Page 30 - CityofSouthlakeFY27Budget

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outside Southlake, a substantial share of this workforce is underwritten by non-residents rather than
local taxpayers. A further 37.2 positions run the City’s water and wastewater utility, funded by the user
charges paid for that service.

The FY 2027 budget again reduces the City’s authorized workforce. Authorized staffing decreases from
444.1675 FTE (578 employees) in FY 2026 to 438.6175 FTE (572 employees) in FY 2027, through the
permanent elimination of 5.55 FTE and the freezing of an additional 6.155 FTE. The eliminations reduce
ongoing personnel costs by approximately $283,000. The frozen positions remain in the authorized
position table and funded, but will be held vacant while preserving the flexibility to restore, restructure,
or permanently eliminate them once operating experience confirms the appropriate long-term level. All
of these adjustments were achieved without reducing service levels.
Budget Overview
These reductions were reached through two complementary and deliberate paths. The first is the City’s
longstanding practice of vacancy review. Whenever a position becomes vacant, through a departure
or an upcoming retirement, or is intentionally held open, the City conducts a business-case analysis to
confirm the role still aligns with current priorities and service demands before refilling it, redistributing
duties among existing staff during the review to maintain service delivery. Where that analysis showed
a position was no longer essential, it was eliminated; where additional time was needed to confirm the
right long-term structure, it was held frozen. Changes reached this way include the elimination of vacant
positions in the City Manager’s Office, the City Secretary’s Office, Community Services, and Finance; the
Planning Manager position that was held frozen in FY 2026 and evaluated throughout the year before
being eliminated; and the Reporting and Compliance Manager position in Finance, held open and frozen
in FY 2027 following an upcoming retirement to assess long-term need.

The second path is the budget optimization process, through which departments proactively assessed
whether staffing aligned with current service demands. This work produced targeted rightsizing based
on utilization and participation data, the realignment of responsibilities, and the consolidation of roles
into higher-value positions. It includes, for example, consolidating two positions, a parks technician and
a vacant engineering support position, into a single, higher-skilled CIP Project Specialist to help manage
a capital program that has grown to roughly $100 million. In several of these cases, the City is freezing
rather than immediately eliminating a position, holding them vacant during FY 2027 to validate the
reduction under actual operating conditions before determining whether it should be permanent.

To provide a complete picture, the specific positions affected in FY 2027 are listed on the following
page. The first group reflects positions eliminated or reduced, which lower authorized staffing and
produce ongoing savings. The second reflects positions frozen and held vacant for the year, which
remain in the position table.

Since FY 2024, this approach has reduced the City’s workforce by 10.5 positions, a decrease of 2.3%.
FY 2027 will mark the third consecutive year of net workforce reduction. These reductions have not
come through across-the-board cuts, but through the deliberate, position-by-position review described
above, confirming in each case that the work could be absorbed, redistributed, or discontinued without
diminishing service to customers.

That same scrutiny applies to the voter-funded amenity positions, not just to those supported by
property tax. Several of this year’s workforce adjustments fall in these areas, including a freeze of 3.38
30 FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book 31