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Farmers Branch residents are not alone in tightening their budgets this year.
Residents will have an opportunity to learn about the proposed budget at a town hall meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at Manske Library and find out exactly how the city is planning to reduce homeowner’s tax bills and what that will mean in terms of city services.
Through a series of spirited meetings during the summer budget season, the Farmers Branch City Council directed city staff to aim for a 3-cent tax rate reduction of property taxes to lessen the financial burden on homeowners.
They came close, but did not succeed, because the certified tax valuations provided by the Dallas County Appraisal District (DCAD) were below projections by more than $1 billion for Farmers Branch, though the average home value rose more than $60,000.
Tammy Zimmerman, director of finance for the city, said the department used a conservative value of $10.2 billion in property tax revenue for planning the budget, but the certified tax valuation came in even less at $9.9 billion.
However, the 2.75-cent tax reduction means that homeowners will save $27.50 in taxes per $100,000 of home value over the homestead exemption amount.
In Farmers Branch, homeowners who receive the homestead exemption are taxed on 80 percent of their home value, as it is valued by DCAD. Senior citizens or homeowners who are disabled also are eligible to receive an additional $100,000 exemption.
The average home price is now $441,002, according to the proposed budget located on the city’s website, an increase of $60,471 from the 2023-2024 average home price.
Taxes paid to the city in 2024, at the .569 tax rate, for the 2023 average home, which was valued at $380,531, after the 20-percent homestead reduction, would have been $1,732.18. However, the same home valued at $441,002 in 2024 with the 20-percent homestead value would be taxed $2,007.44.
The proposed 2.75-cent tax reduction would mean a tax bill of $1,910.42 for the average homeowner, a reduction of $97.02 over the current rate, but still a property tax increase from 2024, because of the large increase in the value taxed.
Almost 30 percent of residents receive the $100,000 senior or disabled exemption, and 67 percent of residents receive the 20-percent homestead exemption.
To complicate matters, while home values have increased, the entire city revenue is declining. Sales tax revenues are projected to decrease with consumer spending, and commercial property values are also decreasing. Commercial properties pay 74 percent of the property taxes Farmers Branch receives.
“This budget continues to recognize the leveling off of sales tax revenue in anticipation of an economic downturn and a slowdown in consumer spending,” wrote City Manager Ben Williamson in his letter to Mayor Terry Lynne and the city council in the introduction of the budget, which is located on the city website.
“We did a lot of streamlining and found some efficiencies,” said Finance Director Tammy Zimmerman. “We’re taking from some of our special revenue funds where we have some of our court fees or maybe it’s our police forfeitures, and we’re using some of those funds for our expenses.”
The cuts will mean a reduction in some city services, which will be seen the most in a reduction of hours at the Farmers Branch Aquatics Center & Natatorium, the Farmers Branch Recreation Center, the Branch Connection and at Manske Library.
The aquatics center will lose 14 hours per week, the recreation center will lose nine hours, Branch Connection will be reduced by eight hours per week, and the library, which the city is still negotiating with, will be closed an additional four hours weekly.
Parks and Recreation Director Robert Diaz said staff looked at times that are the lowest usage so closures would affect the least number of patrons, and that the hours for the Branch Connection will likely be modified as that facility has activities scheduled for Friday afternoons.
In addition, city-sponsored events have been paired down and the city is negotiation with the company that provides library services to reduce that contract by 10 percent.
City Councilmember Roger Neal asked city staff to include a graph about hours in the town hall presentation to help reassure residents.
“It would help them to realize their classes are really not being lost,” he said.
However, Farmers Branch will keep the rose garden at Gussie Field Watterworth Park and the Farmers Branch Community Garden at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church at 12411 Templeton Trail, through the Farmers Branch Parks and Recreation Department will transition out of purchasing supplies and providing maintenance at the park, but the city will still irrigate the garden.
“The water is still there, and that’s the biggest part of the budget” relating to the community garden, Williamson said at the Aug. 20 city council study session.
“We’ll probably have a transition process to move the community garden so it’s somewhat self-sufficient … we’ll work with the group to facilitate how they can purchase a lot of items on their own and manage the garden on their own,” Diaz said.
Not everything in the city’s budget was cut.
According to Wiliamson’s letter, the proposed budget includes a 3-percent increase for staff and an increase of 9.37 full-time employees: three firefighters; four public safety officers, three of which are partially funded by a grant; one warehouse technician, three park maintenance crew members and an upgrade position to full time for the city’s innovation and technology department.
Williamson wrote that personnel costs account for almost 57 percent of the city’s general fund expenditures.
Not all of a homeowner’s tax bill goes to the City of Farmers Branch.
Homeowners also should be aware that the city represents only about 27 percent of their property tax bills. Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District receives the largest portion, but Parkland Hospital, Dallas County and Dallas College also receive portions. If homeowners are in special tax districts, that also gets added to the tax bill.
