Page 19 - City of Fort Worth Budget Book

Executive Message Budget Message

For FY2024, the city’s combined property tax rate is recommended to be lowered to $0.6725 per $100 of
assessed valuation, with the collection rate remaining at 98.5 percent. Based on the O&M levy rate of $0.5250 per
$100 of assessed valuation, the General Fund portion of the property tax rate is expected to yield approximately
$574 million in revenue for FY2024. The debt service levy rate of $0.1475 per $100 of assessed valuation is
expected to yield approximately $161 million, which will allow the repayment of all current and proposed debt
obligations.

Going forward, long-range planning includes expectations of an eventual downturn in property tax revenues,
despite rising property values, due to the legislative revenue caps and the governing body’s desire to minimize the
financial burden on taxpayers. The City was fortunate to see an increase in certified values during the pandemic
and its economic outlook reflects the growth as new residents and businesses continue to move to Fort Worth.
Sales Tax

Sales tax collections are the second major revenue component. In developing the FY2023 budget last year, the
City took a cautious approach to formulating sales tax projections. Fort Worth has continued to show resiliency
where consumers have sustained spending which generate sales tax receipts. This consumer behavior pushed
sales and use tax collections to exceed the original assumptions for last fiscal year. The FY2024 budgeted sales
tax is shown with a fairly significant increase as compared to last year. In addition to the rise in recent collections
over the original expectations, Fort Worth is leading the way in population growth as the 13th largest city in the
United States and one of the fastest growing among large cities. Sales tax collections were evaluated using
recent activity, historical trends, and many other economic indicators for the local economy to determine tax
revenue. Based on this evaluation and FY2023 year-end budget projections of $235,300,000, tax revenue is
expected to increase in FY2024 by 17.9%, or $37.9M, from budgeted FY2023 sales tax and is budgeted at
$250,000,000.

GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES

General Fund Expenditure Budget
FY2023 FY2024 Percent Dollar
Adopted Rec. Change Change
$ 915,340,881 $ 1,012,815,875 10.6 % $ 97,474,994

For FY2024 General Fund expenditures are held in line with revenues. The City strategized to streamline
spending, assessing priorities across the organization, and identifying cost savings while also positioning Fort
Worth as a leading destination living, doing business, and recreation. Variances or fluctuations in budgeted
categories may be greater than in prior years due to this strategic implementation. However, despite identified
savings, some costs continue to increase due to a variety of factors, including rising costs of supplies and
contractual services, additional facilities becoming operational, improving equity of city services, and enhancing
public safety.

Salary and Benefits Changes. The following salary and benefits changes are included in the FY2024 Budget:

• Police Civil Service employees will receive salary increases in accordance with the Meet and Confer
Bargaining Contract
• Fire Civil Service employees will receive salary increases in accordance with the Collective Bargaining
Agreement between the City and the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association
• Pay for performance for general employees is budgeted at four percent (Ranges 0-7% with anticipated
average cost of 4%)
• Select City employees holding positions identified by Human Resources as “hard-to-fill” were granted a
2.5% salary increase to assist with recruitment and retention efforts

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