gc
10 September 2003, 09:55 PM
$726 million budget is approved
By Anna M. Tinsley - Star-Telegram Staff Writer
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/6736036.htm
FORT WORTH - The City Council on Tuesday approved a $726 million budget for next fiscal year that adds new police officers and firefighters -- and boosts efforts to clean up the city.
The budget, approved unanimously, avoids layoffs, significant reduction of city services and pay freezes.
But it does raise the costs of some city services -- ranging from parades to swimming at the Forest Park Pool -- and leaves unchanged the property tax rate of 86.5 cents per $100 of assessed value instead of cutting it, as officials have for seven of the past eight years.
"This is a basic meat-and-potato budget," Mayor Mike Moncrief said. "It contains no thrills and certainly isn't sexy.
"But it does reflect the top priorities of the council."
The financial picture in Fort Worth is better than in some cities, including Arlington and Dallas, which face tough choices such as property tax rate increases and layoffs.
Councilwoman Wendy Davis praised city administrators for balancing the budget while finding funds for new programs.
"We increased our services and held taxes firm at a time when the economy is in the tank," Davis said. "I don't think many other cities can brag about that."
The new budget, which goes into effect Oct. 1, addresses two key City Council concerns -- the safety and cleanliness of the city.
It sets aside $365,000 for eight new patrol officers, equipment and training to kick in at midyear, as well as $184,050 for five more traffic officers and about $168,000 for six new 911 dispatchers.
It also provides $26,332 for two new detectives for the Police Department's robbery unit, $187,184 for four additional neighborhood police officers and $81,044 for three officers and one corporal for gang intervention.
And it sets aside funds to continue the city's ongoing $4.5 million, three-year plan to boost the city's 51 fire companies to four-person crews. Fourteen firefighters will be added in July to upgrade three fire companies to four-person staffing levels for all shifts.
To help keep the city clean, the budget provides $250,000 in funding for a new Code Rangers program that will use volunteers to identify code violations and notify property owners and residents. The budget also includes $249,480 for five new code compliance officers.
The new budget also sets aside $30,000 to mow rights of way, remove litter and clean up the Interstate 30/Interstate 35W interchange, an area that is seen as a gateway to the city.
Other priorities
In other areas, the budget absorbs an increase of more than $5 million in city employee health insurance costs and provides for an average 3.1 percent pay raise for most employees.
It also sets aside funds for a variety of services, from $11.7 million for street repairs to $160,792 for two new animal welfare investigators to enforce the city's animal cruelty ordinance.
More than $560,000 is designated to add nine new jobs to the development department to enhance customer service, office renovation and an online permitting system.
Sister Cities International will receive an extra $100,000 to help search for an African sister city, and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will get $35,000 to help with operations and maintenance costs. These funds come from the city's hotel/motel tax collections.
The budget does not include a reduction in the property tax rate, which was reduced for seven consecutive years after peaking in 1994-95 at 97.35 cents per $100 valuation. The tax rate has been unchanged for two years.
On a $100,000 home, with a standard 20 percent homestead exemption, the property tax at the current rate is $692 annually, or about $58 per month.
"Obviously we never have as many dollars as we'd like to meet the growing needs," Moncrief said. "But we accomplished everything we did without a property tax rate increase, which is a reflection of the focus of our staff and our council."
Rising costs
To help balance the budget, city leaders raised more than a dozen fines to generate more than $650,000 extra each year.
Among the increases:
• Parking meter costs, which now average 38 cents an hour, with changes in meter time limits. Rates would go up to an average of $1.25 per hour at one-hour meters, $1 an hour at two-hour meters, 75 cents an hour at four-hour meters and 20 cents an hour at 10-hour meters. Meters costs now average 75 cents an hour at two-hour meters and 20 cents an hour at 10-hour meters.
• New special-event permits that cost $150 for public events in city rights of way, including parades, festivals and valet parking. The city has not charged for those events in years past.
