Fort Worth's $4.4B budget includes tax cut, higher user fees in fiscal year 2025-26

The proposed fiscal year 2025-26 budget for the city of Fort Worth will focus on adding more staff for police, sustaining current levels of public services and road improvements.

The overview

The operating budget is $3.09 billion, an increase of 10.93% compared to the fiscal year 2024-25 budget. That comes even with 1% cut and strategic reduction among department budgets, City Manager Jay Chapa said.

“The population growth continues,” Chapa said during the city's work session Aug. 12. “Balancing that need to deal with the growth along with the older areas of town [and] putting the resources in the correct places is one of the big things that we have to deal with as we move forward.”

The total budget, including capital improvement projects worth $1.39 billion, brings the total to $4.48 billion, according to the presentation.

Chapa said the city earlier projected a flat budget, but the Tarrant Appraisal District tax rolls were higher than expected and the city avoided having a budget deficit.

He said between the four counties that comprise Fort Worth, the taxable values were estimated to be $122 billion. Late last month, the combined totals were $129 billion.

Christianne Simmons, chief transformation officer for the Fort Worth Lab, provided the deep dive into the budget.

The recommended tax rate for FY 2025-26 is $0.67, a reduction of $0.25 cents from the current tax rate of $0.6725. Out of the $0.67, $0.5225 is allocated to operations and maintenance fund, or O&M, and $0.1475 is allocated to debt.

Of the $0.5225, operations will receive $0.45 and capital receives $0.0725, according to the presentation. At the recommended tax rate of $0.67, the city’s property tax revenue would increase by over $39 million to a total of $817 million. Chapa said a typical household would pay $20 less per year in city property taxes because of the proposed tax rate reduction.

The cost

Code compliance, financial management services, park and recreation, transportation and public works, public events, environmental services and aviation are all departments that are requesting increased fees in the upcoming budget.

The proposed fee structures are based on market studies, cost recovery, service additions, long-term planning and sustainability, according to the presentation.

A typical household would pay $4.74 more per month in fees for solid waste, environmental, stormwater and wastewater services based on the proposed fee schedule.

Simmons said that the fee was calculated using the average taxable home value of $235,589, according to data provided from TAD.

Of the $3.09 billion operation budget, the general fund accounts for $1.1 billion, which is an increase of 4.5% compared to the current fiscal year, Simmons said. She added that the salary and benefits are about 67% of the general fund.

According to previous reporting, city staff had targeted $1.09 billion in the fund. The general fund receives money from property taxes and other sources and provides public safety, public works and general government operations, according to the city website.

The 4.56% increase is attributed to an additional $35.7 million for public safety and $11.9 million in workforce, according to the presentation. A percentage of that is the city creating a new emergency management and communications department following the takeover of MedStar ambulance services.

A new police department will switch to a coverage map. The change will result in 12 new beats and the city will hire eight new Neighborhood Police Officers. Chapa said there is also funding for additional school resource officers.

Other notable projects include expanding street sweeper and litter control, renovation of Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, expansion of the Fort Worth Convention Center, expansion of the Eagle Mountain Water Treatment plant and updating Mary’s Creek Water Reclamation Facility, which cleans the water that goes down drains from homes and businesses so it can be reused for beneficial purposes, according to the city website.

What’s next

A series of budget presentations is planned in each council district for residents to learn more about the recommended budget, according to a news release.

Public hearings on the tax rate and recommended budget will take place during the Sept. 16 council meeting.