FY24 unaudited financials update: How the General Fund performed

FY24 unaudited financials update: How the General Fund performed

Published on January 15, 2025

At Tuesday's City Council work session, City Manager David Cooke reported the Fiscal Year 2024 unaudited General Fund performance. The update included FY24 financial performance, increasing unassigned fund balance and recommendations for the use of available fund balances.

Why it matters: The annual financial cycle begins with fiscal reporting, where the City of Fort Worth looks back to compare actual results of operations.

• This helps inform the modeling and forecasting for subsequent fiscal years' budgets.
• This stage is future oriented, drives decisions and creates a scenario and sensitivity analysis.

What's new: The City reported an amended budget of approximately $273.7 million for FY24.

• This includes revenues, expenditures and transfers to capital projects.
• In FY24 the City is projected to have an approximate $332.5 million ending fund balance.
• In FY23 the ending fund balance was approximately $306.3 million.

By the numbers: Surplus interest earnings for FY24 were approximately $29.7 million. Recommended uses of this additional income are to apply it to risk funding to offset deficits and to fund current capital project shortfalls. The average interest rate in FY20 was 1.15%. In FY24, the average interest rate has risen to 5.43%.

Go deeper: The FY24 unassigned fund balance is at 22% or approximately $232.6 million, an increase of $14.6 million over the prior year. The projected FY24 fund balance of approximately $332.4 million consists of the following:

• Non-spendable (inventory): $5.3 million
• Previously committed in FY23: $26.5 million
• New commitments (department rollovers): $3.6 million
• Assignments: $64.4 million
• Unassigned: $232.6 million

The recommended committed balance is established to recommit items previously committed at the close of FY23, sales tax repayment and the Juneteenth Museum, as well as provide newly committed funds for department rollovers.

The recommended assigned balance would fund library capital projects, MedStar transition funding and current capital project shortfalls.

What's next: On Feb. 18, the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) will be presented to the Audit Committee and City Council at that day's work session. The City will review and analyze FY24 details to support the development of the FY26 budget.

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