Page 20 - CityofSouthlakeFY25AdoptedBudget

When evaluating the level of benefits needed to be competitive within the City’s labor market, it would
be inappropriate to look at each individual benefit option separately because of the unique palette of
benefits offered. A better analysis is to compare the cost of benefits as a percentage of payroll. The City of
Southlake strives to offer benefits near the percentage reported for state and local government workers by
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). As noted in the BLS report released in March 2024, the benefits
percentage reported for state and local workers is 38.1%. The adopted budget reflects Southlake’s benefit
costs as 30.2% of total payroll, a slight reduction from 30.5% in FY 2024.

The City of Southlake provides retirement benefits through the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS).
The required contribution rate for FY 2025 is 13.15%, effective January 1, 2025. Southlake’s funded ratio was
90.5% as of December 31, 2023, and the plan has an amortization period of 20 years. There are currently
384 active members in Southlake’s plan, with 191 retirees.

Budget Overview
Staffing levels for FY 2025 are adopted at 449.17 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, remaining consistent
with FY 2024 budgeted positions. Department-specific staffing levels are noted in the City Department
Overview section of this document and because the City employs multiple funding sources to accomplish
service goals, an overall funding perspective of the City’s personnel can be found in the Appendix.

Goal: Multi-year Sustainability
Multi-year financial planning is another budget development consideration, one of the most important.
Executive leaders evaluate the operational impact of all identified projects and include those costs in future
budget projections. The Executive Leadership Team has also begun a more formalized 5-year financial
roadmap that reflects known and planned expenditures to create further predictability for future budgets.

Staff monitors trends that depict the long-term financial health of the City and uses these trends to make
decisions to reach financial and service goals. Thoroughly understanding economic conditions is critical for
proper budgeting. Figure 3 shows the approach used to gather and analyze local economic information for
projecting revenues and evaluating multi-year budget sustainability.

Figure 3

Economic Information Used for City Financial Projections

Economic Labor & Housing and Consumer
Commercial
Indicators Employment Growth Spending

Interest Rates Wages Building Permits Retail Sales
GDB Growth Unemployment Home Values Projections
Fuel Costs Healthcare Costs Top Taxpayer Meetings

20 FY 2025 City of Southlake | Budget Book