Mesquite manager proposes citywide service-delivery assessment after tax-rate vote yields about $2 million

City Manager Cliff Kahealy told the Mesquite City Council on Dec. 1 that the tax-rate set after the recent election — 0.70469 — will provide just under $2 million in additional revenue for the current budget year and gives the city an opportunity to address long-term service funding.

Kahealy proposed a citywide service-delivery assessment covering every department and division to identify duplicated efforts, opportunities to share resources, fee adjustments to better cover costs, technology improvements and other process changes. He emphasized the review is a strategy exercise, not an immediate plan for layoffs or hiring freezes.

The assessment would include police and fire operations, which together account for more than half of the general-fund budget, Kahealy said, and is intended to surface options for the January amended budget and for the FY2027 budget process. "We are not proposing any layoffs or hiring freezes or major structural changes to the organization" in the near term, he said, but added the city must "evaluate how our organization operates and the specific services we provide."

Council members raised a range of ideas and concerns. Councilmember Green urged staff to analyze which services could be shifted to fee-based models—such as certain recreation center uses—to reduce reliance on property tax. Several council members suggested protecting and prioritizing sales-tax revenue (the council referred to 4B funds) as a less-likely-to-be-targeted revenue stream than property tax.

Councilmember Rodriguez Ross pressed for scrutiny of enterprise funds and asked that the airport and other enterprise funds ensure they are funding their capital needs rather than drawing on the general fund. Councilmember Smith and others highlighted employee retention as a priority; Smith noted earlier plans had included a 5% across-the-board increase and warned the city must remain competitive in wages to retain staff.

Kahealy said staff will return with updated numbers and options — including items to defer or pause — and that some changes may be one-time solutions while others will need sustainable, structural approaches. He told council the city will present specific options in the January amended budget as well as in next year’s budget process.

Next steps: staff will provide the updated fiscal options spreadsheet and bring proposed focus areas back to council in coming meetings and at the January retreat.