Can you hear me? Can you hear me? I can't. I got it. Hey. If everybody could go ahead and start taking your seats real quick, we're gonna kick this part off. The, the open house is they can't hear me. Hello. Hello. Hello. Please direct your attention to the stage so that we could begin the presentation. Are the cameras rolling? Is this my good side? Hey. Real quick. District four, thank you so much for coming. I wanna thank you on behalf of councilman Charlie Lauersdorf. Give a shout out really quickly to Michael Rodriguez in case you haven't met him. Hey.
Both of us are the full time yes. Please do clap. I'm sorry. The claps are for him. On behalf of, councilman Lauer's Dorf, we're super excited, to bring this bond package to you all. I do wanna make sure that the point across is across that this is a preliminary hearing of sorts of this. It's not the final plan. The ink has not dried. We're gonna take into account the things that and and the, the concerns that you raised during this meeting and the other meetings. We're gonna rework the plan, and then we're gonna present it to you again at a later date. Does everybody understand that?
So we're not going to throw things at staff. Good to go? Alright. Yes. Hey, Ralph. See you. How you doing, brother? Real quick. Hey. Another round of applause for all the wonderful staff in the back of the room that came to present to you today. Truly, they are the best. That's all I got to say. So let's kick it off. Thank you, and thanks everybody for coming. My name is Tony Harold. I'm the planning manager on the long range planning division here at the city of Fort Worth. So before we get started with bond, we have a short walk through of, our comp our 2050 comprehensive plan. So, first things first, we have a short video for you guys, that we're gonna
kick off. This is our Fort Worth. A place where we grew up. Our friends will build dreams and where the choices we make today shape the world we live in tomorrow. Our city is growing faster than ever, but growth is smart planning, designing neighborhoods and districts where people can live, work, learn, play within reach. It's about thinking long sure. And now is the time to re envision where we can go next. That's what the 2050 comprehensive plan all about. A vision and a plan for how we grow, connect, and thrive over the next
twenty five years. Think of this as a big way to plan. Instead of focusing on one property at a time, look at how entire neighborhoods, streets, and districts fit together. How home to schools and worksites, and how trails parks and community centers. Imagine turning an empty lot into a playground. Imagine turning an empty lot into a new home business right down the street. We create active neighborhood centers where meet up with family and friends, connect by green
corridors, trails, and a transit that link every corner of our city. This kind of planning keeps each area's character intact while giving every neighborhood a chance to grow in a way that fits its residents. Our future a place with even more great jobs in innovative companies with advanced employment and higher education centers. Vibrant places, great neighborhoods, a we're all proud to call home. That's the future that comprehensive plan helps guide for all of us.
But what would Fort Worth look like when Fort Worth look? Those decisions start now. They start with you. Your voice, your ideas, your priorities, they shape the goals and and policies that will guide our future. This is your chance to help decide how land is used, how growth happens, and how we enhance the character of our neighborhoods. Conversation. Share ideas. And So that's an excellent video, and it truly shows who this plan is for. So over the next twenty five years, the 2050 comprehensive comprehensive plan is really meant
to act as, as the video said, an overarching guide for policies across the city, really over the next two and a half decades. So ranging from public safety to economic development all the way to zoning, and parks and recreation. The twenty fifty plan is really meant to guide all of these policies in, a cohesive way over the next, again, twenty five years, for everybody in the city, whether it's for you, for your kids, or for your grandkids. And as we develop this plan, we wanted to show you that we are not doing this in a vacuum and that we truly appreciate your input.
