 This is Fort Worth, Texas, Cowtown, the city of cowboys and culture, a special place where in one day you can see longhorns and the works of old world masters. We are the 17th largest city in this country. More than three-quarters of a million residents now call Fort Worth home. That's an increase of about a quarter million people since the year 2000 and with a diverse growing economy, affordable cost of living, and safe family-friendly neighborhoods, that number will continue to grow. With that growth come not just new opportunities, but also new challenges. For the city of Fort Worth, the biggest challenge is clear. How do we provide the essential services that help keep our city safe, clean, and attractive for industry, individuals, and visitors? On August 12th, the city manager proposed a $1.5 billion budget to pay for those vital services. That's $1.5 billion to pay for one year. $1.5 billion may sound like a lot, but when you break it down, every penny is stretched, used as efficiently and effectively as possible in order to provide the basic services and programs that support Fort Worth's growing and attractive quality of life. So where do all these dollars come from? They come from you. These are your tax dollars generated through property taxes on your home. From the goods and services you purchase and the fees you pay for your utilities, goods, and services. When we say this is your Fort Worth, we aren't kidding. So the next question is this. How are your tax dollars spent? Nearly 40% of the incoming revenues go to what we call the general fund. This covers the cost of staffing and equipping the employees who provide services and programs across the city. When you take a look at the general fund, you will see that more than 50% of the revenue receded comes from property taxes and more than 20% of the revenue needed comes from sales taxes, including revenue from our growing tourist industry, the daily visitors here for conventions, special events, and more. The remainder comes from fees and other taxes. The general fund pays for employees for equipment and vehicles, including upkeep and necessary upgrades for the 15 departments that focus on important services like public safety, police, fire, and code compliance, maintaining streets, encouraging economic development, programming, and maintaining parks and community services, providing libraries, and many, many more. That general fund for fiscal year 2015 comes in at a little less than half of the $1.5 billion for the overall budget, just more than $587 million. More than 50% of the general fund revenues go toward public safety. This funds the necessary training and equipment needed for both police and fire. The people charged with making sure every day that Fort Worth remains one of the safest big cities in the country. There are other necessary costs, money to cover employee benefits and retirement, training, debt service. The city also makes a concerted effort to maintain the general fund's undesignated fund balance at 10% of current year budgeted expenditures. The emergency savings held back just in the case. In the end, the overall goal is simple, to use your tax dollars wisely and in the process to be a well-managed organization, to build strong neighborhoods, to develop a sound economy, to foster a healthy environment, and to provide a safe community for all Fort Worth residents. But we can't do that without your help, and that means more than your tax dollars. It means we need you to be an engaged and active part of our city, to take part in the process and the projects that help Fort Worth improve, invest and continue to grow. You can do that by taking an active interest in city programs and city projects, in the decision-making process for not just how your tax dollars are spent, but also why they are spent. To learn more about how you can be part of the process, check out the city's website. Learn more about the budget process, about public hearings, about how you can make sure your voice is heard. Be a part of that process. Be informed. Be engaged. Be ready to help Fort Worth continue to be a great place to live, work and play.