Page 24 - CityofSouthlakeFY27Budget

TABLE OF CONTENTS

assets without borrowing for all of them, and for FY 2027 it supports more than $8 million in priorities
across these areas.

Through this disciplined blend of optimization, resource realignment, and strategic cost containment,
the FY 2027 budget limits expenditure growth in the General Fund to 2% measured against the 2.5%
CPI benchmark, while still honoring our market-leadership Employer of Choice pay philosophy and
maintaining high service standards even as a major new facility comes online.

Forward-looking policy stewardship. These guiding principles are not static. The City reviews them
regularly and updates its guidelines and policies with the future in mind, so that the framework keeps
pace with changing needs. As part of the FY 2027 budget, staff worked with the City Council at the
summer strategic priorities workshop to establish additional expenditure guidelines for Southlake’s
Budget Overview
three dedicated sales tax districts, which fund parks, public safety, and economic development largely
through sales tax paid by visitors rather than by local property owners.

New guiding principles and cost-sharing guidelines for the Southlake Parks Development Corporation
and the Community Enhancement and Development Corporation are incorporated into the City’s
financial policies as part of this budget, and a phased, long-term sustainability strategy was established
for the Crime Control and Prevention District. Reviewing and refining these frameworks before cost
pressures materialize is a deliberate practice, one that keeps the City’s policies aligned with today’s
realities while positioning Southlake to meet the needs of the years ahead.

A budget that delivers: from principle to practice. Taken together, these principles are more than a
philosophy of financial management; they are commitments the FY 2027 budget delivers on in full.
This budget is structurally balanced. It holds reserves above policy targets, retires debt well ahead of
industry norms, and funds capital through a disciplined mix of cash and strategic borrowing. It limits
operating growth in the General Fund to 2%, well within the CPI benchmark, while fully funding the City’s
market-leadership pay philosophy and protecting the service levels residents expect. And it continues
to strengthen the framework itself, evolving the City’s policies and guidelines to meet the needs ahead.
Every guiding principle that opened this section is satisfied by this budget, not as an aspiration for
some future year, but as a standard met today, which is why Southlake’s results continue to earn the
independent, national recognition described at the outset.

Southlake homeowners have benefited from
16 consecutive tax relief measures, including a
maximum 20% homestead exemption.

24 FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book 25