So, we have a, interactive survey and a website on Connect Fort Worth. It's connectfw.com. It's available through this QR code and then connectfw.com/comprehensive-plan. And through there, I'll show you how you can get in contact with us. You can do a survey, and then, view updates as we progress through the plan itself. So, one more thing to add is that this is not set in stone. We're in the early stages of our plan development right now. This is gonna be a process over the next year, year and a half where
we're really gonna take your input, and take experts' input in developing the 2050 plan. So as we are on Connect Fort Worth right now, you can see there's some, oh. Uh-oh. Sorry about that. I might need some help getting away from yeah. There we go. Thanks, April Rose. So on our, Connect Fort Worth page, you can see that we have some summary information on the left. There's a link to our interactive survey. And on the right, we have our our wonderful video and another link to our
survey. I'm gonna walk through that briefly right now just to show you that it's really simple. It's this quick five minute survey, and there's some interesting elements to it as well. So it's gonna ask you initially for some overall, feelings about your priorities for the city of Fort Worth. There's some free form answers as well as some multiple choice. Again, we have some slider questions. Again, super simple, just generally gauging your priorities across the city. There's a really interesting, aspect of this survey coming up so that we can show
you you can add here where you live, but then on the next page, there's a map where you can actually interact with it, circle areas that you find specifically interesting, and think there should be any specific type of development there. So, again, free form answers, and we really take this into account as we're developing our plan. So we'd appreciate it if you, have the time. Sit down, take five minutes on the couch, and complete our survey. There's some optional demographic data towards the end, but we really do appreciate if you would fill it out so we can understand who's actually participating, in our public survey.
So I'm gonna get back to Connect Fort Worth really quick to show you, where we are in the process. So right now, summer twenty summer fall twenty twenty five, we're in the early phases of solidifying our vision from the first half of our public engagement, which occurred in 2024. There's gonna be a summary document up there soon, that summarizes all the initial input we've gotten, and then we will be adding our current input into that as we go along. So we're in early phases. 2027 is the tentative date for publication for policy adoption.
We have some key dates. Right now, it's, all of our, joint, bond comp plan meetings, but we're gonna add on any other, additional public outreach events, right here under the key dates section. And at the very bottom, we have some images, FAQs, and then an email. So please feel free to email the long range planning team with any questions you have. Happy to answer anything. And, additionally, we have a few members from the team. We have Eric Flateger, Connor Mcdonald, the setup.
And we're there to talk about the plan, talk about planning in general, and really gauge your overall priorities for the next twenty five years, for the city of Fort Worth as we work through this plan. So with that, yeah, again, we'd appreciate any input. And now I'm gonna send it over to April Rose for this short video. In the 2050 comprehensive plan, the city of Fort Worth is looking far ahead, setting an ambitious vision for how our city will grow and thrive in the decades to come. But bringing that big picture vision to life starts with real short term action.
That's where the 2026 bond comes in. Every four years, Fort Worth voters have the chance to shape the city's future through a bond election, a way of funding essential public works projects. For 2026, the city is developing an $840,000,000 bond package focused on the foundations that keep Fort Worth moving forward. Out of the city's 67¢ tax rate, almost 15¢ go toward paying off debt like bonds. The proposed bond package fits within that amount, so your tax rate won't go up.
Fixing every identified need across the city would cost billions, so we have to be strategic. That means making fiscally responsible decisions that deliver the biggest impact with the dollars available. Using data, master plans, and community priorities, city staff identify projects that can leverage external funding partnerships and balance needs across every part of Fort Worth. More than 60% of the proposed bond package focuses on streets and mobility, designing and constructing major roadways and intersections, upgrading and repairing bridges, reconstructing neighborhood streets, and improving pedestrian
safety. The proposed transportation projects were chosen to advance the priorities identified in the city's master transportation plan. Another 22% invests in parks and open space, expanding recreation and trails for our growing population, guided by the city's new parks, recreation, open space, and public realm master plan. And the remaining funds support essential community needs that strengthen neighborhoods across Fort Worth, like public safety, animal care, library upgrades, and affordable single family housing.
These projects aren't chosen lightly. They're shaped by data, careful planning, and most importantly, your feedback. Feedback. To help build our future, use our interactive balancing act tool to explore the proposed projects and share your input on what projects should be prioritized. You and your neighbors will vote on the bond projects in May 2026. The conquering plan sets a long term vision. The bond program helps make it happen. Alright. Good evening, everybody. Before we even get started, happy early Halloween since we're right around the corner.
