From a press release by the City:

FORT WORTH – City officials are ready to hear citizen input on the $1.2 billionbudget proposal, presented last week, which includes workforce reductions and cuts to some city services.

The City Council is set to vote on the budget Sept. 15. Before the vote, however, public feedback will be taken during five regularly scheduled City Council meetings, all held in the City Council Chamber on the second floor of City Hall (1000 Throckmorton St.) on the following dates and times:

• 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18
• 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25
• 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1
• 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8
• 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 (public comment will be heard before final passage of the budget)

Fort Worth faces an extremely challenging budget on the heels of the national recession. According to City Manager Dale Fisseler, bridging the $59 million budget gap will not require a tax rate increase, but will most likely require cuts to some programs. Fisseler’s recommendation focuses on sustaining basic core city services with a particular emphasis on public safety.

View an overview of the FY2010 Proposed Budget on the city’s Web site.

The police, as far as I can understand, are getting an increase of 5%. Maybe I don’t understand — undoubtably I don’t understand — but I didn’t think we needed any more police. I saw three today, radaring on the 820 and 35 freeways, and although I escaped without a ticket, probably by virtue of obeying the speed limit I wondered why they were working the radar so hard.

According to an idea of Fort Worth Vision, which I found in the same 2010 budget which proposed closing our public services, the City Council is planning that “By 2020, Fort Worth will be recognized as the most livable city in Texas.” How can that happen with closed  public pools and libraries? Just imagine, the real estate agent is taking a prospective new resident around to look at houses. “Oh, is that a library?”

Yes, but it’s closed.

“Why is that?”

The city council didn’t want to fund it.

“Is the City that broke?”

No, not really, we just don’t think libraries are our highest priority.

My next question, were I that real estate buyer, would be “Can we look at houses in Keller or Arlington?”

What an impression to make.

The new budget actually states that the real cause of the cuts proposed is not a decline in revenue. It’s in order to increase funding for retiree health care and pensions. This is not mandatory crisis spending. Have you noticed that all over people are out of work? Is this really the time to increase retirement spending?

I pay taxes to this City whether I’m rich or poor, whether I have a job or not, and I would appreciate if the few things I count on from the City, the libraries and pools, including Kellis Park Pool, which is in your district, were taken a little more seriously. I certainly don’t mean to sound disrespectful or dismissive of the City’s efforts up to this time. Fort Worth is a first-class city.

But let’s try a little harder to keep it that way than is suggested in the proposed 2010 budget.

The city council could keep the libraries and pools open for a wopping $1.50 per person per year. I don’t understand why they can’t find the money. Maybe they don’t need a public pool, because they have one at home and/or belong to a country club, and they don’t read books?

Go figure.

From a press release by the city:

The City Manager’s recommendation focuses on sustaining basic core city services with a particular emphasis on public safety with no increase to the property tax rate.

Reduce Services/Workforce

Program/Operational Reductions: $16M

• Suspend third allocation to Housing Trust Fund: $2M
• Reduce Medstar subsidy back to FY08 level: $2M
• Reduce maintenance of medians and eliminate maintenance of right-of-ways: $405,000
• Close Wedgwood Branch and Meadowbrook Branch libraries: $813,194
• Reduce funding to social services and arts nonprofits by 24 percent. Subsidies for grant funding provided to three agencies (The United Way ofTarrant County, the Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County and the Fort Worth Convention and Visitor’s Bureau), which would allocate funding to various nonprofit organizations: $779,000
• Reduce street and traffic operations and maintenance: $763,628
• Eliminate Parks and Community Services late night programs: $577,041
• Reduce Code Compliance districts from seven to six: $466,320
• Close all city pools except Forest Park for summer 2010: $444,961
• Reduce Illegal Dumping Program: $351,000*
• Close and evaluate future of Day Labor Center operations: $271,462
• Reduce after school programs at all Community Centers: $188,522
• Reduce Graffiti Abatement Program: $134,451
• Close Animal Care and Control Center two days per week: $103,000
• Eliminate summer youth track program and reduce adult sports programs: $47,645

Employee Furlough: $3.9M (represents a 3 percent cut in pay for general employees)**

• Columbus Day, 10/12/09
• Day before Thanksgiving Day, 11/25/09
• Christmas Eve, 12/24/09
• President’s Day, 2/15/10
• Good Friday, 4/2/10
• Friday before Memorial Day, 5/28/10
• Friday before Independence Day, 7/2/10
• Friday before Labor Day, 9/3/10

Workforce Reductions: Roughly $10M***

• Need to reduce workforce by 230
  • 114 filled and 74 vacant:
  • 42 voluntary retirements (city to offer $10,000 incentive for eligible retirees)

Employee Benefits:

• Earmark an increased annual contribution to Employees’ Retirement Fund of 2 percent ($5.4M), but refrain from disbursing the additional funds until a committee can submit proposal to change retirement benefits for new hires (possibly summer of 2010).
• Contribute an additional $5M to the long term liability of Retiree Healthcare Plan and eliminate city-paid benefits to those eligible to retire after FY2020.
• Establish Employee Health Clinic and Fitness Facility on a pilot basis: $1M
• Eliminate tuition reimbursement: $258,000
• Increase employee group health insurance premiums by 12 percent, or an average of 1 percent of employee pay, and eliminate Select Plan from Health Benefits Plan.

