AUSTIN, Texas — Austin City Council is expected to vote Thursday on a proposed bond package that includes a major investment in city parks and recreation, a plan supporters say is needed to address aging facilities and keep some amenities from becoming unusable.
The proposal calls for a $390 million bond, including $250 million dedicated to parks and recreation projects. City officials and park advocates say the funding would help complete projects that need additional money and upgrade older equipment across Austin’s park system.
Austin City Council is expected to vote Thursday on a proposed bond package that includes a major investment in city parks and recreation, a plan supporters say is needed to address aging facilities and keep some amenities from becoming unusable. (Photo: CBS Austin)
“It’s just an older system with aging infrastructure,” said Jesus Aguirre, director of Austin Parks and Recreation. Aguirre said much of the infrastructure across the city’s 20,000 acres of parkland is due for an upgrade.
“The average age of our facilities is 50 years old,” he said. “We’ve also had just a tremendous amount of growth and change in our city over the last probably, I would say, 10 years or more.”
Council members are split over when to put the bond before voters. Some argue the investment is long overdue and should move forward this year, while others want to push it to 2028 to ease the tax burden.
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Alyssa Vargas, Advocacy Manager for the Austin Parks Foundation, said delaying the bond could postpone critical improvements and put some facilities at risk.
“If we do not receive this bond cycle this year, there are four pools that are risking being inoperable, and park spaces that will no longer be able to serve the public in the way that they need to,” Vargas said.
Mayor Kirk Watson pointed to the financial impact on residents, referencing the city’s draft budget.
“I feel even more strongly about that now that we have had a draft budget put out by the City Manager and the impact that that would have on the typical taxpayer,” Watson said in Monday’s city Audit and Finance Committee meeting.
City officials said during Monday’s City Audit and Finance Committee meeting that taxpayers would eventually pay more than $81 per year to support the bond.
Some residents using Austin’s trails said they support the investment.
“I think there should be more parks… I have to drive all the way up here to use a nice trail,” said Austin Garza, an Austinite.
Eric Williamson, also an Austinite, said, “Money going towards something that a lot of people use is really beneficial and huge.”
According to the bond proposal, the $250 million for parks and recreation would go toward buildings, infrastructure, aquatics, parkland improvements and land acquisition.
Vargas said those areas reflect the park system’s highest priorities, including “Those parks that are close to almost being completed, but need to get across the finish line. Those major replacements and things that need to happen.”
If the council approves the bond proposal Thursday, it could appear on the November ballot. If not, it could be delayed until 2028.