Fort Worth officials are tentatively planning to adopt a general fund budget of $1.097 billion, an increase of $40.2 million, or 3.81%, over last year’s budget, city staff said Tuesday.
The budget target comes amid uncertainty surrounding how much revenue the city will bring in from taxpayers after the Tarrant Appraisal District approved a reappraisal plan last year that freezes residential property values for 2025. Property tax collections account for the majority of the general fund, the city’s primary operating budget.
City Manager Jay Chapa, along with city staff, briefed City Council members on the budget goal during an April 29 meeting to kick off the public-facing budget adoption process. That process will continue through the summer before council members formally adopt the budget in September.
Chapa told council members that his office will have a better estimate of anticipated revenue after Wednesday, when preliminary TAD values come in. Certified values are expected July 25. Staff will present an updated budget target at the council’s next budget workshop in May.
Staff will also have an update on state legislation that would prohibit or change this year’s appraisal plan, Chapa said.
School districts across Tarrant County protested the property value freeze, arguing it could have unintended consequences for their budgets and lead to less state funding. In response, state Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat whose district includes Arlington and Grand Prairie, filed legislation that would require all appraisal districts to conduct annual reappraisals — effectively banning the two-year cycle adopted by TAD. The bill has bipartisan support with Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, signing on as a joint author.
“There is a bill in Austin, or maybe several bills, that might make these numbers look different in about a month, but this is currently what we’re planning as we go forward,” Chapa told council members.
Christianne Simmons, director of the budget- and planning-focused FWLab, said city staff have taken a number of steps to account for TAD’s reappraisal plan and prepare for pending legislation potentially getting signed into law.
Those steps included reducing each city department’s target budget by 1%. FWLab staff calculate target budgets for departments, or maximum budget numbers, based on predetermined costs from previous years, prior year commitments, one-time costs and employee salary and benefit projections.
At Chapa’s instruction, Simmons said, department heads have been asked to “look at their base level, their positions (and) their programming to look for efficiencies or ways to pivot and save.” The combined reductions across 22 departments would generate nearly $7.6 million in savings, according to Simmons’ presentation.
“This, again, is just really needed to balance growing costs with slow revenue growth,” she said.
In addition to the mandatory 1% reductions, departments included in the general fund must present budget proposals that would cut another 3% if needed.
Chapa said the reductions are needed to plan for a balanced budget. He wants staff to be involved in planning for what areas of their departments can withstand budget cuts with the least amount of impact to residents.
“The idea here is to make sure that the departments, who know their budgets better than anybody, can give us an idea of where we should go if we get to that point, and it’s not a last-minute scramble by the city manager’s office slashing or cutting across the board that has different impacts on different people and different departments and different stakeholders,” Chapa said.
Council member Elizabeth Beck told Chapa she appreciates the efforts to plan strategically, but she has concerns about reducing funding to the fire department as it prepares to absorb 650 MedStar employees during the city’s transition to an in-house EMS system this summer. Chapa’s mandatory 1% reduction would reduce the fire budget from the roughly $218.9 million allocated in the city’s 2025 budget by $1.96 million, according to the staff presentation.
“That seems like we’re handicapping ourselves in that,” Beck said. “I get that we have to reduce, or have some really serious conversations, but I’d like to see something additional to the 1% across the board reduction coming into the next meeting.”
In response, Chapa noted that the city will receive preliminary TAD values April 30, which could stand to impact the targeted budget. He added that the city’s current tax rate will only generate so much revenue, so tough budget cuts are necessary unless the council is willing to raise the tax rate this year.
Council members unanimously approved a flat tax rate in the 2025 budget after then-City Manager David Cooke proposed raising it for the first time since 1995. To do so, the city cut funding to the city’s popular Neighborhood Improvement Program, eliminated several vacant staff positions, reduced funding for vehicle and equipment replacements and increased salary savings.
Simmons said her department will develop a budget proposal throughout the summer before presenting it to City Council in August. Council members are expected to meet for their next budget workshop meeting at 4:30 p.m. May 13 at City Hall.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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