• Water rates, boosting the average residential bill by about $3 a month, or 6.75 percent.
• Entry fees to the Forest Park Pool by 50 cents per person, boosting the cost to $1.50 per child and $2 per adult.
• False fire alarm response fees, which are now $100 each after the fourth offense. The proposal would increase the fines to $200 for a fifth offense, $400 for a sixth, $800 for a seventh and $1,500 for each additional offense.
Officials backed off a proposal, however, to charge residents $25 to close streets for block parties and did not include that fee in the new budget.
In addition to the increased fees, the city should see an extra $300,000 from an increase in municipal court fines and more than $240,000 from traffic tickets and code citations after more officers hit the streets, officials said.
City officials also say they have tightened their budgets to maintain current services, including eliminating 13 vacant positions, cutting in half the funding to replace city vehicles, reducing travel and training funds, and eliminating a vacation buy-back program.
The budget also includes a reorganization of some departments. It includes funding for a new Community Relations Department to be formed by consolidating the Action Center, the Neighborhood and Youth Outreach Office and the Human Relations Commission Department.
"We have high hopes for the coming year that we'll implement this budget with the cost-cutting measures," City Manager Gary Jackson said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed ... that the economy is turning around."
Fort Worth budget
Fort Worth's 2002-03 budget includes:
• No change in the tax rate of 86.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value
• Five additional code compliance officers, $249,480
• A new code compliance effort called the Code Rangers, $246,838
• Six additional 911 dispatchers, $168,510
• Five additional traffic officers, $184,050
• Eight additional police patrol officers, $365,000
• Fourteen additional firefighters to convert three fire companies to four-person staffing levels, $211,236
• Street repairs such as filling potholes, $11.7 million
• $30,000 to mow, remove litter and clean up the Interstate 30/Interstate 35 interchange
• Two additional animal welfare investigators/animal control officers, $160,792
• Four more neighborhood police officers, $187,184
• Two additional detectives for the Police Department's robbery unit, $26,332
By Anna M. Tinsley - Star-Telegram Staff Writer
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/6736036.htm
FORT WORTH - The City Council on Tuesday approved a $726 million budget for next fiscal year that adds new police officers and firefighters -- and boosts efforts to clean up the city.
The budget, approved unanimously, avoids layoffs, significant reduction of city services and pay freezes.
But it does raise the costs of some city services -- ranging from parades to swimming at the Forest Park Pool -- and leaves unchanged the property tax rate of 86.5 cents per $100 of assessed value instead of cutting it, as officials have for seven of the past eight years.
"This is a basic meat-and-potato budget," Mayor Mike Moncrief said. "It contains no thrills and certainly isn't sexy.
"But it does reflect the top priorities of the council."
The financial picture in Fort Worth is better than in some cities, including Arlington and Dallas, which face tough choices such as property tax rate increases and layoffs.
Councilwoman Wendy Davis praised city administrators for balancing the budget while finding funds for new programs.
"We increased our services and held taxes firm at a time when the economy is in the tank," Davis said. "I don't think many other cities can brag about that."
The new budget, which goes into effect Oct. 1, addresses two key City Council concerns -- the safety and cleanliness of the city.
It sets aside $365,000 for eight new patrol officers, equipment and training to kick in at midyear, as well as $184,050 for five more traffic officers and about $168,000 for six new 911 dispatchers.
It also provides $26,332 for two new detectives for the Police Department's robbery unit, $187,184 for four additional neighborhood police officers and $81,044 for three officers and one corporal for gang intervention.
And it sets aside funds to continue the city's ongoing $4.5 million, three-year plan to boost the city's 51 fire companies to four-person crews. Fourteen firefighters will be added in July to upgrade three fire companies to four-person staffing levels for all shifts.
To help keep the city clean, the budget provides $250,000 in funding for a new Code Rangers program that will use volunteers to identify code violations and notify property owners and residents. The budget also includes $249,480 for five new code compliance officers.