My name is April Rose Escamilla. I'm with the city of Fort Worth. And today, we'll be presenting on the 2026 bond program. So there were some three great takeaways that I know I personally love to highlight. So the first is that within our existing tax rate at that 67 per 67¢, 16 about about $15.16 cents, basically is utilized to pay off debt. And from that amount, meaning that existing tax rate, that is where we're able to basically set our bond capacity, which then leads to that $840,000,000 amount that you heard
for the 2026 bond program. So that means that your tax rates your tax does not increase because of this specific bond, and we're able to utilize your the existing tax sense to be able to, in the future, pay for this and be able to sell those specific bonds to pay for the infrastructure. So that's one takeaway. The second one is really pulling in a lot of our master plans that our city staff has worked pretty closely with both citizens as well as consultants, as well as looking at that comprehensive plan, long range planning to see where is the development
occurring, where the city needs, where is also the the citizens, like, that exist today, and the certain infrastructure, that needs to also be assessed, but also to be able to continue to provide services for citizens today as well as citizens into the future. So really using some of that technical information related to the master transportation plan, looking at the green print that our parks and recreation department, also developed, which is basically our our overall parks, master plan looking into the long distance future. And then, finally, just considering engagement today.
So today, it is a pretty packed room, which again, thank you for taking time out of your day to come up here. And we would we're gonna go ahead and open it up for questions, at the conclusion of this presentation. But we'd really like to hear some of your feedback with what you've been able to hear so far in interacting with all of our respective tables. The way that the room was set up to begin with today is to really dive into the specific the specific 2026 bond program. So at a state level, you'll typically hear about propositions that are numbered. At a city municipal level, the propositions are in letter format.
So that's why you'll hear a lot about proposition a all the way through proposition f. And as Christiane Simmons mentioned in the video earlier, the 840,000,000 bond program is basically allocated as shown, where proposition a related to streets and mobility is about 60.9% of the bond. Proposition b related to parks and open space is at 22% of the bond. C for public library is 1.7%, and so on and so forth through d, e, and f to make that total
840,000,000. Now I do want to point out that out of each one of those propositions, there is a public art component to it with public art funding. So for proposition a, 1% of proposition a is allocated to public arts. You'll see that number will actually be baked into that total dollar amount. 2% for propositions b through f, and that goes back to a city ordinance that was adopted by city council as well. So that is the overall big picture amount, and we're about to dive into each one of these. So for proposition a, we do have for streets and mobility.
Of the 511,500,000.0, it go ahead and breaks down from expanding major roadways, that's a 199,100,000.0, to rebuilding minor roadways. You can kind of think of that as your sidewalks or sorry, not as your neighborhood streets, excuse me, as your neighborhood streets and the neighborhood street program the city has had. And then, upgrading traffic signals, upgrading intersections. There's bridge safety and connections at 40,700,000, and that's kind of highlighting a reality that many, municipalities face across the nation in terms of aging infrastructure.
This bond does cover, being able to provide some funding to rehabilitate, certain bridges as well as being able to leverage some dollars so we can make some of those dollars stretch. And whenever I talk about leveraging dollars, I really talk about, you know, we have the North Central Texas Council of Government. We have TxDOT. We have federal dollars that are made available that through specific programs that us, like the city of Fort Worth, can apply to, we're able to leverage our dollars to be able to really cover a very large, more complex type of project.
And typically, that type of ratio is 80% can come from regional partnerships like COG that I had mentioned earlier, and 20% can come from our city contribution. And we're able to utilize some bond funds to be able to really pay for those larger infrastructure projects. So that is also a a way that we're able to utilize, say, even the bridge safety and connections, for example. So So we also have sidewalks and school safety at 28.5. So I believe, Basswood Boulevard, also has a sidewalk project that's identified within, that 28.5.
Vision zero projects, the city of Fort Worth city council adopted the vision zero safety action plan, plan, in August, just this past year. And so that particular plan helps inform some of, like, the North Star, what some of the guidances on really being able to provide an entire corridor with multiple safety features. So for different individuals that are using, that's those specific facilities, to stay safe when they're walking because we really wanna try to, really try to have that vision zero so that we can eliminate the deaths that are caused, related to, traffic related incidents
from that perspective. And then we also have railroad crossings at 6,000,000 and streetlights at 5,200,000. Now something I forgot to mention earlier is on every single one of these slides, we do have an exhibit that's specific to that particular item. So the previous picture that I showed you earlier was the overall bond program. It's really difficult to see if you're sitting, say, at the very back. But each one of our tables does have the exact exhibit that you can actually walk up to. So the overall 2026 bond program is right at the entrance. Proposition a, b, c, d, e, f, every single one of our tables does have
that available for you to look at as well today. So proposition a, you'll gonna see all the wonderful colors. You'll see the, major roadways that are proposed for construction or say they're gonna be proposed for design. Some of the intersections, the little cross mark, as well as some traffic signal, projects. So each one of those, have specific symbols for that. So next is proposition b and these are all of the green stars and that's a 185,100,000.0. So this is upgrading the Metropolitan Community Parks at 57,500,000.0.
