Page 13 - Haltom City Budget FY21

With the signing of Senate Bill 2 (Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act
of 2019) into law, the bill makes various changes to the appraisal process and how
property taxes are set. The biggest change to note with the bill is that it lowers the
Voter Approval Tax Rate (was termed Rollback Rate before Senate Bill 2) from 8
(eight) percent to 3.5 (three and a half) percent. The bill went into effect on January
1, 2020 and applies to the tax rate adoption for the 2020-2021 tax rate year.

I have provided what I believe to be an overarching vision for next year’s operations
as well as operations in succeeding years. In recent years, the City experienced a
significant increase in total assessed property value and continued increases in total
sales tax. However, due to the COVID Pandemic we are conservatively projecting
a 4% decrease in sales tax revenue and with the Tarrant County Appraisal District’s
4.5% increase in property values, it is the lowest increase we have seen since
2015/2016.

BUDGET COMPONENTS

The total FY 2020-2021 budget revenues are $83,810,470 while the total
expenditures are $91,213,389. The total expenditures include capital projects in
which debt service revenues may have been received in the prior year.

The FY 2020-2021 budget consists of two major components. The first component
is the base budget. The base budget provides each department and division with
the same funding as the prior fiscal year, less any one-time costs. The base budget
also includes all capital projects, equipment replacements, and non-discretionary
items such as necessary price adjustments and commitments.

The second component consists of decision package requests. Decision package
requests are submitted for any proposal that will result in a change in the current
level of service, including the addition of new programs and/or personnel. There
was only one decision package approved for $85,000 for an Impact Fee Study in
the Water Fund. The Council also approved an employee compensation increase
of 3%, which will be delayed until January 2021.

MAJOR ISSUES AND PRIORITIES

In the spring of FY2020, the budget priorities had a shift in focus on maintaining
the City’s financial position, economic development, and service levels through
the COVID pandemic. Priorities for the approved FY 2020-2021 budget focuses
on preserving fund reserve levels, continuing a delayed compensation plan for
City employees, economic development, constructing the voter approved Fire
Substation 3 replacement, road projects, and develop plans to make improvements
to North Park.

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