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1. Why do cities/towns engage in the budgeting process?

Our Town goes through a public budget process to fund programs that are responsive to our community's wishes, effective in reaching our community's goals and do so in a cost-efficient way. The budget allows us to achieve policies and goals for the Town.

2. Who is involved in the budget process?

• The Residents - Trophy Club strives to be the best in service delivery. To monitor its progress in meeting residents’ needs, the Town endeavors to engage in a biennial Citizen Survey.  The survey results and analysis will provide the Town Council and Town staff with information that can be used to make sound, strategic decisions in a variety of areas, including service improvements and enhancements, measuring and tracking projects, budgeting, policy, and planning. 
• The Town Council - Town Council holds a mid-year (January) annual retreat in which they review the feedback from residents in the Citizen Survey and use that information to outline a potential plan to set the direction for future projects in the next Fiscal Year.
• The Town/Town Staff - The Town is responsible for creating a Proposed Budget for the next fiscal year. This is a joint effort between our finance staff, department heads, and employees to determine predicted revenue levels, discuss programs and priorities, and identify what will be required in the coming year. 
• The Budget Sub-Committee- The Budget Sub-Committee comprises a group of three Town Council members. They are charged with reviewing the proposed budget, recommending the budget with all funds in balance, and recommending the not-to-exceed property tax rate to be approved by Council. 
  • It should be noted that the Budget Sub-Committee does NOT
    • Set staffing levels, salaries, benefits, or contracted terms
    • Decide whether or not a service or program should be provided
    • Make policy
• The Trophy Club Town Council - The Trophy Club Town Council is ultimately responsible for finalizing the tax rate and adopting the budget. 
• Community Members - Community members are encouraged to attend Public Meetings to provide questions and comments on the proposed budget. 

3. What are the laws surrounding local government budgets in Texas?

In Texas, cities must adhere to the state’s local budget law, a group of statutes that requires local governments to prepare and adopt annual or biennial budgets following a specific process. For in depth inquiring into the Texas Municipal Leagues review of the subject, click here.

4. What timeline does the budgeting process have to follow?

Town budgets must follow a specific timeline outlined by the State of Texas. Once the Town staff prepares a proposed budget, a notice will be filed. The Budget Sub-Committee will then meet, discuss the budget, and recommend the proposed budget and property tax rate. A notice will be published on the proposed budget. Following a 5-30 day filing period, a public budget hearing will be held at a Town Council meeting. The tax levy will be determined by September 30. The Town Council must then adopt the budget and make appropriations. To view the full FY 23 budget calendar, click here. 

5. Where can I learn more?

There are a lot of resources to learn about the budget process at local governments and budget law. Some good places to start include: 

• State of Texas - Local Budget Law
• Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) - Budgeting Best Practices

6. I own a house in TC and it’s time for the Town to set the FY 23 Tax Rate. How does the process work?

1. The house is valued by Denton County or Tarrant County Appraisal Districts, and the Town uses these values to set Town tax rate to pay for Fire, Police, Parks, Streets, Code Enforcement, Planning, Building Inspections, Administrative Services, and Debt Service of the Town.
2. Once the Counties (Denton and Tarrant, depending on where you live) finalized the taxable values of the properties, the calculations process begins with the no-new-revenue tax rate (0% change in new property tax revenue) and the voter-approved tax rate (estimated 3.5% increase in additional property tax revenue from the prior year).
3. The Town staff and Budget/Finance Committee review the calculated tax rates when proposing the not-to-exceed tax rate to present to Council for a vote. Denton County should complete actual calculated tax rates by Friday, August 5th.
   • August 9th – present proposed budget and not-to-exceed tax rate and set hearings for both
   • August 23rd – public hearing and possible vote on the proposed budget
   • September 13th – public hearing and vote on the tax rate
4. The tax rate estimated during the budget development process (May thru July) was estimated to remain at or below the voter approval rate.
5. An individual’s tax bill may go above or below a 3.5% increase. The increase is calculated on the total property tax revenue, not for each individual home. While the individual property owner may have seen a substantial increase in their market value, and up to a 10% increase in their taxable value, the State law limits the total new property tax revenue of the Town to 3.5% without triggering an election.

7. Can you explain TC's NEW terminology used related to property tax?

Prior to SB 2 (as of 2018)	After SB 2 (2019-forward)	Definition
Effective tax rate	No-new-revenue tax rate	Revenues are equal to those levied (captured) in the prior year.
Effective maintenance and operations tax rate	No-new-revenue maintenance and operations tax rate	Revenues that go to the maintenance and operations equal to those levied (captured) in the prior year.
Rollback tax rate	Voter-approved tax rate	Allows the Town to levy (capture) 3.5% additional revenue.

8. What about the PID? How is it assessed?

PID Assessments are payments made to cover the costs associated with improvements and services in the District. There are two types of assessments in The Town of Trophy Club Public Improvement District Number 1 (The Highlands at Trophy Club).

1. The first type of assessment is a fixed assessment that is allocated to each lot (PDF) located within the District to pay for improvements that provide a special benefit to the properties within the District. 
2. The second type of assessment is an annual emergency services assessment (PDF) that pays the District's proportionate share of fire services to the District. Fire Services are operated by the Trophy Club Municipal Utility District Number 1 (TC MUD1). For all residents to pay an equal share, fire service costs are an assessment for residents who live in the PID but are folded into the TC MUD1 tax for residents in the MUD District.
3. Effective October 1, 2015, a monthly surcharge (Annual Capital Improvements and Maintenance Charge (PDF)) was added to PID residents' monthly utility bills to pay the PID portion of TC MUD1 operations and maintenance budget and anticipated new debt for infrastructure improvements. The surcharge is recalculated annually. For example, in the Calendar Year 2018, the fee was $11.80 per connection per month.
   

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