Page 21 - Hurst Budget FY21

with both internal and external candidates using this process. The city has earmarked reserves in
its Special Projects Fund to fund a portion of expenditures associated with retirements. While cost
is generally associated with retirements of tenured employees, each retirement is an opportunity to
evaluate maintaining the position against reorganizations that accomplish efficiencies and savings.

Public Safety Wages: The City of Hurst provides excellent public safety services to its citizens and
is widely recognized for its quality of service and care. The city is able to attract and keep great
team members in these departments due in part to leading the local municipal market in starting
salaries for Police Officers and Firefighters/Paramedics. The compensation model is unique to
Hurst and is the largest portion of the workforce and personnel expenses. The city is strongly
committed to hiring and retaining excellent police and fire personnel.

Police departments nationwide are facing increasingly more difficult work environment. Hurst
prides itself on supporting its nationally accredited law enforcement agency that provides
exceptional 24-hour response to the needs of the community. The department must adhere to
several principals and internal policies to receive its accreditation, and there are many agencies in
Hurst’s region that do not earn similar accreditation. Additionally, the city of Hurst requires a
minimum of 60 collegiate hours for entry-level officers; all officers must also complete an accredited
Police Officer academy. Numerous hours of ongoing training are completed by all officers, including
mandatory mental health training. The Police Chief and Assistant Chief also deploy programs to
support courteous community policing, while being prepared with equipment and training for the
most difficult of circumstances. The city of Hurst will continue to provide the resources necessary
to assist our police officers in providing a service that has become increasingly difficult.

The Fire service maintains its strong efforts in fire prevention, fire inspection, fire suppression, and
advanced life support transport, also providing exceptional 24-hour response to community needs.
The Fire department provides progressive medical support to the community under the guidance
of a medical director. All entry Firefighters are required to be certified or licensed as a Paramedic
further supporting the department’s commitment to service. The fire service participates with area
medical facilities to provide state-of-the-art care for all types of emergency medical calls including
STEMI and stroke care.

Financial risk is closely examined during the city’s annual Multi-Year Financial Overview and
Strategic Planning Process. The city has formalized recurring internal audit strategies as objectives
of that plan. The city also entered into a team-based internal audit approach by capitalizing on the
expertise of an independent and objective outside party as well as the professional skill of staff
members within the Fiscal Services Department. For several years, a comprehensive data analysis
of accounts payable, purchasing card activity, and payroll has been prepared and this process will
continue as part of this program. The budget also includes funding for additional internal audit
projects as deemed necessary throughout the year.

In FY 2020-2021, staff will continue to closely monitor the national, state and local economies.
Some remain concerned that the economic recovery from the pandemic will be protracted and will
be heavily affected by the results of the presidential election. As previously mentioned, the city is
also facing declines in our sales tax revenue. If trends in the retail sector continue and economic
conditions do not improve, the city may be affected through a shrinking property tax base as well
as the shrinking sales tax base. The value of commercial property is determined under an income
based approach and will likely lead to declines in property value for the FY 2021-2022 budget.
Additionally, the work from home movement may result in additional commercial properties being
vacant for a longer period of time. Finally, the State of Texas mandated a 3.5% property tax
revenue cap this year which limits our ability to adapt to changes in the economy and prepare for
future challenges. The approved budget is balanced conservatively with economic contingencies

9