So think, somewhat something like this, the citywide type of projects. So we have Gateway Park, that is also part of this, as well as rebuilding the Atatiana Carr Jefferson Community Center at Hillside at 30,000,000, the open space land conservation at 25,000,000, the new aquatic center at 22,000,000, the botanic gardens upgrades as well as the water garden upgrades. If you go to downtown, bring your friends, bring your family. Anybody who wants to maybe move to Fort Worth, go and take them down over there. But, this is part of the proposed bond, package at 10,000,000 to be able to
upgrade, the water gardens, as well as the Fort Worth Zoo infrastructure and a contribution of $4,000,000 there. So for proposition c, this is related to public libraries. For public libraries, that would be encompassing of relocating of the Fort Worth History Center, renovating Southwest Regional Library, the renovation of Diamond Hill Jarvis Library as well. And, Sherry is here today with the, library, and she is she has a couple of different handouts you can take with you today that really details, additional information respective
to, like, these specific three items. So if you're gonna do a deep dive, it's right over there as well. So for proposition d, we have public safety. And I like to look at this slide as, like, a a whole, like, new rebuild and renovate. So at 63,900,000.0, 19,400,000.0 would would is proposed to go towards a new fire Station, 46, and that is in the Southwest Fort Worth area. 15,000,000 is towards rebuilding of Fire Station 40, and 28,300,000.0 is towards renovating the existing zipper Building in Downtown Fort Worth.
So it's that building that you see in the lower, picture right here, the Zipper Building, And that's really just to bring together all of the various, emergency services, so that's all housed under one roof, and that would be the new 911 call center. Next is proposition e, the animal shelter at 59,900,000.0, and this includes building a new animal control shelter with increased space. And this is intended to replace the current Chuck and Brenda Silcox animal shelter, that
was built in 1998. And I was looking at the 2020 census, just the other day, and I believe the city of Fort Worth in 2020 was at 560,000 people. And so now we're over a million. And so we're proposing, just from the existing need as well that this could be an opportunity to also build that animal shelter at 59,900,000.0. Next is proposition f, and this is affordable single family housing, and this is at 5,000,000. This is proposed to include, just a a a kind of 1,000,000 would be towards
buying vacant and blighted properties, and the additional 4,000,000 would be to fund construction infrastructure cost to develop affordable the, prospective salaries, and there is an actual table that we do have on this proposition with a full deep dive, on that. But it is related to affordable housing. And this is in addition to, some of the programs the city of Fort Worth already has in place as well. But this is trying to create that, additional tool in our toolbox, to be able
to contribute to affordable housing at 5,000,000. So with that, kinda wanna walk through the bond program history. So if you've lived in Fort Worth, you've seen, you know, the programs and the products that have come through, and you've seen exactly where they are, throughout the city. But if you're newer to the city, I'm gonna go ahead and show where in 2018, at four hundred million, you could see exactly where those respective projects are and were at that time and to be constructed. Then the 2018 is now grayed back, and you can actually see where the 2022
bond program at 560,000,000 was then allocated with all the various projects. And then we move forward to the present day in 2026 at 840,000,000. So you could really see, again, all of the grayed back projects. At some point, you know, they obviously were all selected in the same way here today related to informed decisions, related to data, related to the growth, related to master plans, some of the technical information related to roadway networks and so forth. But really seeing where all the various projects are in this cycle for the 2026
proposed bond. But with that, as we mentioned earlier, it's it's not said and done. Right? We're we're still working towards this. We still wanna be able to engage with your feedback. And, there are potential project swaps if you wanted to talk about, say, you wanted to add these twenty third Street design or, park drainage and erosion control infrastructure or a new Far West Branch library at 20,000,000, all of these projects here today, these could be swapped out, but that would mean that if you wanted to add a
Far West Branch library at 20,000,000, you would have to remove from another proposition or even within the same proposition that same amount because we need to stay with that 840,000,000. So that's a lot of tracking, right, to do if I wanna add this project or move that project and, you know, how exactly do I keep track of it and how exactly do I vocalize that? Well, we've tried to we've created a tool for you, to actually log on and if you can take out your phones, we have this QR code that you can
take a photo of, or if not, you can also go to connectfortworth.com. So connectfw. And we have a balancing act tool, And that tool allows you to select a project, like, unselect a project, remove a project, add funding to a specific proposition, remove from another one. It really allows you to be able to play with that number. And for each one of these propositions, we've also added an extra spot where you can type in a comment and you can state why you're in prop why you
propose or why you may be against a specific type of thing. And all of that information all of that information gets sent back to us. We aggregate that data so that we can then inform, of course, leadership, inform our council of all the various, feedback that we've received either from you today here or from you sharing this exact QR code with your friends, with your family, through social media. We're able to continuously aggregate that information because so we're here today, right, with the community engagement event and that will be going on all the way through mid November.
