Cutting the rate would help offset the higher fees residents will face for various city services, including solid waste disposal, wastewater services and environmental protection, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The average homeowner would pay about $56.88 more in fees, but when combined with the lower tax bill, the net increase would amount to $36.55 over the year, or $3.05 per month.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my goals was to have as little impact to taxpayers as possible,\u201d Chapa told council members.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Chapa developed the budget proposal alongside Christianne Simmons, who oversees the budget-planning department FWLab, and city department heads. This is the first Fort Worth budget planning process led by Chapa since he was hired as city manager in December<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Staff develop and present the proposal, but City Council members have the final say on what gets adopted and what the tax rate will be.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposed budget outlines city spending from October to September 2026. Council members are expected to vote on the budget and tax rate Sept. 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n Officials plan to host community town halls across the city to allow residents to provide feedback on the budget and their priorities for city spending. A schedule of those town halls was not immediately available Aug. 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n Heading into budget planning over the summer, city officials braced<\/a> for a $16.7 million revenue shortfall, following the Tarrant Appraisal District\u2019s 2024 approval of a plan that froze residential property values<\/a> for 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n But appraisal values came in roughly $4 billion higher than expected, meaning Fort Worth\u2019s general fund revenue from property taxes is $641.4 million, instead of the $622.1 million staff forecasted in May.<\/p>\n Under the proposed tax rate, the city would earn nearly $818 million in tax revenue, or about $40 million more than the total revenue from the current fiscal year. Tax revenue accounts for the majority of the city\u2019s $1.1 billion general fund, which is the city\u2019s primary operating budget used to fund most public-facing services.\u00a0<\/p>\n In April, Chapa asked all department leaders to trim 1% from their budgets<\/a>, then asked most departments to submit proposals for another 3% in potential cuts, assigning police and fire departments smaller reductions.<\/p>\n Those cuts ultimately amounted to $12.2 million in savings, Simmons reported Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Chapa\u2019s proposal, city spending over the next year would focus on five key areas: economic development, community investment, community safety, responsible growth and organizational changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n The police and fire departments\u2019 budgets would account for about half of the $1.1 billion general fund, with a recommended cumulative funding of about $556.6 million.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nearly $3 million in funding for the city\u2019s diversity and inclusion department was axed and reallocated to other departments, after council members voted in early August to suspend the city\u2019s DEI efforts<\/a>. Officials said the suspension was necessary to preserve about $40 million annually in federal grants after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding from government entities that don\u2019t remove diversity, equity and inclusion programming from their spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n Staff from the DEI department are relocating to the city\u2019s Civil Rights Office, human resources and economic development departments, resulting in funding bumps to those divisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neighborhood improvements<\/p>\n The city\u2019s popular Neighborhood Improvement Program would continue to fund improvements for one neighborhood per year, according to Chapa\u2019s proposal. Since its launch in 2017, council members have praised the program, which sends funds for infrastructure improvements<\/a> to neighborhoods that have been historically neglected, such as Las Vegas Trail and Ash Crescent.<\/p>\n Last year, council members decreased funding for the program to rollback a two-neighborhoods-per-year strategy<\/a> after staff cited challenges in program spending and department staffing. At the time, council members said they wanted to revisit funding for two neighborhoods per year in the 2026 budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t here so I didn\u2019t know the idea was to have two come back,\u201d Chapa said when asked why his proposal didn\u2019t include funding for two neighborhoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neighborhood Services director Kacey Bess said her department, which oversees the program, is still catching up on program spending. She hopes to return to two neighborhoods per year in 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n Providing EMS services<\/p>\n About 39% of additional expenses for the general fund are due to the fire department\u2019s launch of the Emergency Medical Services branch<\/a> last July.\u00a0<\/p>\n The EMS branch has $89.2 million budgeted in the proposal, about $20.2 million of which will come from the general fund. Most of the other $65 million will be covered by expected revenue from billing insurance and patients, according to estimates based on MedStar\u2019s historical revenue.<\/p>\n The budget proposal includes 598 new EMS positions and 14 positions to staff the new Office of the Medical Director. The proposal would add 48 other new city staff positions and cut 26 vacant or reassigned positions from various departments.<\/p>\n Council members meet Aug. 19, Aug. 26 and Sept. 9 for budget work session meetings, according to the city\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the Aug. 12 presentation, council members said they wanted a more detailed breakdown of proposed funding cuts and potential funding opportunities for the neighborhood services department and for maintaining the city\u2019s alleyways<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a> and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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