Adopted FY2021 Budget

On Tuesday Aug. 11, the City Manager presented the FY21 proposed budget to the City Council. The proposed $782 million general fund budget reflects some changes in the wake of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet maintains the current rate of capital investment. The proposed fiscal 2021 budget will continue to fund new facilities, improve equity of city services and enhance policing.

Fort Worth’s full Capital and Operating Budget – which includes the general, debt service, special revenue, enterprise and internal service funds -- for fiscal 2021 remains relatively unchanged at $1.9 billion. Those funds operate the water and wastewater utility and airports, for example.

The budget calls for the continued property tax rate of 74.75 cents per $100 assessed valuation. Of that, 59.5 cents goes to fund operations and 15.25 cents to debt service. Projections put sales tax revenue $4.5 million lower, to $168.3 million to the city’s general fund in fiscal 2021.The general fund pays to operate city services and facilities. Property and sales taxes represent about 80 percent of the general fund budget.

Residents can comment on the recommended tax rate at several public meetings. They can also send comments to FWConnection@fortworthtexas.gov. All comments and suggestions will be shared with staff and elected officials.

The Council approved the tax rate, as well as the fiscal 2021 Capital and Operating Budget, on Sept. 22.

This budget will raise more revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by an amount of $21,558,067, which is a 3.7 percent increase from last year’s budget. The property tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year is $18,729,638.


City Council Record Vote

The members of the governing body voted on the adoption of the budget as follows:

For: Mayor Betsy Price, Councilmembers Gyna Bivens, Brian Byrd, Carlos Flores, Kelly Allen Gray, Jungus Jordan, Cary Moon, Dennis Shingleton, and Ann Zadeh

Against: None

Present but abstained from voting: None

Absent: None

Municipal Property Tax Rates

The municipal property tax rates for the preceding fiscal year, and each municipal property tax rate that has been adopted or calculated for the current fiscal year, include:

Tax Rate

Adopted FY2019-20

Adopted FY2020-21

Property Tax Rate

$0.747500

$0.747500

No-New-Revenue Tax Rate

0.729187

0.777377

No-New-Revenue Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate

0.578466

0.623529

Voter-Approval Tax Rate

0.789191

0.807134

Debt Rate

0.152500

0.152500

 

Municipal Debt Obligations

The total amount of outstanding municipal debt obligations (including principal and interest) secured by property taxes is $951,429,863.

This cover page and the information it contains are included with the budget as required by the Texas Local Government Code. A PDF version is available online here(PDF, 81KB).

 

Public Meeting List as of Aug. 11, 2020

Date Meeting Time Location Public Comments
Aug. 14
(Agenda)(PDF, 45KB)
City Council Work Session 12:30 p.m. City Hall & Online No
Aug. 17 District 9 Town Hall 6:30 p.m. WebEx Yes
Aug. 18 CCPD Public Hearing 2 p.m. City Hall & Online Yes
Aug. 19 District 8 Town Hall 6:30 p.m. City Hall & Online Yes
Aug. 20 District 2 Town Hall 6 p.m. Facebook live(@CityFortWorth or @CarloseFloresFortWorth), FWTV & Online Yes
Aug. 20-21 Budget Work Sessions TBD City Hall & Online No
Aug. 22 District 5 Town Hall 10 a.m. City Hall & Online Yes
Aug. 25 CCPD Action on Budget 2 p.m. City Hall & Online
Aug. 29 District 6 Town Hall 10 a.m. FWTV & Online Yes
Sept. 1 First Public Hearing at
City Council Meeting
7 p.m. City Hall & Online Yes
Sept. 3-4 Budget Work Sessions TBD City Hall & Online No
Sept. 8 District 3 Town Hall 6:30 p.m. FWTV & Online Yes
Sept. 15 Second Public Hearing at
City Council Meeting
7 p.m. City Hall & Online Yes
Sept. 22 Anticipated Budget Adoption at
City Council meeting
10 a.m. City Hall & Online Yes

Details for each meeting will be posted on the City Calendar.

Here are some helpful documents. You can also watch the recorded presentations at fortworthtexas.gov/FWTV.

Budget Questions and Answers