City Budget
Crandall Fine Revenue Climbs Over Two Years
Municipal court collections have risen well past what city officials expected when they cut the budget in FY2023.
By Staff Reports • Shop in Seagoville • September 3, 2026
Revenue collected through the City of Crandall’s municipal court has climbed sharply since fiscal year 2023, reversing a trend of increasingly conservative budget estimates set by city officials in recent years.
The city’s Fines and Fees general fund account brought in $121,396 during FY2023, according to Crandall’s financial records. Collections then rose to $145,050 in FY2024, and officials projected FY2025 revenue would reach $163,672.
If that projection holds, the account will have grown by more than $42,000 across two years. Collections climbed roughly 19.5 percent from FY2023 to FY2024, with another 12.8 percent added in the FY2025 projection. Measured against FY2023 alone, the FY2025 estimate represents an overall increase of about 34.8 percent.
The growth stands out because the city’s own expectations had been moving in the opposite direction for several years. Crandall budgeted $195,000 in fines and fees for FY2023 but collected only $121,396, roughly $73,600 short of that target.
Officials responded by lowering the FY2024 budget to $125,000. Actual collections of $145,050 still exceeded that lowered figure by more than $20,000.
The FY2025 budget was cut again, this time to $110,000. By the time Crandall prepared its FY2026 proposed budget, officials were projecting about $163,672 for the year. That figure sits nearly $53,700 above the original FY2025 estimate.
Crandall has now proposed budgeting $160,000 from the account for FY2026. That suggests officials expect the higher revenue level to hold rather than return to the lower collections recorded back in FY2023.
Revenue Is Not the Same as Citations
The figures should not be read as evidence that Crandall police officers issued a corresponding increase in traffic citations. The city’s budget reports dollars collected, not the number of citations written.
Crandall Municipal Court handles more than traffic violations. It also processes Class C misdemeanor cases and city ordinance violations, so the Fines and Fees account cannot accurately be described as traffic fine revenue alone.
The amount collected can also shift even when citation volume does not change. Different offenses carry different fine amounts, and speeding penalties vary depending on how far a driver exceeded the posted limit.
Court dispositions affect collections as well. Defendants may receive payment plans or community service, and some cases are dismissed or otherwise resolved for less than a full citation amount would generate.
Payments collected in one fiscal year do not always correspond to citations issued that same year. That means the 34.8 percent revenue increase cannot by itself confirm a similar rise in citations issued. Determining whether enforcement activity actually increased would require separate citation and case data from Crandall Municipal Court covering the same years.
A Clear Revenue Rebound
What the available budget records do establish is a clear rebound in collections after a rough start. FY2023 revenue fell well short of the city’s original $195,000 target, prompting officials to lower expectations to $125,000 for FY2024 and $110,000 for FY2025.
Actual collections then moved upward each year that followed. FY2024 topped its reduced budget, and the FY2025 projection came in well above both the original estimate and the prior year’s total collections.
That shift appears to have reset the city’s outlook heading into the new budget cycle. The proposed FY2026 budget calls for $160,000, nearly matching the FY2025 projection and about $50,000 above the FY2025 adopted figure.
For residents reviewing the numbers, the key distinction remains between court revenue and police enforcement activity. Crandall’s budget shows how much money the city collected, not whether officers wrote more tickets or which specific violations drove the increase. Answering that question would require a separate review of citation and municipal court case records.
