North Richland Hills council adopts FY24–25 revised operating and capital budget

The North Richland Hills City Council on Monday adopted Ordinance No. 3908, approving a revised operating budget and amendments to the FY2024–25 capital projects budget.

Finance staff framed the revision as a ‘rightsizing’ based on midyear actuals, with several targeted changes rather than an expansive new spending plan. “This is not a presentation or revised budget about doing a lot of new and different things. It's more of an accounting rightsizing of what we've seen so far,” Finance Director Chase said.

Why it matters: The revisions shift existing fund balances and appropriate reserves to reflect midyear revenue and expenditure trends, and add one new capital project for public safety.

Major changes and figures - New capital project: Project FC2520 — replacement generator at Fire Station No. 5, funded with $850,000 from facility operating fund reserves. Staff said the current generator was a retrofit that does not power HVAC or freeze-protection equipment in the bays. - Property tax accounting: Staff reported a distribution issue identified by the Tarrant County Assessor-Collector’s Office that resulted in an over-collection of $1,900,000 to the city’s I&S (interest & sinking / debt service) portion in calendar 2024. To respond, the council’s revisions move approximately $1.2 million downward in general fund revenue while increasing debt service fund revenue by a similar amount to position fund balances to absorb the adjustment. - Other fund changes: Sales taxes, permits and municipal court revenues showed mixed performance; vacancy savings and overtime adjustments were recognized across funds. The utility fund’s revenues were revised upward for sewer (+$1.3 million) and water (+$963,000) charges; the gas development fund will appropriate about $2.9 million in economic development initiatives; the self-insurance fund increased expenditures by about $3.2 million related to a large claim offset by stop-loss reimbursements.

Council action and context The ordinance passed 7–0. Council members asked few questions; staff said they would continue monitoring sales-tax trends and other revenues and that some adjustments stem from timing differences (for example, credit-card-offset revenue postponed to the following fiscal year).

Councilmember Matt moved the ordinance; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. Staff said certain prior-year-approved vehicle and hardware purchases are reauthorized within the revised budgets to allow completion of those projects.

Next steps The ordinance takes effect immediately and staff will implement the reallocations and capital appropriations; future budget monitoring is planned to track sales-tax and property-tax trends.