The new budget also sets aside $30,000 to mow rights of way, remove litter and clean up the Interstate 30/Interstate 35W interchange, an area that is seen as a gateway to the city.
Other priorities
In other areas, the budget absorbs an increase of more than $5 million in city employee health insurance costs and provides for an average 3.1 percent pay raise for most employees.
It also sets aside funds for a variety of services, from $11.7 million for street repairs to $160,792 for two new animal welfare investigators to enforce the city's animal cruelty ordinance.
More than $560,000 is designated to add nine new jobs to the development department to enhance customer service, office renovation and an online permitting system.
Sister Cities International will receive an extra $100,000 to help search for an African sister city, and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will get $35,000 to help with operations and maintenance costs. These funds come from the city's hotel/motel tax collections.
The budget does not include a reduction in the property tax rate, which was reduced for seven consecutive years after peaking in 1994-95 at 97.35 cents per $100 valuation. The tax rate has been unchanged for two years.
On a $100,000 home, with a standard 20 percent homestead exemption, the property tax at the current rate is $692 annually, or about $58 per month.
"Obviously we never have as many dollars as we'd like to meet the growing needs," Moncrief said. "But we accomplished everything we did without a property tax rate increase, which is a reflection of the focus of our staff and our council."
Rising costs
To help balance the budget, city leaders raised more than a dozen fines to generate more than $650,000 extra each year.
Among the increases:
• Parking meter costs, which now average 38 cents an hour, with changes in meter time limits. Rates would go up to an average of $1.25 per hour at one-hour meters, $1 an hour at two-hour meters, 75 cents an hour at four-hour meters and 20 cents an hour at 10-hour meters. Meters costs now average 75 cents an hour at two-hour meters and 20 cents an hour at 10-hour meters.
• New special-event permits that cost $150 for public events in city rights of way, including parades, festivals and valet parking. The city has not charged for those events in years past.
• Water rates, boosting the average residential bill by about $3 a month, or 6.75 percent.
• Entry fees to the Forest Park Pool by 50 cents per person, boosting the cost to $1.50 per child and $2 per adult.
• False fire alarm response fees, which are now $100 each after the fourth offense. The proposal would increase the fines to $200 for a fifth offense, $400 for a sixth, $800 for a seventh and $1,500 for each additional offense.
Officials backed off a proposal, however, to charge residents $25 to close streets for block parties and did not include that fee in the new budget.
In addition to the increased fees, the city should see an extra $300,000 from an increase in municipal court fines and more than $240,000 from traffic tickets and code citations after more officers hit the streets, officials said.
City officials also say they have tightened their budgets to maintain current services, including eliminating 13 vacant positions, cutting in half the funding to replace city vehicles, reducing travel and training funds, and eliminating a vacation buy-back program.
The budget also includes a reorganization of some departments. It includes funding for a new Community Relations Department to be formed by consolidating the Action Center, the Neighborhood and Youth Outreach Office and the Human Relations Commission Department.
"We have high hopes for the coming year that we'll implement this budget with the cost-cutting measures," City Manager Gary Jackson said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed ... that the economy is turning around."
Fort Worth budget
Fort Worth's 2002-03 budget includes:
• No change in the tax rate of 86.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value
• Five additional code compliance officers, $249,480
• A new code compliance effort called the Code Rangers, $246,838
• Six additional 911 dispatchers, $168,510
• Five additional traffic officers, $184,050
• Eight additional police patrol officers, $365,000
• Fourteen additional firefighters to convert three fire companies to four-person staffing levels, $211,236
• Street repairs such as filling potholes, $11.7 million
• $30,000 to mow, remove litter and clean up the Interstate 30/Interstate 35 interchange
• Two additional animal welfare investigators/animal control officers, $160,792
• Four more neighborhood police officers, $187,184
• Two additional detectives for the Police Department's robbery unit, $26,332