Austin city manager proposes $6.3B budget for 2025-26

Austin's 2025-26 $6.3 billion budget proposal

Austin's city manager presented a proposed budget of $6.3 billion for 2025-26 to the mayor and city council on Tuesday.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin's city manager presented a proposed budget of $6.3 billion for 2025-26 to the mayor and city council on Tuesday.

The proposed budget aims to support three critical focus areas: people, place, and partnerships.  

"Engaging with our community to understand their budget priorities is more important than ever in these challenging times of federal funding cuts and limited revenue," Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax said. "By focusing on people, places, and partnerships, we can ensure that our budget reflects the needs and aspirations of Austinites, fostering a resilient and inclusive city." 

Highlights

The proposed budget plans on funding and supporting the following items:

• Expanding shelter space for the homeless, and funding new positions$8 million in one-time funding, provided through the Housing Trust Fund, for emergency shelter operations at the Marshalling Yard.$3.5 million for a contract to continue operations at the 8th Street Shelter.$925,000 for twelve new positions to expand outreach and improve encampment management.
• $8 million in one-time funding, provided through the Housing Trust Fund, for emergency shelter operations at the Marshalling Yard.
• $3.5 million for a contract to continue operations at the 8th Street Shelter.
• $925,000 for twelve new positions to expand outreach and improve encampment management.
• Increasing emergency rental assistance by $400,000
• Support inclusive engagementEstablishing a Human Rights Division in the office of Equity and Inclusion.$150,000 for We All Belong, a public campaign against hate crimes and incidents.$250,000 to develop the American Disabilities Act (ADA) transition plan to improve accessibility in public places.
• Establishing a Human Rights Division in the office of Equity and Inclusion.
• $150,000 for We All Belong, a public campaign against hate crimes and incidents.
• $250,000 to develop the American Disabilities Act (ADA) transition plan to improve accessibility in public places.
• Expanding emergency response operations and providing new equipment for wildfire response teams$345,000 for expanded emergency response and cold weather shelter operations.$280,000 for wildfire shelters and equipment to improve the safety of wildfire response teams.
• $345,000 for expanded emergency response and cold weather shelter operations.
• $280,000 for wildfire shelters and equipment to improve the safety of wildfire response teams.
• Additional $3.7 million for Austin Energy
• Funding for youth athletic field maintenance ($375,000)
• Funding to support and maintain the Colony Park pool and two staff positions ($125,000)
• Creating department for Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment
• Planned spending of $2.9 billion for projects such as: wastewater treatment facility improvements, the new Convention Center, and the expansion project at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

The General Fund is up 3.7 percent from last year's budget. The majority of it goes towards public safety. 

The budget also has raises for police and EMS, which were agreed to in contract negotiations.

There are also reforms to the firefighters retirement fund. However, APD and AFD have less overtime budgets because of staff restructuring. For example, having three people on some firetrucks instead of four. The firefighters union says that could reduce safety. 

How will this impact taxpayers?

Why you should care:

The proposed property tax rate is $0.5276 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. 

The typical Austin homeowner will still see an increase of $12.90 per month, or $154.83 per year, in the city’s portion of their annual property tax bill.  

The projected increase for the typical Austin tax-and ratepayer is $22.35 per month, or $268.23 per year.   

Council members weigh in

What they're saying:

"What I believe we have before us is a Band-Aid budget, a budget that has Band-Aid solutions. There's a lot of movements that have been made here, both taking from our reserve fund, we have staff restructuring, we have cuts on overtime, we're zeroing out our housing trust fund, we're lessening our facilities management fund," Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said. "There are significant changes that are being made in our budget, and I realize it's a balanced budget, I just want to make sure we take time to unmask all the changes that have been made as part of this proposal."

What's next:

Over the coming weeks, community input meetings and budget work sessions will be hosted by Austin City Council. 

City Council will have the opportunity to review and initiate amendments to the proposed budget before final adoption, which will begin on August 13.  

For more details on the city's budget process, click here.