Page 12 - Southlake FY21 Budget
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The City of Saginaw prepared for the growth projected in the 1990’s by constructing
infrastructure to meet the demand. As the City approaches build-out, the new plan focuses on
strengthening the infrastructure system and maintaining and rehabilitating existing
infrastructure. Because the City of Saginaw is a mature city with a stable political and financial
base, Council is able to prepare formal long range financial plans every five years with a review
of priorities on an annual basis that is translated into the annual budget by Staff. Each year the
planned projects are evaluated based on the projected needs and available funding.
The City of Saginaw has also developed a long range financial plan to set parameters for
operating budgets and plan for a bond election. The plan extends to 2033. Key assumptions
include: the tax base will grow by 2% annually, the population will grow by 525 per year, the tax
rate will remain the same with 40% for Debt Service Fund and 60% for the General Fund. Given
these assumptions, the City has a capacity to issue approximately $40 million in new debt and
maintain funding for 6.8 full time equivalent positions per capita each year. The detailed plan
is included in the Policies, Resolutions, and Ordinances section of this document.
In connection with the Comprehensive Master Plan and the Multi-year Financial Plan, the City
has adopted a Strategic Plan with the following goals for the next five years.
Maintain a financially sound city providing superior services
Improve mobility and traffic flow
More beautiful, livable community
Develop vibrant activity centers/major corridors
Expand community quality of life amenities
The annual budget is developed within the context of these three plans. These plans anticipate
funding needs and available revenues and forecast methods for matching future revenues and
expenditures. General Fund balance at the end of FY2020/2021 is projected to be $9.1 million.
Ending fund balance includes restricted resources, 25% of operating expenditures, and reserved
resources for an economic development agreement, leaving $3.4million in
unrestricted/unreserved resources.
The City is working with developers of mixed use projects for several remaining large parcels of
undeveloped land. Our short term planning and budget management is also cognizant of the
impact of the COVID-19 impact on operations and finances. There continues to be growth in
the tax base. High demand and a tight housing inventory throughout the State of Texas has
resulted in an increase of 3.4% in property tax values for the City of Saginaw in 2020. We
anticipate residential building will slow in 2021 but the mixed use developments will begin
construction.
The following pages present the City’s goals, achievements and objectives within the framework
of the strategies developed through the City’s planning, described above. Departmental goals,
achievements, and objectives and how those relate to the overall City long range and strategic
planning are included with each department’s budget.
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