So in late twenty twenty five, so heading towards the end of this year, we will be finalizing the project list. And again, this is with informed information. So your information, your your feedback through that QR code, your feedback through that balancing act, or even just speaking to us today and us writing this, like, you know, your comments back down, it helps us to be able to finalize that list so that in January 2026, council can call the election. It's a very formal process to basically state, that in May 20 05/02/2026, that is
exact that's when the bond election would occur. So we're here today from an engagement standpoint. We would come back to you again in the spring to let you know what that final list is. And then that way, you can make your informed vote, however it is, in which way, for the bond election. And I do want to clarify that each one of these propositions are voted or, right now, at this time, are supposed to vote individually. So you'd be voting however you wish, for proposition a and b and so forth each individually. So with that, we're here today and we're gonna go and open it up for
questions. We do have a microphone and a couple microphones that we'll be handing out to those who have questions and that we would really like you to use the microphone because we are streaming, this particular session. And that way, others can also hear your questions. I would pride myself of, you know, being an engineer. I love to talk about infrastructure. I love to talk about all the different roadways and everything else, but I can't answer all of the questions from that perspective. And so we are gonna definitely ask and I will also lean on my subject matter experts that are all the way across the room who will carry a lot
of these projects through, through design, through completion. So at times, this particular microphone will be handed off to them as well. But we are here to help answer your questions today. So with that, any questions? Alright. Right here in the back. Hello. Thanks for, coming out today. I have a question. As far as District 4, how much of the 800,000,000 will be allocated to District 4 projects? Yeah. Currently, right now, there is 18,600,000.0 that is allocated to, District 4, and that is related to sidewalks.
I believe there's also, an aquatics expansion, and then there's also some intersections related to that project. And I can also come over here to also highlight just the overall, projects that have been proposed in or that have gone through the bond in previous cycles as well as today. And also to add to that, the the bond program is I'll talk I'll talk about tools. Right? Tools in the toolbox. The city of Fort Worth also has, you know, we can enter into, developer agreements
from a CFA standpoint, which is a, facility agreement if a specific infrastructure, specific projects need to be built. So there is a way to continue to build infrastructure through those mechanisms. There's also something the city of Fort Worth has, which is called PAYGo, which is pay as you go. And that is through your existing tax rate in which we're able to provide maintenance projects, lighting projects and so forth. And Transportation Public Works, who is here today, can definitely dive into a lot of the of those respective projects. In fact, they also have a an entire list of projects where they're able to
show you where that funding source is located, and how they've been able to apply, those dollars, all the way across the board for for this respective district. But hopefully, there are also others from other districts and and if you are from another district, I can also run some data and be able to provide you some numbers, either through follow-up and email. But great question. Yep. Yeah. Alright. Microphone's coming your way. Hello. Hi. So I took a look at the budget tool, and it looked like to me the only specific building that was gonna be affected in District 4 was the North
Park YMCA. And I saw that there was only $5,000,000 allocated for that for both an indoor pool and a gym. As someone who has worked in pools for the last decade of my life, I understand that $5,000,000 would simply not cut it to even install a pool. So my question would be, has the city of Fort Worth gone to the North Park YMCA to get a estimate for how much this would cost, both the gym and the indoor pool? And how do we do that?
