Page 8 - FY 2009 Proposed Budget

Manager’s Message
Table of Contents
Table of Contents

($250,000), partial-year funding for new positions (property room and evidence technicians, $104,853), and assumption of the
full cost of the expiring 2017 COPS grant ($211,392). We have also included an additional $110,435 for enterprise-wide software
licensing and maintenance, $318,636 for park maintenance and the opening of new recreational facilities, and $527,122 for
other priorities, primarily the Equity and Diversity Program ($461,919), utility increases at the City’s libraries ($25,723), and Tele-
Town Hall Meetings ($20,000). As always, a complete list of budget requests submitted by departments as part of the
Comprehensive Financial Forecast process, separated by those that were approved and those that were not recommended for
funding, is included in the Other Budget Information section.

Balancing the FY 2021 Budget would not have been achievable without substantial expenditure reductions. The City has faced
financial situations that required expenditure reductions in the past, but the exercise that departments completed during the
spring was perhaps the most aggressive we have ever undertaken. Departments were asked to submit expenditure reductions
they could absorb without a substantial loss of service provision (“voluntary” cuts) and were also asked to submit a list of cuts
in their respective departments that would total 10% and 25% of their departmental budgets. The “voluntary” reductions, totaling
$8,086,871 in impacts to the General Fund, have been incorporated in the FY 2021 Budget. A list of these reductions is included
in the Other Budget Information section.

Safeguarding Citizen Health and Well‐Being
For the foreseeable future, we must continue to focus on strategies to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis. Our
primary concern has always been and will continue to be the health, safety and well-being of our citizens. A full return to
economic stability cannot occur until the health crisis facing the City and the country is resolved.

Through our CARES partnership with Tarrant County, the City has received a portion of the funding received by the County for
programs designed to assist residents and businesses during the pandemic. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court recently
allocated $30 million in CARES Act funds to the Small Business Assistance Grant Program, which assists small businesses with
costs associated with business interruptions caused by the public health emergency. At least $6 million, or 20% of the total
grant funds available, is allocated for businesses with 51% Minority, Woman or Veteran ownership. In addition to the $11 million
noted earlier that we will receive for VIA and Handitran, the City has received CARES grant funding for the following initiatives:
Office of Justice Program ($479,605 for the Arlington Police Department Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding for
overtime and equipment), HUD Community Development Block Grant ($2,004,017), HUD Emergency Shelter Grant ($991,890),
Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs, Homeless Housing & Services Program ($9,786), Federal Aviation
Administration funding for the City’s Airport ($69,000), and CARES funding through Tarrant County totaling $21,239,900 for
medical, public health, and economic support. The specific details of the CARES funding allocation are included in the Other
Budget Information section.

Additionally, free COVID-19 testing has been made available at the City’s drive-through testing center located at the East
Arlington Branch Library, and the City has organized multiple free mask giveaways at drive-through events over the summer.
Staff is currently working with Tarrant County to obtain additional supplies for distribution at future events. While our entire
community should be proud of its collective efforts thus far to address the COVID-19 situation, these strategies must remain in
place for the foreseeable future in order to emerge from this health crisis as quickly as possible.

2021 Adopted Budget and Business Plan v City of Arlington, Texas