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Preliminary budget briefing highlights $207,000 gap and several major capital projects, including new public works building
Summary
Town staff presented a preliminary budget with a $207,000 gap, proposed 3% cost-of-living adjustments and a multi-year capital improvement plan that includes a $16.2 million public works building, road reconstructions and water system projects; staff said new requests would be trimmed if needed.
Town staff presented a preliminary fiscal outlook and capital-improvement plan to the NorthlakeTown Council on June 11 that shows maintained services are covered by estimated revenues but a remaining projected gap of roughly $207,000.
The staff presenter described the budget philosophy: start with strategic goals, build a ‘‘deficit budget’’ from department requests, and then reduce new requests to reach a balanced plan. For employee compensation, staff proposed a roughly 3% cost-of-living adjustment, consistent with recent trends.
Department summaries included administrative services (base $537,000; total request roughly $593,000), finance ($1.4 million base; $120,000 increase request) and municipal court (base shown as ~$504,000 before adjustments). Major public-works equipment requests included a vac truck estimated at $710,000 and a skid-steer and mini-excavator to reduce rental costs. The public-works building project is budgeted at $16.2 million; staff said about $957,000 has been spent to date on architecture and the project is expected to complete in FY2027.
Staff laid out several capital projects that would be funded through a mix of certificate of obligation debt, developer contributions and county partnerships, including K Lane reconstruction ($2.9M), Fonte Road reconstruction ($9.6M with county contribution), Fort Worth wholesale-water access projects ($15M and $20M phases) and sanitary sewer interceptors tied to developer and impact-fee funding.
‘‘If we're gonna have to cut something, we always wanna cut the new request, not what we need to maintain our current levels of service,’’ the presenter said, describing the town’s approach to budget adjustments. Council did not adopt a budget on June 11; staff will deliver a proposed budget on July 21 and return for a formal presentation on July 23.