Yeah. So I believe we have Dave that's also so Dave is here. He's the director of parks and recreation, and he can speak more on that estimate. Thanks for the question. Good one. My name is Dave Lewis. I'm the director of the park and recreation department. One of the things the criteria is that we use when we prioritize what's gets gets on this list is there a opportunity to leverage the funds. So in addition to the city's 5,000,000, the YMCA is also going to bring $5,000,000 to the table. And we have done estimates, and we do have actually some renderings that we could
share at some point that, what we think we can build with that $10,000,000 Okay. Another question? Yes. Hello. Hi. This also has to do with the YMCA. Understand this YMCA, which we're gonna give $5,000,000 to, is not subsidized. Is that correct? On an an annual operating basis, that is absolutely true. We the city fronted half the money to build the facility, but is not subsidized by the city. Okay. Because from what I understand, this is the only YMCA in the city of Fort
Worth that is not subsidized in there for the residents that live in this area have to pay a substantial fee to actually use this facility. Is that correct? I don't think I heard the first part of that question. Understand that this is the only YMCA in this Fort Worth area. That's, the residents that live in this area have to basically pay the full amount and those not a subsidized amount in order to use the facility itself. There's actually only one YMCA that the city actively provides a subsidy. That's McDonald YMCA when it came to that pool. Mhmm. But the NorthPark YMCA does offer a 10% resident discount, and that was part of
the agreement to manage the facility. Okay. So that's included in this bond election? It that's existing right now. Okay. Yeah. K. Another question? I wanna follow-up on the amount that's going per District North Of 820 because most of us drive sometime up to Heritage or Alliance. So my understanding is the amount of money going to District 4 and District 10 combined is substantially less than the 10% dividing 840,000,000 or 84,000,000 per district.
Could you confirm that? I would have to confirm the District 10 numbers. I mean, I can pull it up eventually after this after our session. I do have my laptop, so I can definitely identify, the exact dollar amount within the spreadsheet. But it it would be the same application in terms of looking at one, the need and then also looking at the existing projects in the area and various informative decisions, as far as the the data behind it. And quick follow-up on the '22 bond, where is 560?
How much of that has been completed? Because it is four years later. It takes time to do planning and all the completion and architectural. But is 90% of that done or 95%? Yeah. So, we have Patricia, with Transportation Public Works and specific to Streets and Mobility. And so she does she did come prepared with and she provides us for every district, related to an entire sheet, what the status is, if it's in design, if it's in construction. But I'll hand it over to Patricia to speak a little bit more.
I don't actually have, off the top of my head, a percent complete. But I can tell you that overall, on the 2022 bond program, citywide, we are, we've got a large majority of our projects already in construction, and most of the ones that are not are going to be going into construction next calendar year. What we have for you tonight is a handout that looks like this, and it goes into detail on every project in this district that TPW has and what its status is. So you're welcome to stop by our table afterwards and pick it up.
So you're welcome to stop by our table afterwards and pick it up, and we'll be happy to go over those projects and answer any questions. K. Alright. We have a question over here. Yeah. So what is the reasoning behind funding the YMCA if they only merely give a 10% discount to the residents? I don't understand that. Sure. Good question. And it's not actually funding the YMCA. It's a city owned facility that we have a management agreement with the YMCA to manage that. And I think it's fair to say that if you compare the fees with the
YMCA to city operated community centers, it's a completely different operating model where we, at the city, managed facilities have a membership fee, but then you pay for every class that you go to. Whereas with the YMCA fee, it's all inclusive of that. So depending on how much you use it, the fees are just charged differently. And I think we've got lots of YMCA folks that could help you find beg to differ because I looked into joining the YMCA, and it is extremely expensive. And then I joined the Betsy Price, which is far more reasonable.
And, again, any other commercial product out there is far cheaper than the YMCA during my research. So their prices keep increasing, and the 10% means absolutely nothing. K. Do you have another question? Yeah. Hi. So in regards to the contract agreement with the city, so I see that that specific YMCA was constructed in 2008 and promised a two phase plan. I see that it's been sixteen years later. And, again, so the y has to raise five, and then the city is gonna
give it five, giving it $10,000,000. My thought would be, if you're going to give the YMCA the indoor pool and as long with the gym, we're trying to get more towards self sustainability. Correct? That way, those fees can come down, and that way, those can help the community. Right? Because this is seen as, like, Fort Worth Community Center, unless I misunderstood. It is. It's a community center for that neighborhood. I don't understand the question, though. So I was asking, like, how come it's been so long for the phase two
to come along? It's very similar to, again, the criteria that we use when we prioritize the money that goes into all our community centers. We do have 23 city owned facilities that all need upgrades, need replacement. We heard earlier about the Betsy Price Community Center. So it's a balance of funding to improve the existing facilities versus building new facilities where those are needed. We're currently at the tail end of doing a community center study where that will help identify which of our current facilities are in, more priority need to be replaced
or remodeled and then where new facilities are needed based on the gaps in service that we have right now. Our master plan calls out that a community center should serve a neighborhood or a a distance of about one and a half miles. So it's really looking at where the gaps where they don't have a facility anywhere near them, and then also prioritizing that. We've got some community centers that are over 80 years old and need to be remodeled or replaced. And so it's really a balance between those two. When do we remodel? When do we add a new one as well? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Alright.