Reorganize/Outsource Programs

Outsourcing/Privatization: Cost saving unknown at this time

• Equipment Services Division: Evaluation/Request for Proposals during FY10 with target to outsource some services by October 2010.
• Information Technology Services: Evaluation/Request for Proposals during FY10 with target to outsource some city-wide services by October 2010.
• The Herd: Request for proposal to transfer to the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
• Other possibilities: portions of Aviation, Reprographics, City Cable

Organizational Transfers: $3.1M

• Public Events Department > Culture and Tourism Fund: $2.6M
• Capital Projects > Capital Projects Service Fund: $576,000
• Reprographics and City Cable > Community Relations Department
• Emergency Management Office > Fire Department
• Sunset Review > Organizational Analysis Unit
• Directions Home Program > Housing and Economic Development Department
• Aviation Department > Infrastructure Services

Increase Revenues

General Fund Fee Increases: $13M

• Lift the $3.2M cap on mineral ad valorem tax revenue: $6.7M (a portion of which will be used to maintain funding for the Directions Home 10 year homelessness plan)
• Assess payment in lieu of taxes for water and sewer properties: $4.2M
• Municipal Court contract for collection of over-due fines: $1.5M
• Increase various fees related to Parks, Code Compliance, Library, Planning and Development, and other services: $1M

Non-General Fund Fee Increases: $9M

• Water Bill changes beginning January 1, 2010 (for typical residential user): up $2.85 per month.
  • Water fee up 50 cents
  • Wastewater fee up 60 cents
  • Sanitation fee up 75 cents*
  • Stormwater fee up $1
  • Water bill late fee: An additional fee totaling 5 percent of the bill will be added to those delinquent payments (23 days or more after issuance of bill).
• Non-residential stormwater fees will increase an average 27 percent.

Other Cost Savings

• Reduce vehicle purchases by half: $1.5M
• Reduce uniform spending for non-civil service employees: $430,000
• Reduce number of city-paid cell phones/blackberries: $50,000
• Reduce car allowance for executives: $40,000

What:

The fourth in a series of public meetings to gather input on concepts recently presented by the city’s Code Compliance staff that aim to be proactive in addressing the growing number of stray animals – particularly large, aggressive dogs – in the city.

When:

6 to 9 p.m. Thursday

Where:

Meadowbrook United Methodist Church, 3900 Meadowbrook Drive

Schedule of remaining meetings

• 6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 4 – Goodwill Industries, Community Garden Room, 4005 Campus Drive
• 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 6 – Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

FORT WORTH - Two local neighborhood associations earned honors in the 2009 Neighborhood of the Year Awards, presented last week at the 34th Neighborhoods USA (NUSA) Conference on Neighborhood Concerns in Spokane, Wash.

The North Beverly Hills Neighborhood Association placed first in the Social Revitalization/Neighborliness category. Members worked with their Neighborhood Policing District and Code Compliance officers to proactively address neighborhood safety after a sudden crime increase.

The Ryan Place Improvement Association placed third in the Social Revitalization/Neighborliness category. The association developed multiple fundraising events, including an annual holiday tour of homes to provide for the installation and maintenance of period street lights.

The Historic Fairmount Neighborhood Association was a finalist in the Multi-Neighborhood Partnerships category. Through collaborative efforts, the association presents an annual home tour showcasing the neighborhood’s historic and architectural heritage.

Through these awards, NUSA recognizes the outstanding work of neighborhood organizations. Created in 1975, NUSA encourages networking and information sharing as a way to facilitate partnerships between neighborhood organizations, government and the private sector. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Neighborhood of the Year Awards.

Closed May 25

• All City of Fort Worth offices
• All Fort Worth Library locations
• Fort Worth Business Assistance Center
• All community centers and Haws Athletic Center
• Fort Worth Municipal Court
• Log Cabin Village is typically closed on Mondays.

Open May 25

• Garbage, recycling and brush pickup schedules are not affected, and the Environmental Management Department’s three drop-off stations will be open.
• Municipal golf courses
• Fort Worth Botanic Garden and Japanese Garden
• Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge
• Fort Worth Water Gardens
• Fort Worth Zoo
• The Fort Worth Herd will be on the move at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Fort Worth – The public is invited to learn about keeping mind and body healthy during the kickoff for Mayor Mike’s Summer Reading Challenge, 11 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. May 21 in the Central Library, 500 W. Third St.
 
Children, teens and adults are invited to attend this free event. Honorary co-chairs for the event are Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks and Robert Earley, President and CEO of JPS Health Network.
 
Activities will emphasize health and wellness for the entire family. Planned activities include testing for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure; an aerobics demonstration; children’s activities such as jump rope and hula-hoop contests; and a fruit walk (instead of the normal cake walk). Booth volunteers will be sharing information on eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The Summer Reading Challenge officially starts June 6 and runs through Aug. 1.
This year’s theme, “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” emphasizes our Texas roots, but also focuses on the heart as a vital organ. The Challenge is designed to keep the heart and mind healthy, to encourage reading for pleasure and to promote more visits to public libraries.

