News Releases 

A proposal to amend the city's anti-discrimination ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on transgender, gender identity or gender expression will be considered by the City Council during its regular meeting on Tuesday.

A Special Events Advisory Committee has been meeting for several months to discuss and recommend policies and procedures related to festivals, parades, runs, walks, block parties and large private events. The public can provide input on the proposed special-events ordinance at 6 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Center, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Patricia Roberts Harris National Fair Housing Training Academy will present free mortgage lending seminars in Fort Worth to address fraudulent, predatory and unfair lending practices.

In recognition of Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, all adoptions at the Animal Care and Control Center through October will be half-price. Dogs can be adopted for $35 and cats for $25. Spay/neuter surgery, microchip, rabies vaccination and a city pet license are included in the price.

More than $3.9 million in funding is available to help Fort Worth’s homeless population.

An election is set for citizens to decide the fate of Fort Worth’s Crime Control and Prevention District (CCPD) for another five years.  The renewal election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2009. Early voting begins Oct. 19.

The fiscal year 2010 budget closes a $59 million shortfall in part by cutting back some city services and reducing personnel costs. Part of that plan includes eight furlough days. These days without pay are required for all general (non-civil service) city employees.

The Fort Worth City Council has adopted a budget for fiscal year 2010 that will allow all Fort Worth libraries to remain open and maintain their current hours of operation.

The balanced budget keeps all public libraries open and includes funding to maintain all after school and late night community center programs. Expenditures are set at $528.4 million in the city’s General Fund. Combine that with the other enterprise and debt service funds, and the entire budget totals $1.2 billion. This represents a 2.1 percent increase from the current fiscal year.

The city of Fort Worth’s plan to make homelessness rare, short-term and non-recurring marked another milestone last week when the 100th person moved out of homelessness and into an apartment.