Page 14 - NRH FY20 Approved Budget

is significant for a land-locked city where new construction is primarily relegated to infill
properties. This growth affirms the value that people place in living in a community with a high
quality of life as we have in North Richland Hills.

Achieving the success we are seeing as a community is not an accident, but the result of
visionary planning and bold, progressive leadership which was recently exemplified by the
approval of the City’s updated comprehensive plan entitled Vision 2030. Beyond strategic
thinking these plans will merely gather dust if they are not implemented, which is where the
annual budget comes into play.

The Adopted FY 2019/2020 Budget outlines the resources and programs to achieve both the
long range and short term vision for our community. As with all implementation strategies, the
FY 2019/2020 Budget must adapt to changing resources and conditions while still focusing on
the long range objectives. Therefore, the adopted budget presents the best effort of City staff
to accomplish the vision for our community within the resources available.

General Fund

The General Fund Budget is impacted by four significant factors. The first is legislative changes
mandated by the Texas Legislature that either reduced revenue or increased expenditures. The
second is the full year funding of six firefighters to staff the City’s fourth ambulance and the
addition of two police officers in the FY 2018/2019 budget. The third factor is a job market that
has seen 6 straight years of “full employment” with unemployment rates under 4% and societal
factors that make it difficult to attract and retain qualified public safety employees. The fourth
factor is a lack of growth in revenue sources outside of property taxes.

Legislative Actions

Three bills approved by the Texas Legislature and signed by the governor directly affect the
adopted budget. These include: elimination of automated red-light enforcement programs; a
reduction in franchise fees for companies that provide both cable and telephone services; and
establishment of a cap on property tax growth of 3.5% unless specifically approved by local
voters. While the tax cap does not go into effect until 2021, it does impact funding decisions that
will roll over into next year.

The sole purpose of the red-light enforcement program was traffic safety, and the program ended
each year with very little revenue. The impact to the budget comes in the form of staff expenses
for positions that were partially funded by red-light camera violation payments. Contrary to
popular thinking, each violation was reviewed by a NRH police officer before determining if a
violation would be sent. This function was performed by members of the Traffic Division in
addition to performing regular traffic enforcement duties. The Traffic Safety Fund also paid a
portion of salaries for a captain to oversee the program and administrative staff to coordinate the
hearings for individuals who wished to appeal their violation. Elimination of these positions is
not practical without leaving a significant gap in Police Department services and absorbing the
full expense increased the budget by $286,627.

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