Councils approve plans to reward employees, improve quality of life
The local economy has improved some in the past year, bringing with it the slow return of higher sales tax revenues, modest increases in property values and a bump in new construction, but area communities continued their conservative approaches to budgeting in their FY 2013 proposals.
Often described by Colleyville leaders as the "new normal," city officials throughout the region have spent the past several months crafting budgets that succeed in maintaining service levels, offering new projects to residents and giving small rewards to employees while keeping property tax rates stable — or even lowering them, in the case of Grapevine — and advancing the goals of elected leaders and longterm plans.
"We want to keep service at the high levels we have, but this is basically a maintenance budget," Grapevine Budget Manager Gary Livingston said, mirroring the comments of many in regional leadership. "We're not adding a lot of bells and whistles, but we are focusing on our core services that we provide to our people in terms of public safety and upgrades to our parks and roadways."
The cities of Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake were all scheduled to adopt their FY 2013 budgets this week during regular Tuesday night council meetings. The Town of Westlake is expected to adopt its budget next Monday. All four cities' fiscal years will begin Oct. 1.
Colleyville
The proposed budget scheduled for approval by the Colleyville City council this week totals $39.5 million and focuses dollars on improving infrastructure, investing in public safety, stirring economic activity and development, and enhancing the city's identity.
Colleyville has seen a small rebound in its property values this year and is anticipating small progress in economy-driven revenues such as sales tax. But FY 2013 goals will be accomplished while maintaining one of the smallest city employee-to-resident ratios in the area and one of the lowest city tax rates in Northeast Tarrant County: 35.59 cents per $100 of valuation.
Planning ahead
Line items for FY 2013, which is coming in with about $3.8 million more in expenditures compared to FY 2012, include a number of projects that will benefit residents in the coming year with the goal of branding the city and improving upon Colleyville's quality of life.
That includes $1.8 million for improvements at the intersection of Cheek Sparger and Jackson roads, street maintenance and reconstruction projects totaling more than $2.4 million, roughly $651,300 for the design and construction of two trails — Pleasant Run and Webb House — and nearly $144,000 for enhancements at the Senior Center.
The city also plans to invest $100,000 in a new playground at LD Lockett Park and pay a little more than $100,000 to replace tables, chairs and the roof of the Colleyville Center, which .
The budget also looks ahead to the future, with a $200,000 expenditure for a comprehensive update to the city's master plan that will inform City Council decisions on land use, budget allocation, economic development activity and service delivery.
"As Colleyville moves further through its community life stage and with open parcels of land becoming rarer, planning is paramount," City Manager Jennifer Fadden said in a letter to council.
Consolidation savings
Part of that planning lately has involved joining forces with neighboring cities in the interest of efficiency and financial savings. This year's budget continues the city's interlocal contract with the cities of Keller and Southlake for regional public safety communication and jail services, which was first approved in 2010. And Colleyville and Keller will become the first Texas cities to consolidate their municipal court operations this year, a move made possible by legislation approved during the 2011 Legislative session and expected to save the city more than $57,000 annually.
The city will also consolidate animal control and shelter services with Keller and Southlake this year for a first-year savings of nearly $7,000.
Employee impact
Apart from Colleyville police, who are receiving salary adjustments to fix a compression issue blamed for attraction and retainment problems within the department, city employees' salaries will remain unchanged for a fourth year in FY 2013.
Instead, they will receive a one-time lump sum payment of $1,280. With the hope that the city will be able to offer raises again soon, this year's budget includes a $66,000 line item for a comprehensive job classification and compensation study.
Grapevine
In Grapevine, plans for FY 2013 include upgrades to city facilities, a variety of quality of life projects and a number of new employees.
City officials have crafted a $154.7 million budget, a nearly 13 percent increase over the current year's estimated expenditures of $137.26 million. But in the tradition of Grapevine's financial conservatism, it does so while suggesting yet another small decrease to the city's property tax rate.
Tax rate dip
Grapevine residents have not seen an increase in their city tax rate since 1971, largely thanks to sales tax revenues — a majority of which are collected from nonresidents — that provide the city with a strong economic foundation.
Between about $33 million in new construction that was added to the tax rolls this year and a slight uptick in property valuations in the city, officials were able to ease tax rates down even further for FY 2013, to 34.5694 cents per $100 of valuation.
A tiny decrease from the FY 2012 rate of 34.8 cents, the new rate is what is known as the "effective" tax rate, or the rate at which a city brings in as much revenue from property taxes as it did the year before.
Big plans
Although the presented budget may not have a lot of bells and whistles, it includes a number of projects meant to make living and working in Grapevine easier, including nearly $5.76 million in suggested projects as part of the city's quality of life fund.
Most expensive among the city's plans for the fund are a $2.39 million renovation to Dove Pool and its bathhouse; $1.25 million of work on Casey's Clubhouse, the city's playground for children with special needs; $700,000 for median landscaping design and construction on Hwy. 26; and $499,000 to finish equipping the city's public safety vehicles with transmitters that would allow first responders to change street lights ahead of them.
Smaller projects include the creation of a master plan for Meadowmere Park ($50,000), the building of a playground beside the DPS Outreach Center on Mustang Drive ($125,000), pedestrian enhancements along Hudgins Street ($141,750), the formulation of a citywide on-road bike plan ($50,000), and the design and construction of a new hiking trail ($225,000).
