ASHLEY TERRY
After two-and-a-half hours of discussion June 30, the Azle City Council now has a better understanding of what to cut from each department’s budget — and where to draw the line.
During a regular council meeting June 16, City Manager Amber Beard announced that the city faced a 2.69% decline in property tax revenue, resulting in a $3.1 million budget deficit. While officials agreed to transfer $1.5 million from the general fund to the capital projects fund along with other budget tweaks, the city was still left with a $1.16 million gap — and that’s when officials realized assistance would be needed from city staff.
“We do have healthy fund balances; we just don’t want to keep pulling from those funds,” Mayor Randa Goode told staff during the budget workshop June 30. “It’s not a sustainable model, so that’s why we had each department look at their budget to see where we could cut costs.”
Each department was instructed to cut its budget by at least 20%, with many proposing ideas such as a hiring freeze, reducing overtime, delaying capital projects and cutting back on nonessential training.
While many proposals — like freezing the assistant to the city manager/management assistant position — received little to no pushback, others sparked a broader discussion among council members.
“Every penny counts,” Goode said. “But I don’t want to cut to where we’re shooting ourselves in the foot either.”
Some proposal objections included the removal of overtime on neighborhood cleanup events and budget reductions concerning police and fire.
POLICE/FIRE
Although newly appointed Azle Police Chief Kevin Rogers assured council his department will just have to “get creative” by reducing its budget and postponing tool and equipment purchases for one year, Goode said she was still concerned about reducing staffing in the Azle Fire Department.
“I’ll be quite honest; I don’t want less firefighters,” Goode said. “I know you’re running pretty thin. I don’t know if this is doable.”
Fire Chief Will Scott told Goode, “anything is doable,” and explained that his recommendation is to freeze two vacant positions rather than eliminate existing staff. While he said this change would “keep our guys very busy,” the department would still be able to maintain current service levels by relying more on part-time staff until the end of next fiscal year.
The council also discussed delaying the replacement of two “end of life” outdoor warning sirens. While only one 30-year-old siren is nonfunctioning, Scott said repairmen are difficult to find and explained that there’s enough overlap with the other siren that it’s not yet a dire issue.
However, Mayor Pro Tem Stacy Peek disagreed on delaying the repairs, arguing that safety should be the No. 1 priority for the Azle community.
“We do not want to jeopardize safety,” she said. “I mean, it works … until it doesn’t.”
PARKS PROGRAMS
While public safety was an important topic for the budget meeting, council members were equally hesitant to reduce programs they said improve residents’ quality of life.
“The splash pad and the special events … I would recommend us not cutting those at this time, just because they are free events for our citizens, and they keep people here in the city,” Goode said.
According to Parks Superintendent Kyle Culwell, the Central Splash is “not as expensive as one would think,” as it only costs the city about $30,000 a year to operate.
Since Central Splash has only been operating since August of 2022, Place 6 council member Brian Conner said it’s “too new to shut down,” adding that the city “can’t invest that money and then abandon it.”
“It’s a quality-of-life thing,” Goode said, agreeing with Conner. “I would have loved to have had this for my kids … It is something visible that the citizens can see we are giving back to the community.”
Place 5 council member Rouel Rothenberger concurred and said he personally can attest to its value, as his grandchildren highly enjoy the splash pad.
“If you’re looking for something positive for families, I think the splash pad, from what I’ve seen, is it,” Rothenberger said. “The golf course is great, but I don’t think we ought to touch this splash pad ever.”
Culwell also told council the expenses for the department’s special programs are expected to total about $49,900 this year and with $39,500 in sponsorships, the city’s share would equal $10,409. He added the city could potentially reduce the number of Music in the Park concerts each summer from nine to eight to help reduce the overall cost.
“Even if we kept it at nine and it did cost the city the difference of $10,409 and we had 1,000 people there, I feel like that’s pretty good. People are used to it every Friday,” Goode said.
While Place 1 council member Derrick Nelson said he wanted it on the record he does not want to cut Music in the Park, he suggested the city could turn the event over to a nonprofit to operate. However, Goode said that task would be difficult because other organizations like the Azle Area Chamber of Commerce and the Azle Area Ministerial Alliance are “stretched pretty thin.”
“It would be difficult. I don’t think it would continue,” Goode said. “It keeps people here. I don’t want to be the ones to shut down Music in the Park.”
Culwell added he plans to reduce Music in the Park by one show next year and then revisit the discussion at next year’s budget cycle.
SENIOR CENTER/LIBRARY
Another priority during the budget discussion was the Azle Senior Activity Center. Although participation in the program had become stagnant two years ago, Culwell explained that more than 100 individuals have signed up in the last year. Additionally, the center’s 40th anniversary celebration was a hit due to all the programs that are currently being offered.
“We are looking at ways to get businesses involved to help sponsor some of these programs,” he said. “I’m hoping to be able to find some grants eventually to help instructors, but that’s not going to happen in the next few months.”
Goode described the senior center group as active and said she feels like it gives residents a reason to get out and be connected with others.
“I feel like we are blessed to live in a community that still takes care of their seniors,” she said.
The Azle Memorial Library was also heavily discussed as council members debated whether to cut the summer and winter reading programs.
“We have 1,500 to 2,000 people signed up for summer reading every year,” Library Director Curren McLane said. “It’s such a benefit to the community, especially school kids. Having funding for that, I think, would be a benefit.”
McLane said she is willing to reduce the amount of funding required for the program by utilizing cheaper crafts and supplies for activities. She also proposed cutting budgets for audiobook CDs and offered to pursue sponsorships in order to keep both programs functioning.
“For a lot of kids during summertime, they’re in homes where it may not be the best atmosphere for them to be able to get out,” Peek said. “Getting into a different environment is helpful, not only mentally, but they learn to read and they get excited about reading. It’s a win-win.”
“Getting teens to read is so difficult,” McLane agreed. “So, anything we can do to encourage that, I feel it’s important.”
‘ON THE RIGHT TRACK’
While no decisions were made during the workshop, Goode said she was encouraged by the discussion and believes staff identified enough savings without sacrificing the programs residents value most.
“I know this was a big project for everyone here, but it was a very good exercise because we do have to account for every dollar and every dollar counts, so thank you for all your hard work,” Goode said. “I’m very optimistic that we have found places to cut without having to shut the doors on anything, so I think we’re on the right track.”
