Page 13 - Hurst Budget FY21

October 1, 2020

The Honorable Mayor and
Members of the City Council
City of Hurst, Texas

Staff is pleased to present the City of Hurst, Texas, Annual Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2020-
2021. This budget reflects the positive financial condition of the city, and the mission of the Hurst City
Council to:

Provide responsive services and effective programs to ensure that Hurst remains a
vibrant community.

The city accomplishes its mission through the utilization of sound fiscal policy and a conservative
approach in revenue and expenditure forecasting. Most importantly adherence to the city’s Strategic
Plan, Code of Ideals, and the Hurst Way guide the development of the budget and ensures that
operations meet service level expectations while providing customer service and public service.

Several factors continue to ensure the strength of the city's budget and services, including:

 a professional and visionary Mayor and City Council with over eighty-five years combined
experience as elected officials and an additional fifty years combined experience as community
volunteers;
 a strategic planning process for realization of short-term and long-term goals;
 monitoring economic conditions and utilizing a Fiscal Management Contingency Plan to ensure
risk areas are identified and addressed before they become major issues;
 collection of a half-cent sales tax for crime control and prevention purposes and collection of
an additional half-cent sales tax for parks, recreation and economic development projects
allowing for a higher level of service;
 net growth in residential and commercial property valuations over the past decade;
 conservative revenue budgeting practices during both good and bad economic times; and,
 past and present redevelopment and community sustainability efforts.

BUDGET OVERVIEW

The 2020-2021 budget continues to reflect the City Council's conservative fiscal policy direction. The
major objectives of the budget process are to identify cost saving measures and to provide funding to
implement the City Council’s strategic plans. The FY 2020-2021 budget included additional priorities
to maintain public safety at current levels and identify cost saving measures across the city to help
mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This process included the strategic
reduction of community service functions to help mitigate potential spread of COVID-19 but still
maintain an acceptable service level to the community. The budget process began with a clear goal
of cutting expenditures to offset forecasted declines in revenue across several revenue streams. The

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