Page 32 - CityofSouthlakeFY27Budget

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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
Budget Overview
GDP Growth Unemployment Home Values Projections
Fuel Costs Healthcare Costs Top Taxpayer Meetings

GOAL: MULTI-YEAR SUSTAINABILITY

Sound financial management does not begin or end with a single budget year. The decisions Southlake
makes today rest on years of disciplined planning that came before, and the choices in this budget will
shape the City’s financial position for years to come. Multi-year sustainability is the principle that keeps
that long view at the center of budgeting, ensuring the City plans for the future rather than solving only
for the year immediately ahead.

Multi-year financial planning is one of the most important considerations in budget development.
Executive leaders evaluate the operational impact of all identified projects and include those costs in
future budget projections. The Executive Leadership Team also works with the Chief Financial Officer
to develop a formalized five-year financial roadmap that reflects known and planned expenditures,
creating greater predictability for future budgets.

Staff monitors the trends that reveal the City’s long-term financial health and uses them to guide
decisions toward the City’s financial and service goals. Because a thorough understanding of economic
conditions is essential to sound budgeting, the City gathers and analyzes local economic information
to project revenues and evaluate multi-year sustainability. Figure 3 shows the approach used for this
analysis.

The City has taken a further formal step by adopting the Southlake Sustainability Plan as an element of
the Southlake Comprehensive Plan. The plan contains formal recommendations to ensure positive long-
term financial outcomes for the City (highlighted in Figure 4), and the full Economic and Fiscal Wellness
section appears in the Appendix of this document. Staff is currently working with the City Council to
update the related policies and guiding principles in the coming year.

32 FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book FY 2027 City of Southlake | Budget Book 33