Employee effects
A majority of the budget's increase this year can be attributed to payroll changes. The budget includes a 5 percent step pay increase for public safety employees and a 3 percent merit pay increase for employees of other departments that go into effect on employees' anniversaries.
Those numbers were derived from a study of 18 comparable cities in the market undertaken this year at the request of the City Council. The new budget also includes funding for eight new full-time positions and one new part-time position spread across a variety of departments, including Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety and the Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Westlake
Westlake drafted a $24.35 million budget this year, making commitments to invest in employees, town infrastructure and programs that will help maintain and progress the town's reputation in service delivery and commitment to knowledge.
Revenue streams
This will be only the third year that Westlake assesses a property tax on its residents, and ad valorem revenues will account for about 21 percent of the general fund. Town Council members chose to keep taxes steady for FY 2013, at 15.6840 cents per $100 of valuation. Officials said the decision, which will bring in less revenue overall, was based on how new ad valorem taxes are to residents, surveys showing that residents are not interested in "a lot of fluff" and the pride the town has in taxing residents as little as possible.
"It was a measure of accomplishment to provide services without having a property tax but we outgrew it," Assistant Town Manager Amanda DeGan said. "Still, we maintain a very conservative approach."
While residential and commercial property values went up this year, Finance Director Debbie Piper said, the net taxable value of Westlake properties dropped because of tax abatements on key corporate residents, the result of economic development agreement measures being met.
Project plans
In accordance with the Town Council's five-year capital improvement program, a number of road projects are on the docket for funding this year, including streetscaping along FM 1938/Davis Boulevard; the last of improvements to J.T. Ottinger/Dove Road; enhancement projects planned along Hwy. 114/170; and the start of reconstruction and drainage work on Dove Road east of FM 1938. The town will also continue to look for ways to grow connectivity through public-private partnerships, and through agreements with neighboring cities.
Additional money will support building maintenance at Westlake Academy, trail repairs, and equipment and infrastructure upgrades, particularly in the public safety and public works realms.
Salary bumps
Although the Town Council has not decided an amount yet, Westlake employees are likely to see improved salaries this year. The budget includes $100,000 for pay and benefit adjustments that will be determined by a survey of comparable towns. Finding comparable towns is not easy, DeGan said, because so few have a staff conducting both municipal and academic functions, but the ultimate goal is to move salaries to within 3 percent of the median.
Westlake Academy
While Westlake Academy receives operational funding from federal, state and local sources, academy property is owned and maintained by the city.
The Town Council has been in discussions for months now on future expansions at the school and is considering about $8.5 million worth of projects. DeGan said it remains unclear whether those projects will come before the public as a bond election and whether construction will start during FY 2013.
Southlake
City Manager Shana Yelverton describes Southlake's proposed budget of $79.9 million as healthy and indicative not only of proper tax rate management, but also of the city's commitment to high-quality, high-value public service.
"This is a results-oriented budget designed to get you the results you'd like to see," Yelverton told City Council members in August.
Upcoming projects
Among this year's expenditures are plans for public safety investments, road work and park enhancements.
More than $17 million will go into the construction and equipping of the new DPS North Training Facility that broke ground this summer as well as the hiring of 12 new firefighters to man its operation.
Other funding will go toward future public art installations ($100,000), Phase III of the city's wayfinding plan ($50,000) to help residents and visitors get around town, and an upgrade in the technology used to record and broadcast goings-on in the council chambers ($190,000).
Officials also have plans for $1.02 million in upgrades of public safety officers' radio system and citation writing equipment, a $55,000 traffic study of FM 1709 and $250,000 in improvements to Southlake Town Square, which will include renovation work to Central Avenue from FM 1709 to Main Street and a variety of landscaping improvements as well as setting aside money to be earmarked for the strategic initiatives fund.
When it comes to new and improved roads, millions will go toward intersection improvements at Carroll Avenue/Federal Way and Dove Road at Peytonville/Sam School Road, a new traffic signal at Watermere and FM 1709 to improve safety near the senior living campus, and reconstruction and expansion projects citywide, including work on North Kimball Avenue and FM 1938.
Small raises
City employees will see a 2 percent bump to their salaries during this budget cycle. The budget also includes a handful of new positions this year to assist the Department of Public Safety, manage and coordinate the city's thousands of volunteers (part time), help oversee the city's parks and open spaces, and take on employee safety programs and staff succession planning with the awareness that many of the city's leaders are already eligible for retirement.
Tax impact
Southlake's proposal keeps the tax rate steady for a 10th consecutive year at 46.2 cents per $100 of assessed value, and, in addition to the over-65 tax freeze and other longstanding homestead exemptions, it offers a homestead exemption of $15,000.
Although the tax rate will be the same this year, its allocation will shift as the city's debt service needs decrease. Southlake has worked hard in recent years to pay for certain capital projects in cash and aggressively pay down bond debts, so the FY 2013 proposal to move one cent from the debt service tax rate to the general fund operations tax rate will mean more flexibility for city needs in the future.
Shifts like that have been part of the city's strategy for years now, Yelverton said, as part of its multi-year financial analysis that first pays for new programs and facilities, and then tackles their ongoing operational impacts.
"We think about the budget in terms of multi-year," Yelverton said, "and what we like to say is that today's decisions impact tomorrow's budget."
