Page 6 - City of Bedford FY22 Budget

Transmittal Letter

Jimmy Stathatos, City Manager

Oct obe r 1 , 20 21
Honorable May or, C ou ncil Me mbe rs, and Be dford C ommu nit y Me mbe rs –

I re spe ct fu lly su bmit t o y ou t he Fiscal Ye ar (FY) 20 21 -20 22 Adopt e d Bu dge t for t he C it y of Be dford. This
re pre se nt s t he annu al { nancial plan and allocat ion of pu blic re sou rce s for t he coming y e ar. The bu dge t was
de v e lope d wit h a focu s on progre ssing t oward t he C it y ’s goals and prov iding e x ce lle nt day -t o-day se rv ice s
t o Be dford re side nt s.

The t ot al bu dge t for FY 20 21 -20 22, inclu ding capit al pu rchase s, de bt se rv ice commit me nt s, St re e t
Improv e me nt E conomic De v e lopme nt C orporat ion’s maint e nance proje ct s, and t ransfe rs be t we e n fu nds, is
$81 ,0 0 1 ,71 8. This re pre se nt s an incre ase of $9 55,0 1 0 , or 1 .1 9 pe rce nt whe n compare d t o t he FY 20 20 -20 21
ame nde d bu dge t .

The C it y ’s obje ct iv e is t o prov ide qu alit y se rv ice s t hat re | e ct t he commu nit y ’s goals and v ision wit hin
re asonable { scal limit s. The program of se rv ice s, which is t he C it y ’s annu al { scal bu dge t , is de v e lope d in
alignme nt wit h t he C it y C ou ncil’s st rat e gic plan, as we ll as t he de sire s of Be dford re side nt s. The bu dge t ing
proce ss se e k s t o allocat e { nit e re sou rce s t o maint ain qu alit y se rv ice le v e ls. As su ch, Be dford mu st cont inu e
t o asse ss how t he de cisions of t oday impact t he abilit y of t he C it y t o be su cce ssfu l ov e r t he long-t e rm.

The C it y ’s e st imat e d ne t t ax able v alu e s gre w by 4 .6 9 pe rce nt , or $230 million, t hu s e clipsing t he 5-billion-
dollar mark . The re fore , t he t ot al ne t t ax able v alu e s inclu de d in t his y e ar ’s propose d bu dge t is $5,1 24 ,0 9 5,56 6 .
E v e n t hou gh t he commu nit y is 9 8% de v e lope d, t he C it y of Be dford st ill wit ne sse d a 5.7% incre ase in
re side nt ial v alu e s, as we ll as an incre ase of 2.6 % and 3.6 % re spe ct iv e ly among t he comme rcial and indu st rial
v alu at ions. W it h t he ne w incre ase in v alu e s, t he C it y wou ld ne e d t o lowe r t he t ax rat e t o a no-ne w-re v e nu e
rat e (NNR ) of $0 .54 9 31 9 pe r $1 0 0 asse sse d v alu at ion. This NNR wou ld ge ne rat e t he same amou nt of re v e nu e
as in t he prior bu dge t y e ar.

The adopt e d t ax rat e for t he FY 20 21 -20 22 Bu dge t is $0 .5520 0 0 pe r $1 0 0 asse sse d v alu at ion. This re pre se nt s
a 3 pe rce nt de cre ase from t he cu rre nt rat e of $0 .56 9 0 0 0 . In addit ion, t he ne w propose d t ax rat e is 0 .1 3%
be low t he v ot e r-approv al-rat e , forme rly k nown as t he rollback rat e , of $0 .5526 9 2 pe r $1 0 0 asse sse d v alu at ion.
De spit e a re du ct ion in t he prope rt y t ax rat e , t he FY 20 21 -20 22 Bu dge t will st ill ge ne rat e a 5.4 0 pe rce nt
incre ase in t ot al prope rt y t ax e s ov e r t he cu rre nt y e ar ’s bu dge t . This e qu at e s t o an incre ase of $1 ,36 3,857. The
propose d re v e nu e ge ne rat e d from t he ne w t ax rat e wou ld allow t he C it y t o fu nd mark e t adju st me nt s in pay
for sworn pu blic safe t y pe rsonne l in addit ion t o e nhancing t he st e p pay plan. It will also allow t he C it y t o
cont inu e it s { ft h y e ar of v e hicle re place me nt s, while fu nding t he propose d change s t o t he insu rance
be ne { t s plans. The ou t look of t he C it y ’s { scal he alt h is st able . The C it y has made st rat e gic de cisions wit h
sharing se rv ice s wit h ne arby commu nit ie s, | at t e ning t he organizat ional st ru ct u re and e liminat ing
u nde ru t ilize d posit ions, all of which has e nhance d it s long-t e rm { nancial fu t u re .
This bu dge t cont inu e s t he C it y ’s e ffort s t o aggre ssiv e ly imple me nt a modi{ e d pay plan t o be compe t it iv e
wit h su rrou nding mark e t s. The propose d pay plan change s shou ld hav e a signi{ cant e ffe ct on t he C it y ’s
re cru it me nt and re t e nt ion e ffort s, e spe cially in Pu blic Safe t y. The bu dge t also prov ide s some mu ch-ne e de d
e nhance me nt s t o t he C it y ’s e mploy e e insu rance program.

This bu dge t e nable s t he C it y t o imple me nt it s ne w St re e t Improv e me nt Mast e r Plan, which prov ide s major
improv e me nt s t o a lot of ne ighborhood st re e t s and major t horou ghfare s. It also inclu de s a signi{ cant
amou nt of fu nds t o maint ain addit ional roads and side walk s.

City of Bedford, TX | Budget Book 2022 Page 6