Page 18 - City of Bedford FY21 Budget

the stay-at-home orders issued by the Governor. Following re-opening, collections
were not as low as originally projected. Therefore, staff believes the budget is realistic
for the current economic climate.

 Franchise Fees – This revenue source is sometimes referred to as “street rental fees” or
“right-of-way rental fees” paid by utility companies that install their service lines
within city right-of-way. These fees are calculated in several ways, either on a gross
receipts basis, per access line, per kilowatt hour of power consumed, etc. The
methodology for each utility franchise is somewhat different. Revenue was decreased
in the FY 2019-2020 budget due to legislative changes. Once staff was able to see the
actual impact of those changes, budget amounts were increased slightly to match
collections.

 Licenses/permits – This category includes a wide variety of building-related permits,
fire marshal permits, alarm permits, sign permits, etc. Revenue for several
classifications of licenses and permits is projected to increase slightly for next year.

 Fines and Fees – The two major drivers in this revenue category are Municipal Court
Fines and Ambulance Fees. Municipal Court fine revenue has been decreased for next
year. Ambulance Fees were increased slightly based on the performance of the new
billing company.

General Fund Expenditures – Proposed expenditures in the General Fund total
$38,097,189 compared to $37,140,826 in FY 2019-2020, an increase of 2.57%. Some
increases in base expenditures are included to fund contractual obligations that have
already been committed, continued operation of current programs, and unfunded mandates
from the State of Texas or other entities. Additionally, after evaluating budgets using Hotel
Occupancy Tax, it was decided to move the budget for the July 4th Festival from the
Tourism Fund to the General Fund. This includes the funding for the compensation and
benefits package added by City Council, funding for annual cancer screening in the Fire
Department, and maintenance needs at the Law Enforcement Center and the Fire Stations.

 Water & Sewer Fund

Water & Sewer Fund expenses are budgeted at $24,827,068 in FY 2020-2021 compared to
$23,875,030 in FY 2019-2020, an increase of $952,038. In July 2015, the City of Bedford
qualified for a low-cost loan program from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)
in the amount of $90 million to be issued over several years. In FY 2015-2016, the City
issued $30 million as part of the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT)
program. In FY 2017-2018, the City issued the next $20 million. During FY 2019-2020,
staff has been working with a consultant to evaluate the rates for water and sewer services.
After receiving the report on the Water and Sewer rates, the City Council elected to begin
incremental increases in the rates to address the annual cost increases from the Trinity

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