Page 14 - Hurst Budget FY21

pandemic accelerated our multi-year plan to reevaluate all city programs. This was necessary to
balance financial stability with essential service levels through the pandemic.

Design

The city utilizes a hybrid zero-base/program/line item budget approach in which all budget requests
are tied to the Hurst Way and City Council’s Strategic Priorities. The resulting outcome of this process
is the implementation of a very conservative budget. Once again, each department has taken a zero-
based approach to creating their budgets with justification of all line item expenditures. Due to the
economic downturn of COVID-19, staff was initially asked to reduce their line item budgets by 5% and
use of reserves to balance the budget. However, the pandemic’s financial impact proved to be less
severe than anticipated. So, the general fund budget was reduced by -3.14% or $1,176,748 with the
use of $150,000 in reserves to balance the budget.

Unfunded Needs

Budget requests equaling $218,450 were transferred to a prioritized list of unfunded needs. The list
includes various community events that were reviewed and approved by City Council at the August
2020 Budget Workshop; however, some events may be cancelled due to COVID-19. The needs are
funded in the Special Projects Fund. It is the city's policy to transfer a portion of excess revenues over
expenditures from the General Fund to the Special Projects Fund at the end of each fiscal year. Excess
revenues in FY 2019-2020 will result from program cuts and reimbursement of eligible expenses under
the CARES act. The city will continue our policy to maintain an $8 million emergency reserve in the
Special Projects Fund. The remaining funds are available for other “one-time” expenditures, including
infrastructure projects on a “pay-as-you-go” basis to reduce additional debt obligations.

Volunteers in Action (VIA) Savings

Another cost saving measure included in the budget is the extensive use of volunteers. Each city
department uses volunteers to maintain or enhance their operations. Volunteers have contributed
nearly 650,000 hours of work valued at over $10 million since the program began in 1979. The 2020-
21 annual budget for the VIA program is $6,600. This remains a small investment when compared to
the program’s benefits. Numerous full or part-time employees would be required to offset thousands of
hours provided through the VIA program. To learn more about the VIA program please visit the follow-
ing website: www.hursttx.gov and use the website’s search engine by typing Volunteers in Action.

Alternative Funding Sources

The city considers alternative funding opportunities and applies for state and federal grant funding each
year. Grant funds received by the city generally average $300,000 per year. In 2019-2020, total grant
revenue generated was approximately $2.5 million. Grant programs included a Mental Health
Coordinator within our Police Department, the Tarrant County Auto Theft Task Force, and CARES Act,
which accounted for the majority of grant revenue. The CARES Act grant was unique as we are a sub-
recipient of Tarrant County and we were advanced the full amount of funding on a per capita basis.
The city very much appreciates the federal assistance that allowed us to better protect the community
and enhanced our telecommunication offerings. We received all CARES Act revenues in 2019-2020
and will fully expend the grant within the same period. Grant proceeds vary from year-to-year and
grants for fiscal year 2020-2021 are expected to fall within traditional levels and will primarily fund
infrastructure and public safety needs.

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