Fort Worth approves $2.79 billion budget, with flat tax rate to ease burden on homeowners
The Fort Worth City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve its 2025 budget while keeping its tax rate the same.
It’s part of an effort to ease the property tax burden on homeowners while still delivering essential city services.
The council kept the city’s property tax rate at 67.25 cents per $100 valuation. The owner of a $300,000 home with a homestead exemption would pay $1,614 in city property taxes.
The city estimates this will translate to a $65 increase for the average Fort Worth homeowner.
The rate is lower than the one initially proposed by City Manager David Cooke, which would have generated the same amount of revenue in 2025 from properties that were on the rolls in 2024. However, the proposed “no-new-revenue” rate would have raised the city’s tax rate for the first time in 30 years.
The budget approval comes as the city’s rapid growth appears to be slowing. Property values increased roughly 5% over the past year compared to 15% between 2022 and 2023.
The lower tax rate required the city to find $6.2 million worth of savings, which was achieved through cutting funding for vehicle replacement and eliminating jobs that have been unfilled for six months or longer.
The budget also cut funding from the neighborhood improvement program to account for the lower tax rate. The city originally budgeted $8.4 million for the program, but the approved budget cut that number in half.
The program targets funds to a single neighborhood to help with projects like clearing vacant lots, fixing sidewalks and improving streetlights. These are typically neighborhoods that have been neglected by the city in the past.
Some council members raised concerns that reducing the funding would limit the number of neighborhoods the program could serve. It recently expanded to two neighborhoods a year after previously only serving one.
However, Councilmember Jared Williams said he was committed to finding a way to continue supporting two neighborhoods despite having half the funding.
If the city only focuses on one neighborhood it will never be able to catch up with the need, Williams said.
What’s new?
The budget includes an additional $10.4 million for street maintenance, which the city’s transportation and public works department estimates will save the city $50 million when it comes time to replace the roads down the line.
The city initially looked at adding a new fee to residents’ water bills to pay for road maintenance, but that proposal was scrapped in May over concerns about costs to residents.
The city will also raise its minimum wage to $18 per hour up from the current $15.75 per hour. This brings the city’s minimum wage closer to $20 per hour, which some council members have argued will ensure city workers are able to afford to live in Fort Worth.
The budget also includes $3.5 million in startup costs to bring emergency medical services in house, and $18 million for police pay raises related to a recently ratified union contract.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker thanked city staff for its work on the budget in a year when revenue from property and sales tax was down.
Parker also thanked the council for reaching a consensus on the budget saying it was a welcome contrast to the political division seen across the country.
This story was originally published September 17, 2024 at 5:56 PM.
.jpg)