Registering for the program, reading 20 minutes a day and keeping a log of what has been read makes the reader eligible for different prizes available at any city library. Online registration begins May 21 on the Library’s Web site: www.fortworthlibrary.org or register at any Fort Worth Library.
 
In addition, all 15 libraries have planned special programs and activities June 6-Aug.1. Some events include live performances, teen gaming, adult legal information, tips about keeping yourself healthy, family story times, circus clown visits, book and chess clubs, and nature programs.

What:

The first in a series of public meetings to gather input on concepts recently presented by the city’s Code Compliance staff that aim to be proactive in addressing the growing number of stray animals – particularly large, aggressive dogs – in the city.

When:

6 to 9 p.m. Thursday

Where:

Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

Schedule of other meetings

• 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 16 – Rose Marine Theatre, 1440 N. Main St.
• 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 19 – Travis Avenue Baptist Church, 3028 Lipscomb St.
• 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 28 – Meadowbrook United Methodist Church, Community Life Center, 3900 Meadowbrook Drive
• 6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 4 – Goodwill Industries, Community Garden Room, 4005 Campus Drive
• 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 6 – Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

1. Texas & Pacific Warehouse, 300 block W. Lancaster Ave, 1930-31
2. Neighborhoods 50 Years Old and Older Not Protected by Historic
Preservation Zoning — and that includes my own, South Hills.
3. The Fort Worth Power and Light Company / TXU Electric Power Plant,
100-300 Blocks of North Main Street, 1911-13
4. Fort Worth Public Market Building, 1400 Henderson Street, 1930
5. Samuels Avenue, 1870s-1920s
6. The Stop Six Neighborhood
7. Heritage Plaza, Downtown on Bluff Overlooking Trinity River, 1980
8. Farrington Field, 1501 N. University, 1938-39
9. Midcentury Modern Buildings, including the Public Health Bldg. and the
Tarrant County Medical Society Bldg., built from about 1945 to 1965
10. Fort Worth Recreation Building, 215 W. Vickery Blvd., 1927

Why now? Because May is National Historic Preservation Month! We will endeavor to find out more about these sites and their stories in upcoming weeks.

Let’s be honest, folks: it’s not “large agressive dogs,” it’s the Pit Bulls are what we’re talking about. If there weren’t the pit bulls the large agressive dog problem in Fort Worth could be rounded up and kept in a couple of back yards. But Pit Bulls are everywhere. There are large numbers of these dogs at the humane society shelters, being put to sleep because there are far too many whelped.  But that’s only part of the problem. The rest of the problem — that people prefer to own aggressive dogs to intimidate their neighbors and don’t always keep them in the yard – is the larger deal.

Personally, I think an aggressive dog licence, costing more money and with a microchip, should be discussed. I’ve always been one who feels people’s rights, to be safe and not to be attacked, are more important than pet owners rights to own whatever kind of dog they want and let it run loose. At any rate, here’s the City’s press release:

Public Input Sought for Animal Ordinance Concepts

FORT WORTH – In 2008, city police officers were forced to use their weapons to subdue an aggressive animal 27 times.

Between 2006 and 2008, more than 3,300 reports of bites by an aggressive animal were reported.

Those are significant numbers and represent the significant potential risk to the public from stray aggressive animals.

Concepts recently presented by the city’s Code Compliance staff aim to be proactive in addressing the growing number of stray animals – particularly large, aggressive dogs – in the city.

New approaches could include:

• adding an “aggressive dog” designation defining animal behavior that will trigger mandated enhanced safeguards, preventive measures and penalties
• establishing minimum pen sizes for dogs
• establishing variable fencing enclosure requirements based on the height and weight of animals, with required maintenance and self-locking gates
• giving Animal Control officers authority to seize animals tethered or chained
• requiring all dogs and/or cats to be spayed or neutered unless they have a valid intact-pet permit
• requiring microchips for all pets unless a medical waiver is granted by a veterinarian
• restricting relocation to Fort Worth of any “dangerous dogs” from other communities.

Changes to the fines and fees schedule could include:

• making available a new three-year microchip pet license (with a three-year rabies vaccination)
• making available a provisional license, offered by Animal Control field officers
• making available a late license fee for unlicensed animals claimed at the Animal Care and Control Center
• adding an annual intact-pet permit fee
• adding an annual aggressive dog registration fee
• increasing the cost of fines for dangerous dogs and unrestrained dogs.

As well, Animal Control is using a new, nonlethal net gun which, when fired, deploys a net that entangles aggressive loose animals, making them easier to capture, and is considering re-implementing the use of dart guns in extreme cases.

The public can offer input on the concepts during a series of open meetings:

6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 14 - Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

6-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 19 - Travis Avenue Baptist Church, 3028 Lipscomb St.

6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 28 - Meadowbrook United Methodist Church, Community Life Center, 3900 Meadowbrook Drive

6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 4 - Goodwill Industries, Community Garden Room, 4005 Campus Drive

9 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 6 - Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.