City’s Proposed Budget Includes Assessing Emergency 911 Needs

With the FY2023 budget up for a Sept. 27 approval, the fifth-largest Texas city has included the PayGo program, which would allow many projects to be funded up front rather than being financed.

Fort Worth, with almost 1 million residents, includes $3 million for technology infrastructure under the PayGo heading. Additionally, the IT spend listed under the Internal Service Fund is $45.4 million.

If approved, the budget sets aside $918,000 for a review of its 911 operations and pays for a 911 director.

Consolidating three dispatch offices into one location may be on the horizon, with the goal of shorter emergency response times and creating more accountability. Additional technology and some restructuring will be explored during the review.

The library system has seen an increase in digital book and resource demand, with 25 million more digital book downloads in 2022 than 2021, and the books and materials budget will increase for the first time in seven years.

Projects that were previously budgeted include the Far Northwest Library, for which the city just closed a request for statements of qualification. The construction will cost an estimated $7 million.

The city also broke ground this week on its future City Hall, to be housed in the former Pier 1 Imports headquarters.

Fort Worth publishes procurement opportunities on its purchasing website.