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The Fort Worth City Council voted to pass a budget on Tuesday afternoon over the protests of two council members.
The Council by a 7-2 vote approved a $915.3 million general fund budget, which pays for most city services and operations. The Council also voted 7-2 to decrease the City’s property tax rate 2 cents.
District 3 Councilman Michael Crain and District 4 Councilman Alan Blaylock voted against both the budget and the tax rate.
The General Fund budget is an increase of 10% over the fiscal year 2022 budget, or about $83.4 million. The increase is needed to keep up with growth and maintaining infrastructure, City Manager David Cooke said, a task made more difficult because of current economic climate.
The budget will pay for enhanced bridge and road maintenance, improve neighborhoods and put emphasis on picking up litter and making roadways brighter and safer at night.
The Council approved reducing Fort Worth’s property tax rate to 71.25 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The City Council has lowered the tax rate five times in the past six years, totaling 12.25 cents.
Yet, the average homeowner will pay more, about 10% more, in taxes because of increased home values.
Crain wanted to decrease the rate another 2 cents. Blaylock, who represents parts of north and east Fort Worth, stuck to a vow to vote only for a “no-new-revenue tax rate,” which he argued would still increase revenue from new property added to the rolls over the past year.
Cooke said that rate of 66.69 cents per $100 assessed valuation would have forced the city to cut $42.9 million from the general fund, a bridge too far for other members who were concerned what impact that would have on city services.
Mayor Mattie Parker noted that property tax relief needed to find life in the state Legislature or the local school districts, which account for the largest portion of property tax bills.
Water rates, garbage collection fees, and storm-water fees are not increasing, though an environmental fee on monthly utility bills will increase for both residences and business properties. The fee has not increased in 25 years. Starting in January, a single-family homeowner will pay $1.50 per month, up from 50 cents. Monthly fee increases are also proposed for commercial, industrial and nonprofit properties.
The increase will add $6 million annually, according to the city manager’s office, and expand capacity for environmental projects and services, such as $4 million for street sweeping. The city plans to buy 10 street sweepers.
The budget includes new positions to support growth and to enhance service levels.
The city’s Development Services department is getting one of the largest staffing increases outside of public safety, with 38 new positions. The additional positions will help provide faster and more efficient service to developers and homeowners.
The Police Department will gain 90 new positions, including 73 sworn officers. The Fire Department will grow by 14 civil service positions to staff a new engine company in far north Fort Worth; two additional positions for the homeless outreach team, and seven civilian support staff.
Cooke allocated 7 cents of the 71.25 cents tax rate to Pay-as-you-go, or PayGo. The boost, coupled with the impact of higher appraisal values, will put $12.3 million more into the fund that uses cash to pay for projects. That will total $65.2 million.
Identified PayGo projects will include street maintenance, up 34.5%, from $35 million to $47 million. Another $2.6 million will help fix the backlog of street light outages, up from $1.5 million, and $6.5 million for pavement markings, up from $1.4 million, a 357% increase.
The city will increase the number of work crews devoted to repairing streetlights. Transportation & Public Works is adding 11 positions to improve response time to repair street lights. The added crews will cut in half the time it takes to make repairs.
The budget includes an increase of $771,920 to expand the library’s collection of books, eBooks, and resources available to the public.
Code Compliance is adding seven positions to help regulate high-density multifamily rental properties across the city.