Page 21 - CityofSaginawFY25Budget

demand for housing has continued to increase residential property values. Property
values for the City of Saginaw increased an average of 5% since last year. With the
adopted rate of 49.3747 cents the average homeowner will pay $1276.91 in property
taxes which is $106.41 higher than last year. More than half of the increase is for debt
issued for citizen approved bond projects. In the City of Saginaw single-family residential
building has slowed but two mixed use developments, including multi-family residential,
has begun construction.

The main attractions of Saginaw are location, land availability, easy freeway access, good
schools, low tax rates, and the general quality of life. Alliance Airport, Meacham Airport,
Eagle Mountain Lake, the United States Currency Plant, Texas Motor Speedway and the
Fort Worth Stockyards are all within fourteen miles of Saginaw’s city limits.

With the City’s continued growth and increasing expectations of our citizens, the
challenges the City faces this year include maintaining a competitive compensation plan
for employees, maintaining current service levels, starting construction for the new Library
and Senior Citizens Center, and infrastructure improvements that were included in the
2021 bond election. The key budget issues are:

 Adopt a tax rate that allows us to meet current service expectations, as well as,
meet debt service requirements.

 Retain and recruit quality employees in all departments: The City’s most valuable
asset is its employees. Approximately 11% of our employees have been with the
City twenty years or more and are eligible for retirement under the City’s retirement
plan. Another 11% have been with the City a minimum of fifteen years and will be
eligible for retirement in five years or less. A considerable amount of knowledge
about the City, its history and operations will be lost. It is extremely important that
the City continue to offer competitive salary and benefits in order to hire and retain
quality employees. A compensation study was completed in the current year. The
consultant’s recommendation was to bring all full-time employees to market
minimum and appropriate step based on position tenure.

 Construction will continue on the new Library and Senior Citizens Center as well
as the second and third phase of Knowles Drive.

 Maintenance and upgrade of existing infrastructure (water, wastewater, streets,
and drainage) include: Construction of the Fort Worth meter station upgrade,
repairs to Jarvis Road, reconstruction of Delmar Court, Indian Crest and Saddle
Trail.

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