Question up here? Sorry. It's about the y too. It's a big issue for us because we don't have the senior center, and we really don't have a rec center. We really I'm with you. I love that new Betsy Price Center. Much more affordable. But I had a question for this why because it used to be across the street from in the middle of Parkland, and then it was moved over here, with the idea that it was gonna be a community center. And that's really not panned out for a majority of us. Is the contract with the y associated with the building, and can we get out
of that contract? Yes. The it is actually a lease to the YMCA to manage the building, and the original term of it is twenty years with two ten re ten year renewals after that. And so, yes, there is an opportunity to if they're not living up to the con contractual terms or if they feel that they don't wanna do the contract anymore, then, yes, there are opportunities to change that. And I think 2028? Yes. 2028. And with this, should this bond pass and the facility be upgraded, that's a good
time to revisit the arrangement. Is it still working? Is it still providing the services that the community desires? And that's our opportunity, really, to relook at all of that. Great. Including fees. Yeah. Next one's for you as well. Alright. Thank you. Okay. I have another question. Hello. My name is Dan Hayes, and, I'm a board member of GPAC, which is the Gateway Park Action Coalition. We're a new nonprofit, that is working to help get Gateway Park, to fully achieve its potential as Fort Worth Central Park.
Gateway is almost 800 acres, and it's essentially the same size as New York's Central Park minus many of those amenities. But even so, it attracts 600,000 visits annually and is the seventeenth most visited outdoor attraction in the state. And by itself, it's larger than 60% of all the parks in Fort Worth combined. So we have a great new master plan the city council approved in 2024. But without enough funding, it will look like the master plans from 1978, 1988, 2002,
2009, and 2015, a wish list with pretty pictures. So I invite you to go to gatewayparkfw.com to learn more about what we're up to and, the way we're trying to help the city get there using foundations, philanthropists, and any other methods that we can. This park deserves more attention and to be more than half open to the public after fifty years. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. No. Any questions related to the propositions or Yes.
We have a question up here. Okay. I have a question about the affordable housing. Will any of that, money be going to permanent supportive housing for the homeless? So we do have Dana, our assistant city manager, to speak on affordable housing. Hi there. Dana Bergdorf, assistant city manager. So the city has other funds that we use for permanent supportive housing. These dollars are intended to provide, affordable, well, really affordable to workforce housing, single family
housing to build equity for folks who are generally around, median family incomes. But we do have other funds that we provide for permanent supportive housing to address folks that were, that are experiencing homelessness to move them out of homelessness. Okay. So is this, town homes or what kind of house because there's with affordable housing, there's a You have pictures of it right over here. So just regular single family homes that are detached, one one home on a lot. How much would those cost around?
What because affordable is a really broad term. Yes. So we're targeting folks who are earning between around 80 to a 120% of median family income. And so we they would be generally spending, correct me if I'm wrong, folks, around 30% of their income towards paying the mortgage. They would qualify for if they're a first time home buyer, they'd qualify for our home buyer assistance program. And, our one of our thoughts is that the city, perhaps through its housing finance
corporation, could, in some cases, retain ownership of the lot, in which case the buyer would be buying the home, which could reduce the cost of the purchase, if that makes sense. So they would own the improvement, and then they would not be having to pay for the cost of that lot. So that would reduce the cost as well. K. And I have another question about the sales tax, with the art projects. I didn't get a chance to write that down. So could you repeat, what that is? Yes. It's 1% of proposition a and two Proposition a.
