on direction from the City Council, as
conveyed from the community through surveys, public forums, citizen correspondence and
your discussions with residents throughout the city.
The past year has seen the achievement of several significant accomplishments and
improvements to our community. In February 2019, the City Council met and reaffirmed the City
Goals and Objectives. One of these goals is Efficient, Effective Transportation System.
Improving our transportation systems has been a high point for the past year.
In January 2019, TEXRail initiated service to the Iron Horse and Smithfield stations achieving a
decades-long plan for providing rail service to our citizens. This service significantly improves
accessibility between DFW Airport and downtown Fort Worth. TEXRail not only provides an
economical and efficient means for NRH residents to access these other regional destinations,
but it opens up access to NRH businesses from other regional locations as well. With the
initiation of TEXRail service NRH truly became a multimodal community.
Beyond initiating rail service, we were able to complete three major roadway projects during the
current fiscal year. While it was delayed significantly, the Rufe Snow improvements project
was substantially completed in August 2019. The widening and realignment of Smithfield
Road from Davis Boulevard to just north of Mid Cities Boulevard was completed in January
2019. The adjoining widening of the Mid Cites and Davis intersection was completed in
June 2019. We appreciate the patience of our residents in enduring frequent traffic backups
and a seemingly endless supply of orange construction barrels in getting to this point. We
hope the ease of access provided by these expansions will soon replace the memories of the
construction period.
Another goal where we saw significant achievement is Targeted Economic Development. In
November 2018, we celebrated the opening of Babe’s Chicken Dinner House and we are
watching with great anticipation the construction of the adjoining Sweetie Pie’s Ribeye which will
open early 2020. In addition, in April 2019 we celebrated the opening of Alamo Drafthouse at
North Tarrant Parkway and Davis Boulevard.
The City of NRH continues to participate in the benefits of a thriving regional economy. During
2018 we saw 234 new housing starts, and we have seen 126 more through June of 2019. This
P.O. Box 82069 North Richland Hills, Texas 76182-0609
4301 City Point Drive (817) 427-6000 Fax (817) 427-6106
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