Page 25 - Bedford-FY22-23 Budget

Also included in this budget is a 4% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all employees, including public safety
personnel. After evaluating options for Health Insurance and Dental Insurance plans, the proposed budget
includes funding to improve the plan offerings to employees.

Staf{ng Level Changes
Several divisions requested additional personnel, which are included in the budget. This includes four Part-
Time positions for the Police Department: Dispatch, Recruiting, Police Investigator, and a Crossing Guard Lead,
two Maintenance Workers for Parks, increased hours for Library personnel and a Cultural Arts Assistant. The City
Council added funding for a second Police Investigator during the budget discussions.

Changes Between Proposed and Adopted Budget
During budget discussions, the City Council requested funding be added to the General Fund for a part-time
Investigator to support the Criminal Investigation function in the Police Department. Additionally, they
requested funding be added to the contract with the YMCA to reduce the resident cost for membership to the
Center. The funding was included in the nal adopted budget as requested.
While staff conducted a further review of the Water and Sewer fund with the City’s rate consultants, it was
determined that the initially proposed rates could be reduced. Public Works staff also identi ed a capital
project that was no longer necessary in the plan. Revenue numbers were reduced to match the adopted rates
for the fund and expenses reduced to remove the capital project.

General Fund
Revenue - The budget provides funding for continuation of all current programs and services.
General Fund
Revenue for FY 2022-2023 is budgeted at $43,142,700 compared to $39,707,932 in the FY 2021-2022 amended
budget. An increase is budgeted for property tax and sales tax. Additionally, decreases are budgeted for
franchise revenue and other permits.
Property taxes — Property taxes make up the largest single revenue source for General Fund operations.
The property tax rate is made up of two segments. The rst is the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) rate.
This amount is dedicated to daily operations of the City that fall within the General Fund. Services such as
Police, Fire, Parks and Recreation, Library, Senior Center, Neighborhood Services, Inspections, Finance, and
General Governmental functions are included in the General Fund. The second segment of the tax rate is
the Debt Service rate. This is the tax rate that is pledged to repay long term debt obligations of the City.
The property tax rate is calculated annually based on property values as submitted to the City by the
Tarrant Appraisal District. The property tax rate is approved by the City Council after state and charter
mandated public hearings.
The tax rate to fund the 2022-2023 budget is $0.495726, which is a 10.19% decrease from the adopted tax rate for
2021-2022. The number of properties eligible for tax ceilings increased from 4,444 in 2021 to 4,569 in 2022.

Since 1995, the City of Bedford has collected an additional one-half of one percent in sales tax for the reduction
of property taxes. Sales tax collections vary from year to year, which can have either a positive or negative
impact on the operations and maintenance tax rate. The sales tax adjustment rate increased from the 2021 rate
of $0.073760 to the 2022 rate of $0.080764.
Sales tax — Monthly collections have increased when compared to the prior year. Staff estimates remain
conservative, due to current in ation and the resulting volatility in sales tax collections. The revenue
amount budgeted has been increased for the coming year following the strong collections over the past
year.
Franchise Fees — This revenue source is sometimes referred to as “street rental fees” or “right-of-way
rental fees” paid by utility companies that install their service lines within city right-of-way. These fees are
calculated in several ways, either on a gross receipts basis, per access line, per kilowatt-hour of power
consumed, etc. The methodology for each utility franchise is somewhat different. Revenue was decreased

City of Bedford, TX | Adopted Budget FY 2023 Page 25