Okay. And 2% of the remaining propositions, b through f. And what what do when you say art projects, is this all across the city? Or Yeah. So, so the funding related to public art for each proposition, so say that 1% of that 511,500,000.0 in streets and mobility, That would have to be that would be tied to that specific infrastructure, that project. And so because it's in a in a any specific proposition, we're able to aggregate
that entire dollar amount to really maximize towards a public art, you know, facility or not facility, but a public art for for towards public art. But it does have to be visible to that specific infrastructure. So if you're to build, say, a specific segment of road, the qualifier there is that you can use funds that are have been allocated for public art within that 1% to and it has to be visible within that infrastructure item, and it has to be used within that proposition. So it really allows, for a large dollar amount to be pulled together within that
respective proposition. Okay. So, with art projects, I know that, the art projects that have been done come from a sales tax. Right? Part of the sales tax goes to art? No. It does not. It does not. Is there because I a lot of the art projects, like, they're putting them inside of roundabouts and that sort of thing, which I think is a terrible idea. But I've heard that, I I don't approve of a lot of the art projects
that they've spent money on. And, I didn't know they came from the bond programs. Is there any way in the future that we can vote and say we don't want automatic money going to art projects that we we may not approve of? So as of this time, it is currently in our ordinance. And, Dana, if you can also expand more on that. Yeah. I think you'd want to visit with the Art Commission and have a voice about the public art itself.
So each council member appoints members from the community to be involved in the public art project. So the Art Commission works with the council member and community members to help select the artist, and then to select the location, and then to select the artwork. And so that would be one way to be engaged in it. But in terms of whether there's public art or not, that would require conversation with the full council about consideration of the public art ordinance as was mentioned.
Because I know our councilman has talked about he would like to see the public getting a vote on that money automatically being taken, you know, for projects. So he's already said he'd like to see that vote. I know people who have been on the art council and are no longer on the art council because they disagreed with how the money was spent. So I don't have a lot of faith in speaking up about what gets done
and not. So that's why I was asking about, is there a chance that we can vote, the citizens can vote and not have money spent on art projects. Because, in my opinion, you you know, that that comes from philanthropy and people giving to art projects would be a much better way to do it. Certainly there's private art, but what we're talking about is public art. So two two different things. Yeah. The things in the roundabouts and the big sticks that are yellow and orange at
a park, that cost a lot of money that most people I know say that's not art. So anyway. And also on the community center, it it was supposed to be a community center, and it wasn't a community center. It was a Y, and people weren't happy about it when it was because that's not what people voted for. And so I don't think most people are gonna be very happy about a gym and aquatic center. It's still not a community center and it's still overpriced. Not a question, just a statement.
Yep. Thank you for your statement. K. So it is seven it's about to be seven twenty. I do wanna be a perspective of people's times. Still wanna also give people some time to to walk around, maybe collect additional pages related to the propositions we heard today as they do a deep dive. So about one more question and then yep. Okay. I just wanted my to add my voice to increasing the budget for affordable housing. I think that $5,000,000 is absurdly low for a $3,000,000,000 bond, And there's such a
desperate need. I'd I'd also like to know if we increase the amount of money spent on affordable housing, how it would be dispersed across the city. I mean, will there be equity across the city? But that's just my comment as I think that's just a ridiculously low amount for what the need is. Okay. Alright. Thank you for your comment. We are actually writing all of these down. Connor, if you wanna raise your hand. Connor's been, taking down all of your questions and your comments, and thank you for that. With that, we'll go ahead and and I don't know where if council there we
go. Okay. Here we go. Would you like to make any closing remarks, before we release the crowd from this perspective. Sure. How close to you can I get before we start getting feedback? Oh, we're good. We are. Okay. Cool. Hey. Thank y'all all for coming out. Like I said, it is a plan in motion. All of your comments, all of your concerns, and all of the other advice you gave, it will be taken into consideration. Like she said, Connor's in the back, getting all those notes taken down. Staff will go back on the back end. I'm looking for words right now. I'm sorry. I'm low on coffee. They're they're they're gonna implement.
They're they're gonna look at it. They're gonna look into implementing things in in the spring. Like, like you said, they will come back with a revised plan. So, again, thank you all. We're gonna turn it back to more of an open house style again. Is that correct? I ain't missed yet. Alright. Thank you. Hey. Thank you all. Hey. Thank you all.