Page 24 - Southlake FY20 Budget

Transmittal Letter

Expenditure highlights. The General Fund accounts for all expenditure activity not specifically accounted
for in other funds, including the operational expenses for public safety, engineering, planning, finance, legal
and administrative oversight. FY 2020 proposed expenditures represent a 5% increase over the FY 2019
adopted budget. Some of the growth is attributable to general service cost increases, while a portion of it
supports service enhancements, unfunded mandates, or costs that exceed certain market benchmarks due
to unusual circumstances or anomalies (such as an extremely high number of catastrophic health insurance
claims).

The following highlights capture key aspects of proposed General Fund expenditures for FY 2020:

New Positions. The City of Southlake is a service organization and most of the operating expenses are related
to labor costs. For FY 2020, approximately 70% of planned expenses are personnel-related. An explanation
of some of these costs is provided as follows:

• IT Support Services Technician: This position is needed to support ongoing efforts to right-size the
IT service desk and improve the City’s ability to deploy and maintain the technology needed to
provide high quality service to the community.

• Development Engineer: During the 86th Texas Legislative Session, numerous bills were passed
that affect the City’s Planning & Development Services Department. Among these was H.B. 3167,
relating to municipal approval procedures for land development applications. Reduced review
times, increased paperwork, case monitoring, and other requirements of the new law necessitate
the addition of an engineer to ensure compliance and support the development processes of the
City.

• Customer Relations Manager: Staff attrition has created an opportunity to evaluate the
administrative support functions of the City Manager’s Office. With an increased cost of just over
$2,400, staff is proposing to upgrade an existing Administrative Secretary position to a Customer
Relations Manager position. The individual selected for the new position will be responsible for
managing all aspects of the City’s corporate customer service program.

Compensation. The City Council adopted its current compensation system on August 6, 2013. The system
supports the City’s strategic approach, provides for a financially sustainable model, and ensures a fair and
predictable method of career progression and internal equity.

The adopted compensation system establishes a defined labor market, market position, a pay structure, and
plan for movement through the pay ranges. The City has established a market compensation target and, on
average, endeavors to pay better than 60% of the designated labor market for civilian personnel and better
than 80% of the market for sworn public safety personnel.

For FY 2020, the budget proposal includes a 2.5% cost of living adjustment and possible merit adjustments up
to 2% based on the relative performance of employees. The budget also includes minor market adjustments
for positions that do not currently meet the City’s compensation goals relative to our established labor
market. Once COLA and merit adjustments are applied, any employee whose salary lags the desired market
position will receive an adjustment to close the gap.

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