Page 47 - Grapevine Budget FY21
P. 47

Short-term initiatives for the upcoming year

               They FY21budget reflects the City’s response to changes in the environment in which it operates
               and of the key initiatives that guided its development.  These initiatives reflect the choices for the
               fiscal year and are consistent with the City’s long-term policies.

               Continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery
                The  Next Generation  Leadership (NGL)  program  provides  customer service and  leadership
               development training to employees throughout the organization.  All employees are required to
               attend a Business Culture Guiding Values training session in which participants are introduced to
               the Grapevine method of (1) How  We  Treat People; (2)
               How We Lead Our Employees; (3) How We Manage Our
               Resources; (4) How We Make Decisions; and (5) How We
               Confront Challenges.

               The program was suspended in FY20 and again in FY21
               due to COVID-19.  Upon it’s resumption, a major program
               enhancement will be the change to Even Years Continuing
               Education / Odd Years  New Class.   This  allows us to
               provide continuing leadership  education to people who have already  completed  NGL  –  the
               alumni.   The first year of continuing education for NGL alumni is expected to resume in January
               2023.  Previous classes have implemented capstone projects designed to increase efficiency and
               effectiveness throughout the organization.

               Continue to explore new ways to combat spiraling health care costs
               Health insurance costs are estimated at $14.4 million for FY21, a decrease of $600,000 over the
               previous year. The FY21 budget continues funding for programs geared toward reducing health care
               cost by developing proactive approaches for assessment and prevention.   Programs include Airrosti,
               Naturally Slim, FitBits, Weight Watchers at Work, and financial incentives for smoking cessation.
               Also included is the popular  Lunch and  Learn series, which  covers  a wide variety of topics to
               promote health and wellness.

               Continue to use excess reserves to invest in “Quality of Life” capital projects
               The City Council has adopted the policy of maintaining a 20% fund balance in the General Fund.
               All reserves in excess of the 20% threshold are to be transferred to the Quality of Life CIP fund at
               fiscal year-end.  Due to the pandemic, the transfer was suspended in FY20 and is not included in the
               FY21 budget as well.  To date, the General fund has made contributions in excess of $47 million to
               the fund.

               Continue to enhance tourism by promoting Grapevine as a “destination”
               With the establishment of the CVB Incentives fund in 2015, the monies collected by the 1% addition
               to the hotel/motel occupancy tax are segregated from other CVB funds and restricted for use to attract
               new group business and new hotel room development as a part of our Economic Development
               efforts. Since its inception, the additional tax has generated $16 million, and is projected to generate
               $3.5 million in FY21.







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