FY 2012 Popular Annual Financial Report FY 2012 Popular Annual Financial Report | Seite 6

Financial Look
Back at 2012
Trends
Fiscal year 2012 began a recovery
for the City of Arlington.
Like many communities in the
nation, FY 2010 and 2011 both saw
declines in assessed property values.
While the City’s unemployment rate
remained lower than both the state and
national rates, it was on the increase.
We faced uncertainty as FY 2012 began
but by the end of the year, housing
foreclosures had slowed and sales tax
revenues had increased notably. While
this was good news for the City, we
remained conservative in planning for
the future, with a continued focus on
key community priorities.
Challenges
Looking back, one of the biggest
challenges we faced in FY 2012 was
the tornado that hit our community
on April 3rd, damaging hundreds
of homes and apartments. The City
immediately sprang into action. Police,
Fire, Public Works and Parks were just
some of the departments that came
together to meet our residents’ needs.
Significant costs for labor and materials
were incurred, but due to the City’s
strong financial position, the costs were
covered without substantial ill effects on
the City’s budgeted reserves.

As other cities struggled with issues
like ever-increasing contributions to
public pension systems, Arlington, as
a member of the Texas Municipal
Retirement System, actually saw a
rate decrease in 2012, from 17.16
percent of payroll to 16.77 percent.
This is attributable to changes in state
legislation that allowed the system to
restructure its funds and diversify its
portfolio.
Reserves
Reserves represent our safety net
in times of emergency and economic
downturns, and they are the first areas
we fund. Approximately $50 million
of the City’s annual General Fund
budget is in reserves. Some of the
larger reserves include the Unallocated
Reserve, targeted at 3 percent of
General Fund expenditures. It is
designed to be used for emergencies
and unanticipated expenses. The
Working Capital Reserve sets aside one
month of General Fund expenditures
to provide adequate operating
cash during normal revenue and
expenditure cycles. One of our largest
reserves is the Landfill Lease Reserve.
This reserve, in excess of $21 million,
originated from a one-time payment
to the City when it leased it landfill to

Sales Tax Revenues
FY 1995 - 2012
$60,000,000
$50,000,000
$40,000,000
$30,000,000
$20,000,000
$20,000,000
$0

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Focus on Priorities

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