Page 11 - City of Fort Worth Budget Book

Processes and Policies Readers’ Guide to the Budget

Purpose
The budget summarizes all public service programs provided by the City of Fort Worth. The operating budget
represents the annual plan for the allocation of resources for the period of October 1, 2024, to September 30,
2025 (Fiscal Year 2025). Amounts are shown to the whole dollar, so there may be slight variances.

Organizational Information
This section explains the organizational structure of the City of Fort Worth and gives details on the funds used by
the FWLab to create the budget. This section also contains the City Manager’s letter, explanation of how the
budget was developed and information on the general fund revenues and expenditures.

Process and Policies
In this section, the budget process is explained along with the budget calendar and financial policies.

Budget Highlights
This section takes the reader through major funds by showing the revenues and expenditures of each fund group.
The section also breaks down revenues and expenditures for the entire budget and groups it by fund and type.
Revenue Highlights

This section discusses the City’s property tax revenues along with other main types of revenue, including sales
tax and fines and forfeitures.

Department and Fund Pages

Operating Department and Fund Summaries

Each department and fund displays summary information for the related revenues, expenditures, and staffing. The
summary compares FY2023 actual results, the FY2024 adopted budget and adjusted budget, and the FY2025
recommended budget.

Authorized Positions
Authorized positions (AP) are positions that are formally approved by the City Council and will always have a
count of one (1). If a position is funded partially from the General Fund (or a department’s operating fund) and
partially from another funding source, the AP is accounted for in the General Fund (or the department’s operating
fund), regardless of the portion of funding.
Full-time Equivalent Positions

Each department summary includes the number of full-time equivalent positions (FTE) that are budgeted to the
department and fund. One FTE represents 2,080 hours of work on an annual basis. The number of FTEs will differ
from the number of approved positions and can range from a fraction of a position to a whole number based on
how the position is funded. A reduced number of FTEs in a department and fund will also represent a part-time
position or indicate that a portion of the position is budgeted in another fund.

FY2025 Discussion

This section highlights the major changes from the prior year's budget to the FY2025 budget. This ranges from
organizational changes to service enhancements to drivers of major changes from the prior year. This section is
intended to let the reader know what has significantly changed from the prior year.
Department/Fund Purpose and Goals

This section provides an overview of the fund and/or department by identifying the purpose and goals. This
section may also explain how the fund and/or department is structured to provide its services.

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