Council approves Crime Control Prevention District budget; KDC budget received at public hearing

The city presented two special-district budget items July 15. Council approved the proposed fiscal-year 2025-26 Crime Control Prevention District (CCPD) budget and held a public hearing on the Keller Development Corporation (KDC) budget.

CCPD budget: Police leadership said the CCPD fund projected roughly $2.4 million in revenue for the coming year and planned expenditures of about $2.2 million, leaving a modest surplus. The CCPD funds one full-time accreditation manager position as well as vehicle purchases, equipment and technology specific to public-safety operations. Major items highlighted by the department included four Dodge Durango replacements for patrol, a traffic vehicle and a CID truck (about $470,000 total for vehicles), a narcotics field-testing device to limit officer exposure, rifle plates and the continuation of body-worn camera fleet payments (Axon multi-year program). The council voted to adopt the CCPD budget (motion carried; approval recorded).

KDC budget: Staff presented a multi-year KDC capital plan and revenue forecast showing approximately $4.7'4.9 million in projected annual sales-tax revenue and multi-year projects that include the final splash-pad payment at the sports park, sports-park parking-lot improvements, trail funding and playground replacements over a five-year horizon. The KDC five-year plan projected some years of deficit spending as multi-year construction payments are made, then rebuilding of fund balance later in the decade; staff said that 25% of debt-service should be maintained as a fund policy target. Council held the required public hearing on the KDC budget; no vote to adopt the KDC budget was made at the July 15 meeting.

During the KDC discussion council members raised a separate policy choice: whether to create a separate fire-prevention district funded by a dedicated sales-tax fraction (an "eighth" of the 1% local option) rather than continue to fund fire purposes from the city's KDC or general funds. Staff explained that creating a fire district would require voter approval and could require ballot language that includes specific tax bases (e.g., telecommunications or energy purchases) depending on state law and the district structure. Council members asked staff to return with financial scenarios showing how an eighth allocated to a fire district would affect KDC projects and timelines, and how much trail and park funding growth would be reduced if a portion of sales tax were dedicated to a new district.