Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker is making her priorities clear ahead of the release of the city’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.
The initial plans for the budget will be presented to the city council on Tuesday. Subsequent meetings will occur with the council and residents to solicit feedback and make changes before it gets approved in September, according to Fort Worth Magazine.
The budget for Fiscal Year 2024 is expected to go into effect on October 1. Parker sent a memo to Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke last week indicating four of her top priorities.
One of the biggest priorities on Mayor Parker’s list is to manage property taxes that have spiked as a consequence of increasing real estate values.
“Our residents came out the other side of the pandemic to be met with harsh new realities — rapidly rising home valuations, inflation on everyday expenses, and a cost of living that is increasingly difficult to maintain,” Parker said, per Fort Worth Magazine.
“We absolutely must do everything in our power to be good stewards of every taxpayer’s dollar,” she added.
Parker argued that decreasing the tax rate is the city’s best option. “The City Council has lowered the tax rate five times in the past six years, totaling 12.25 cents in reduction, but we understand that this effort must continue.”
Next on her priority list was public safety. Parker said there must be an adequate number of first responders to support the growing city.
“That investment should continue with funds dedicated to the appropriate increases in staffing levels to support our growing city as well as the technology and infrastructure needed to ensure that when someone calls for help their calls are answered and supported in a timely manner,” she said, per Fort Worth Magazine.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, keeping up with police staffing levels has been an issue in some cities — especially Dallas, where the police department is short roughly 900 officers. The shortage has led to alarming police response times.
“Growth for the sake of growth will not serve our residents in the long run, and we have a responsibility to residents to be thinking about how our city can grow smarter and avoid the pitfalls of other major cities that have grown rapidly,” said Parker, per Fort Worth Magazine.
Parker also said she wants to support business growth in Fort Worth by improving efficiencies on the city’s part and promoting infrastructure projects.
She also said she wants to preserve the city’s green spaces, such as parks.
“We have an opportunity, and responsibility, right now to protect natural areas to preserve critical watersheds and provide green space for future generations,” she said, per Fort Worth Magazine.
“There is a distinct urgency around this issue due to Fort Worth’s exponential growth. This budget, and arguably several budgets in the years to come, should push us to think bigger about how we develop the approximately half of our city that has not already been developed,” she said.
Parker, who has been serving as mayor of Fort Worth since 2021, was reelected in 2023 in a landslide, taking 70% of the vote.
