Page 18 - NRH FY20 Approved Budget

• Prior to constructing the NRH Centre, the General Fund contributed $487,000 to the Park
Development Fund for operation of the Recreation Center. This contribution level has
been maintained consciously since the NRH Centre was opened in 2012. The
contribution would be reduced by $100,000 which will in turn impact funding for capital
projects in the Park Development Fund. $100,000
• For more than 20 years, the City has offered a tuition reimbursement program which helps
current employees afford to pursue an associates, bachelor’s or master’s degree.
Reimbursement rates are based on tuition rates for local state universities. The
reimbursement rate would be cut in half. $30,000
• Training funds for employees, Council members and Board members to attend training
sessions would be significantly reduced. $40,000
• The City’s Training Day is a day where we close City offices on Martin Luther King Day
in order to provide required and supplementary training to most of our employees on one
day, rather than having to take time from work schedules throughout the year. We would
go back to the original method of pulling employees off work in order to provide required
training. $17,000
• Since 1991 the City has hosted a Business Appreciation Lunch for NRH businesses. This
cut would eliminate this event. While the impact may not be direct we always receive
numerous positive comments from the businesses on how the event makes them feel
appreciated. $14,000
• Currently, participation in the NRH Senior Center is free of charge to residents and non-
residents of NRH. It is the only park facility, other than the parks themselves, that does
not require some form of use or membership fee. This measure would institute a fee of
$10 per year for NRH residents and $30 per year for non-residents. $24,000
• City memberships in organizations that provide information, resources and advocacy for
municipal issues would be significantly reduced. This will make it much more challenging
for Council members and staff to stay on top of legislative, regulatory or judicial actions
that impact City services. $50,000
• The adopted budget includes funding for a 2% increase to all Fire and Police employees
on October 1, 2019 plus a 4% step for approximately 70% of the employees who are
moving through the step system. Under the reduced funding scenario the step increases
would be frozen and all employees would remain in their current step. On a short term
basis this would not have a significant impact, but if it was a repeated occurrence
combined with minimal increases to the pay ranges we could start losing our trained staff
to other cities where they can move laterally and still receive a pay increase. Not long
ago, a move to another police or fire agency meant that you had to start over at the bottom
of the range. Many cities, including NRH, have recently moved to hiring experienced
officers from other agencies into the middle of the ranges. Over the last 2 years, 8 out of
21 new police officers that we have hired have been from other cities that we brought in
through a “lateral transfer” process. $178,924
• Special events are popular with many in our community, however, citizen survey
information indicates that they are seen as a lower priority than many other city services.
The reduction would significantly scale back the Night of Holiday Magic to a tree
lighting event only, eliminate Hoot n Howl, Easter in the Park and support for the
th
Northeast Tarrant Chambers July 4 event. In addition, this would reduce the number
of Sounds of Spring concerts from 6 to 4. $61,019

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