Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The North Richland Hills City Council convened a work session on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 5:31 PM in the City Hall Council Workroom. The meeting covered the Fiscal Year 2026 budget overview, updates to single-family rental inspection and short-term rental regulations, and proposed amendments to the City Council Rules of Procedure. No formal votes were taken, but council reached consensus on several directives. The council also received a report on efficiency audits and later entered executive session for legal and personnel matters.
FY2026 City Budget Overview: Director of Budget and Research Chase Fosse presented a detailed overview of the budget development process. He provided comparisons with neighboring cities (Colleyville, Southlake, Hurst, Keller) for population, general fund budget, employees per capita, and average residential tax bill, showing North Richland Hills near the bottom in tax burden. The Tarrant Appraisal District's preliminary taxable value estimate is $9,246,563,633, a 1.19% increase over the 2024 certified value of $9,137,479,508. However, inflation is outpacing this growth, and staff noted a 4.4% property tax revenue loss experienced in the current fiscal year. The presentation covered legislative changes: the business personal property exemption increase from $2,500 to $125,000 (subject to voter approval, potentially reducing Tarrant County's assessed valuation by about $2 billion), the school district homestead exemption increase from $100,000 to $140,000 (also voter-approved), and enhanced budget notice requirements. The budget timeline includes: June 23 – proposed special revenue funds; July 25 – certified values from TAD; July 28 – proposed budget delivered to council; August 1 – budget work session at Grand Hall. Council members asked about the availability of physical budget copies, the impact of late tax payments, and the remaining balance in the defunct red light camera fund (restricted for traffic safety improvements).
Single Family Rental Inspection Program: Director of Planning Cori Reaume presented the draft ordinance to update the program. Goals include enabling owners/landlords to self-inspect and self-certify, freeing up city inspectors for critical inspections, maintaining tenant protections (e.g., ability to complain about life safety issues), and moving the requirement from the International Residential Code amendment into the general Code of Ordinances. New homes with a certificate of occupancy within the last five years are exempt from city inspection. Council had no questions; Mayor McCarty encouraged members to review the draft and send feedback. Staff will bring the ordinance to the June 23 regular council meeting for action, with an implementation target of August 1, 2025.
Short-Term Rental Regulations: Cori Reaume presented proposed regulations to limit negative impacts and ensure registration of short-term rentals (STRs). The draft ordinance would permit STRs in C-1 and C-2 Commercial Zoning Districts (limited to existing residential units) and in the Town Center center and core subdistricts. Council discussed requiring a local point of contact able to respond within 60 minutes, registration enforcement with potential permit revocation, and inclusion of multifamily properties with a percentage cap to prevent conversion of entire complexes. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) areas were also suggested for inclusion. The city attorney said legal advice on grandfathering existing non-compliant STRs would be provided in executive session. The public hearing schedule includes Planning and Zoning Commission on July 17 and City Council on August 11. Staff will develop a draft exhibit and public information materials. Council expressed support for including multifamily and TOD districts, referencing Grapevine's ordinance.
Amendments to City Council Rules of Procedure: City Secretary/Chief Governance Officer Alicia Richardson reviewed proposed changes. The rules, originally adopted in 1965, were last amended in March 2020 to add Deputy Mayor Pro Tem and Associate Mayor Pro Tem titles for continuity during COVID-19. Staff recommended removing these titles, as the need has passed. Additionally, House Bill 1522 (effective September 1, 2025) requires posting meeting notices three business days before the meeting, conflicting with current code that requires agenda packets be delivered to council on the Thursday before a Monday meeting. Council concurred to (1) remove references to Deputy and Associate Mayor Pro Tem from Sections 2-65(a) and (b), and (2) remove specific day-of-week references in Sections 2-67(a) and (c) in favor of a relative timeline. The amendments will be introduced on June 23 and final action will be taken on August 11.
The council entered executive session at 6:34 PM under Texas Government Code Sections 551.087 (economic development negotiations at 9005 North Tarrant Parkway), 551.071 (consultation with city attorney regarding threatened litigation by Blake Vaughn and Paulette Hartman v. Blake Vaughn), and 551.074 (deliberation on the appointment, employment, evaluation, duties, discipline, or dismissal of the city manager). The session concluded at 7:29 PM, after which the work session reconvened at 7:30 PM and then adjourned to the regular city council meeting.
There you look at there. Well it's it's doing its thing. That's still loading. It's stuck in loading. I have an error. Yeah. Got a glitchy thing today going on. Yeah. Oh no, wait, let me in let me in now. I'm in. I'm in now. Man, I'm the end now. Who's ready? I'm ready. I'm gonna go ahead and start the meeting at 531 while uh a couple of others are still getting on. Good evening, and welcome to the Northwritts and Hill City Council work session. It is 531. And I will call the Monday, June 9th, 2025 City Council work session to order. Quorum of the City Council is present. The meeting has been duly posted in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act of the Texas Government Code. Items listed for discussion on the work session agenda. Provide an opportunity for the city council to discuss the items and receive information from the staff. The city council will not take action on any of the items. Listed for discussion during the work session, and any members of the public wishing to address the council regarding the items listed in the work session agenda may do so during the public comments portion of the regular meeting. Moving to the first item. Does anybody have any that you need clarification from from the council meeting? Nope. All right, we'll move on to the next one. Fiscal year 2026 City Budget Overview. Chase is already up there. All right. Take it away. Good afternoon, Mayor. City Council. Tonight I'll be uh presenting an overview uh heading into the FY 2026 budget development process. Uh tonight I'll be sharing a timeline of where we are at in the development process as well as some information that will help put the city's budget into context with some of our neighbors. I'll then provide an overview of the city's funds, changes in our operating environment we are taking into consideration for next year's budget, and we'll conclude with a brief overview of immediate next steps.