FY 2017 Popular Annual Financial Report FY 2017 Popular Annual Financial Report | Page 2
Mayor’s Message
City Council 3
City Manager’s Message 4
City Profile 5
Financial Look Back 6
Financial Cycle 8
Texas Rangers Ballpark 9
Economy 10
Regional Mobility
12
Neighborhoods 14
Education 16
Technology 17
Achievements 18
Financial Highlights 20
Looking Forward 23
Dear Reader,
Please allow me to introduce you to the City of Arlington’s 2017 Popular Annual
Financial Report. It’s an annual publication summarizing the outstanding work your
municipal government has completed this past year and the financial tools it took to
accomplish that work. On behalf of my colleagues on the Arlington City Council, I
invite you to explore these pages to better understand how your tax dollars and other
City revenues have been used to make Arlington a better place to live, learn, work and
play. We continue to improve our streets, strengthen our commitment to public safety
and enhance the cultural arts and entertainment options for our residents.
Fiscal Year 2017 was a momentous one, and this annual report shows the many
ways we are meeting the Council priority to Invest in Our Economy. Construction is
under way on the Texas Live! entertainment complex, the Live! by Loews luxury hotel
and the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field. The combined project includes at least $1.35
billion dollars invested in Arlington, more than 3,000 new jobs and 4 million new
annual visitors to The American Dream City.
The strength of our economic momentum is also evident in the growth of
new and existing businesses like General Motors embracing innovation by building
a $250-million Arlington Automotive Logistics Center in Arlington that streamlines
production and the opening of the new D.R. Horton worldwide headquarters. Summit
Racing Equipment also opened its $82-million distribution center in Arlington. These
game-changing projects will have a significant impact on our local economy.
The year also provided an opportunity to take some important steps to Enhance
Regional Mobility, another Council priority. Our Public Works & Transportation crews
were hard at work improving 94 lane miles of road across Arlington, nearly $100
million in construction. The City was also named an autonomous vehicle (AV) proving
ground, and we are the first city in the U.S. to offer ongoing AV service to the public.
We also continued our efforts to Champion Great Neighborhoods in 2017. The
City’s Community Relations Commission launched a kindness initiative encouraging
residents to spotlight acts of kindness happening throughout our community. The
Arlington Police Department continues to be on the forefront of community policing
and has been recognized throughout the world for its efforts to work with our
neighborhoods to reduce crime and connect with people on a personal level.
The City Council also focused resources to Put Technology to Work by joining
the national What Works Cities initiative and celebrating the opening of the first urban
Tesla Supercharger station in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And we were proud to
Support Quality Education by closing in on the opening of our new Downtown Library
in June 2018, a state-of-the-art building that will house a collection of approximately
200,000 print and audiovisual resources, as well as dedicated space for children, teens
and adult literacy.
But don’t just take my word for it, there’s a lot more to check out in the pages to
come. I invite you to learn for yourself why it’s always a great day to be in Arlington,
Texas, and why dreams get done in The American Dream City!
Sincerely,
W. Jeff Williams
Mayor
[email protected] | 817.459.6121
2 | Popular Annual Financial Report