Fort Worth's Budget Crisis: $49M Shortfall

0:00It's April 8th. You're listening to Dallas News today? AI-powered local news. Fort Worth's budget team drops some heavy news to City Council. Expenses are set to outpace revenue by as much as $49 million a year, all the way through at least 2033. Without fixes, next year's budget can miss the mark by nearly 50 million bucks. Staff pointed to slower property tax growth as a big culprit thanks to the Terrent appraisal district switching to appraisals every two years instead. Of yearly, hitting revenue hard in even years. Add in inflation pushing operating costs of 3 to 4 percent, even higher for emergency services plus rising interest rates and less federal spending. Council members like Macy Hill are calling for early action, remembering last year's scramble to cut 14 million in requests. Property tax is fund most of the $1.1 billion general fund for cops, parks, and libraries, which already ran $9.7 million. For January, looking ahead, workshops kick off in May to tackle this before the August

1:04budget proposal and September approval. A potential $845 million bond package for infrastructure could add staff and utility costs if voters greenlight it in May. While a small fee-for-world cut revenue bump this summer won't fix the long game, City leaders are gearing up to balance the book's understate law, so expect those cost-cutting talks to heat up fast.