Page 160 - CityofSouthlakeFY27Budget

TABLE OF CONTENTS

be performed. As Figure 5 indicates, the process never ceases. At the beginning of each fiscal year, in
October, we conduct or review the results from the most recent citizen survey, this aids staff in focusing
its work for the coming year. Then a meeting with City Council in January provides an opportunity to
review the strategic direction, followed by the creation of departmental business plans in April and
budget development in August. In order for funding to be allocated, departments must follow the
Strategy Map to align requests with the goals, mission, and vision of Southlake.

Strategic planning plays an integral role in the development of each year’s budget and ensures the City’s
ability to meet the needs of a growing community. To be effective, the City must direct resources to
those areas most essential to the community’s priorities. The aim of the City’s Strategic Management
System, with its many integrated parts, does just that.

Strategic Direction
PROOF OF PERFORMANCE

A management system is only worth what it produces. Southlake has operated the Strategic Management
System since 2005, and two decades of results provide a clear record of what the framework delivers.
The outcomes summarized here come from the City’s scorecards and its annual and interim performance
reporting, and they are the practical answer to why the City continues to invest the time this framework
requires.

The clearest evidence sits in the City’s financial position. Southlake maintains the AAA bond rating from
all three major credit rating agencies, reaffirmed by S&P Global in advance of the most recent bond
sale. Long-term debt stands at 0.29 percent of assessed value against a policy ceiling of 2 percent,
and the unreserved General Fund balance sits at 25.8 percent of operating expenditures, within the
range the City sets for itself. The TMRS amortization period has been shortened to 18.1 years against
a 20 year standard. Through the first eight months of FY 2026, all five General Fund performance
indicators were rated positive on both year to date and three year trend measures, sales tax collections
ran 7.3 percent ahead of the prior year, and departmental spending tracked below budget across every
department. Independent validation followed: a clean, unmodified audit opinion from Weaver LLP on
the FY 2025 financial statements and the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished
Budget Presentation Award for the FY 2026 budget document. These results are connected rather than
incidental. The AAA rating lowers the cost of every dollar the City borrows, which means the financial
discipline documented on the scorecard directly funds the infrastructure work described elsewhere in
this budget.

Service delivery reflects the same pattern of sustained performance. The Police Department earned
CALEA Advanced Law Enforcement Reaccreditation for the ninth consecutive time, along with the
Meritorious Accreditation Award recognizing more than fifteen years of continuous accredited status.
The Fire Department maintains CFAI accreditation and an ISO Class 1 rating, a combination held by only
eight departments in Texas. The Pavement Quality Index stands at 87.3 against a target of 78.0, the crime
rate for offenses against persons is 2.6 per thousand residents against a target below 4.0, and the school
safety officer to student ratio improved to 1:441 against a 1:500 standard. Capital execution tells a similar
story. The Municipal Service Center and Public Safety Training Tower reached 56 percent completion on
schedule and on budget, and across a portfolio of more than two dozen active and planned projects,
several finished ahead of schedule and under budget with no active project experiencing a cost overrun.

160 FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book 161