Mark McAvoy, director of the Fort Worth Planning and Data Analytics Department, told City Council members at their May 3 work session about plans between May and the end of September, when the fiscal year 2023 budget and property tax rate must be approved.
“We consider the engagement and the outreach piece to be a year-round endeavor,” he said. “But as we go into this defined period of budget making, we'll be doing these specific things.”
Stakeholder meetings with chambers of commerce, school districts, rotary clubs and other groups will be held each month through August, he said. Town Hall meetings in individual City Council districts are being planned during June and August.
Social media posts, news releases, short videos, e-newsletters and a section of the city’s website dedicated to the budget are also in the works, he said.
A new initiative that McAvoy said will launch next week will invite the public to take photos around the city. McAvoy said the city wants people “to send us those photographs of things that they would include in budget prioritization talks.”
The budget sets the city’s spending priorities on everything from street maintenance to personnel from libraries to public safety to parks.
Fort Worth’s general fund budget for FY 2022 is about $832 million with 7,549 authorized positions, according to the city’s website.
City Manager David Cooke is expected to present a recommended budget to council in early August. Work sessions with City Council are planned Aug. 11-12 and Aug. 25-26, according to the presentation.
A public hearing on the budget is tentatively planned for Sept. 13 with a final vote on the budget and tax rate set for Sept. 17.
People can send budget feedback to the city by emailing [email protected].
