The city of Fort Worth may see a budget shortfall of nearly $50 million during the next fiscal year.
During a Fort Worth City Council work session meeting on April 7, Brady Kirk, Fort Worth Lab finance assistant director, provided a long-term budget forecast to the council.
“We’ve known that fiscal year [2026-27] would be another somewhat tough year and that picture is always coming into focus,” he said.
His presentation unveiled rising costs and shrinking revenues. He mentioned economic conditions such as interest rates being near 25-year highs, three government shutdowns, Tarrant Appraisal District’s reappraisal plans and national and global uncertainties.
The context
Kirk said the city’s budget depends heavily on taxes, and the whims of the economy have an impact on those numbers.
The fiscal year 2025-26 budget, which runs from Oct. 1, 2025, to Sept. 30, was $3.09 billion, an increase of 10.77% compared to the previous budget, according to the city website.
The approved tax rate for FY 2025-26 is $0.6700 per $100 valuation. Kirk said that breaks down to $0.1475 for debt service and $0.5225 for operation and maintenance, which funds the city’s operations for most departments.
He said the city departments started working on the FY 2026-27 budget, which would be approved this fall, the first week of April.
Projections for the upcoming fiscal year increase 3%-4% growth in expenses. Based on revenues, made up of property tax, sales tax, other taxes and general revenue funds, comprise 87.4% of the FY 2025-26 adopted revenue budget.
That leaves roughly a 12.5% funding gap for FY 2026-27.
By the numbers
Total revenue forecast for FY 2026-27 shows $1.13 billion in revenue and $1.18 billion in expenses, with an expected budget shortfall of $49.3 million.
In the following years, forecasts show budget shortfalls as well, ranging from $4.9 million to $8.7 million in odd years.
Kirk said that in part is due to changes with the Tarrant Appraisal District, which voted in 2024 to go to evaluations every other year, according to previous reporting.
He said the new plan shows either no growth or growth at a lower level than other years, calling it “unpredictable.”
Stay tuned
Kirk said several dates will impact the budget projection.
April 30—receipt of property value estimates for FY 2026-27June 14-July 14—FIFA World Cup in North TexasJuly 8—Last sales tax payment received before the recommended budget is presentedJuly 25—Certified values from taxing entities are due. That includes Tarrant, Denton, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties.Dec. 31—Expiration of the circuit breaker property tax limitation. According to the TAD website, real property valued at $5 million or less will benefit from a 20% limitation on the net appraised value of the property, which started in 2024.What else?
City Manager Jesus “Jay” Chapa mentioned Fort Worth was not chosen as a base camp site for any of the qualifying FIFA World Cup teams.
TCU had applied to be a base camp, according to previous reporting.
“We didn’t figure in a FIFA bump [financially] because we were unsure what it would look like,” Chapa said when discussing the budget.
He said that without Fort Worth being chosen, a number of the hotel rooms that were on hold at the request of FIFA are now available for booking, which could benefit visitors to the nine games.
However, Chapa said the World Cup will likely have less of an impact than earlier predictions. He said the North Central Texas Council of Governments has revised the number of expected visitors from 2.5 million to 1.2 million.
Frisco and Mansfield were chosen as base camps in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.