Page 25 - City of Bedford FY22 Budget

C om pens ation/Bene{ts

In FY 20 1 6 -20 1 7, a Pu blic Safe t y St e p Plan was inst it u t e d for all sworn Police and Fire pe rsonne l. The
propose d bu dge t inclu de s fu nding t o cont inu e t he st e p plan. Following su rv e y s of are a cit ie s, t he
propose d bu dge t inclu de s mark e t adju st me nt s t o t he plan t o e nsu re t hat t he Police and Fire
De part me nt s re main compe t it iv e in hiring and re cru it ing.

Also inclu de d in t his bu dge t is a 3% cost of liv ing adju st me nt (C OLA) for all e mploy e e s, inclu ding pu blic
safe t y pe rsonne l. Aft e r e v alu at ing opt ions for He alt h Insu rance and De nt al Insu rance plans, t he propose d
bu dge t inclu de s fu nding t o improv e t he plan offe rings t o e mploy e e s.

Staf{ng L ev el C hanges

Du ring FY 20 20 -20 21 , many de part me nt s e v alu at e d t he ir ope rat ions and e v alu at e d pe rsonne l ne e ds.
This re su lt e d in t he e liminat ion of t e n posit ions from De v e lopme nt and Police . Two addit ional posit ions
are cu rre nt ly v acant and had t he ir fu nding froze n for t he u pcoming bu dge t . This re su lt e d in
approx imat e ly $1 .1 M in sav ings for t he propose d bu dge t .

Se v e ral are as did re qu e st addit ional pe rsonne l, which we re approv e d in t he adopt e d bu dge t . This
inclu de s a Vide o Produ ce r for C ommu nicat ions, a C onst ru ct ion Manage r for E ngine e ring, a part -t ime
E me rge ncy Manage me nt C oordinat or for Fire , and u pgrading a part -t ime posit ion in Finance t o fu ll-t ime .

General Fund
General Fund R ev enue - The bu dge t prov ide s fu nding for cont inu at ion of all cu rre nt programs and
se rv ice s. R e v e nu e for FY 20 21 -20 22 is bu dge t e d at $39 ,70 7,9 32 compare d t o $38,1 35,24 3 in t he FY 20 20 -
20 21 ame nde d bu dge t . An incre ase is bu dge t e d for prope rt y t ax and sale s t ax . Addit ionally, de cre ase s are
bu dge t e d for charge s for se rv ice s, { ne re v e nu e and int e re st income .

Prope rt y t ax e s — Prope rt y t ax e s mak e u p t he large st single re v e nu e sou rce for Ge ne ral Fu nd
ope rat ions. The prope rt y t ax rat e is made u p of t wo se gme nt s. The { rst is t he Ope rat ions and
Maint e nance (O& M) rat e . This amou nt is de dicat e d t o daily ope rat ions of t he C it y t hat fall wit hin t he
Ge ne ral Fu nd. Se rv ice s su ch as Police , Fire , Park s and R e cre at ion, Library, Se nior C e nt e r,
Ne ighborhood Se rv ice s, Inspe ct ions, Finance , and Ge ne ral Gov e rnme nt al fu nct ions are inclu de d in
t he Ge ne ral Fu nd. The se cond se gme nt of t he t ax rat e is t he De bt Se rv ice rat e . This is t he t ax rat e
t hat is ple dge d t o re pay long t e rm de bt obligat ions of t he C it y. The prope rt y t ax rat e is calcu lat e d
annu ally base d on prope rt y v alu e s as su bmit t e d t o t he C it y by t he Tarrant Appraisal Dist rict . The
prope rt y t ax rat e is approv e d by t he C it y C ou ncil aft e r st at e and chart e r mandat e d pu blic he arings.

The t ax rat e adopt e d t o fu nd t he 20 21 -20 22 bu dge t is $0 .5520 0 0 , which is a 3% de cre ase from
t he adopt e d t ax rat e for 20 20 -20 21 . The nu mbe r of prope rt ie s e ligible for t ax ce ilings incre ase d
from 4 ,39 0 in 20 20 t o 4 ,4 4 4 in 20 21 .

Since 1 9 9 5, t he C it y of Be dford has colle ct e d an addit ional one -half of one pe rce nt in sale s t ax for
t he re du ct ion of prope rt y t ax e s. Sale s t ax colle ct ions v ary from y e ar t o y e ar, which can hav e
e it he r a posit iv e or ne gat iv e impact on t he ope rat ions and maint e nance t ax rat e . The sale s t ax
adju st me nt rat e incre ase d slight ly from t he 20 20 rat e of $0 .0 736 83 t o t he 20 21 rat e of $0 .0 7376 0 .

Sale s t ax — Mont hly colle ct ions v ary signi{ cant ly from hist oric t re nds and we re fu rt he r impact e d by
t he C OVID-1 9 Pande mic, mak ing it dif{ cu lt t o fore cast fu t u re colle ct ions. Limit e d informat ion is
av ailable from t he Te x as C ompt rolle r of Pu blic Accou nt s t hat wou ld giv e st aff t he abilit y t o ide nt ify
pat t e rns. As a re su lt , st aff e st imat e s re main conse rv at iv e , du e t o t he cu rre nt e conomic ou t look and
t he re su lt ing v olat ilit y in sale s t ax colle ct ions. The re v e nu e amou nt bu dge t e d has be e n incre ase d for
t he coming y e ar following t he st rong colle ct ions ov e r t he past y e ar.

Franchise Fe e s — This re v e nu e sou rce is some t ime s re fe rre d t o as “st re e t re nt al fe e s” or “right -of-way
re nt al fe e s” paid by u t ilit y companie s t hat inst all t he ir se rv ice line s wit hin cit y right -of-way. The se fe e s

City of Bedford, TX | Budget Book 2022 Page 25