Street repairs may not move at the same pace next year as the city faces a tighter budget. Meanwhile, a new sidewalk pilot program is on the way.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi city leaders are beginning to shape next year’s public works budget, with funding for streets, stormwater drainage and sidewalks among the priorities discussed during a City Council workshop Wednesday.
The proposed 2027 budget comes as the Public Works Department faces a tighter financial picture than in recent years, forcing city leaders to consider how to make the most of available funding.
Street repairs will remain a priority, though some residential projects could move at a slower pace as funding shifts.
“It’s come a long way. I know it’s not perfect. I still feel that we could still use more dollars towards that,” City Councilwoman Sylvia Campos said.
Campos said she believes more investment is needed for residential streets.
“There’s different ways where we can achieve that. We can do it through taxes, or we could do it with this residential fee that we could say could be limited to say five years or 10 years,” Campos said.
Campos said she would support discussing the return of a $5 street user fee to help fund repairs. The fee was removed in 2023 after reaching its preset expiration date.
“When we did that, it was because we had raised the water rates so much and we hadn’t done that in a long time. But now that things are kind of calmed down, we’re kind of getting used to what we’re doing, especially with all the water projects. I just feel it’s time that we had the discussion again,” Campos said.
Councilman Gil Hernandez said the city’s investment in streets has increased over the years and that the city now has a more structured approach to maintaining and repairing roadways.
“We’ve done a lot of funding towards streets,” Hernandez said. “We are ultimately funding streets at levels that weren’t in the past. We have a preventive maintenance program. We have a five year plan. When I first got here eight years ago, there was no plan.”
Hernandez said the city’s 2027 budget will look different because some additional funding sources used in previous years have changed.
“We added more money in the previous years through bonds and through other sources that kind of increased the spending well. We don’t have all those extra sources, but the structure of having funding for streets is more than what we had,” Hernandez said.
Mayor Pro Tem Kaylynn Paxson said the city could revisit the street user fee but said she is hesitant to add another financial responsibility for residents.
“We do still have funding. We will still continue to make progress, just perhaps not at the same pace,” Paxson said.
City leaders also discussed plans for a new sidewalk pilot program expected to begin next year.
“As the codes are written now, most sidewalks are the responsibility of the individual property owners, but we recognize this is a bigger problem than most could accommodate, and it does impact the general public safety,” Paxson said.
The pilot program would focus on repairing one block of sidewalk in each City Council district. Paxson said the results could help shape a broader sidewalk repair program.
“With the completion of that pilot program, we’re now gonna introduce a sidewalk repair program in this next year so we’ll see some of those repaired,” Paxson said.
Residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on priorities for the city’s 2027 budget during a community input session scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, at the Seashore Learning Center Academy gym.