{"id":366710,"date":"2026-07-09T11:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/366710\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:18:11","slug":"austin-nonprofits-brace-for-possible-cuts-as-city-weighs-reductions-to-social-service-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/366710\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin nonprofits brace for possible cuts as city weighs reductions to social service contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city manager is expected to release the proposed FY27 budget on Friday and present it to the Austin City Council next Thursday.<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The City of Austin is considering reductions to social service contracts as leaders work to balance the next budget, leaving local nonprofits concerned about how potential funding changes could affect the programs they provide.<\/p>\n

The city’s financial challenges grew after voters rejected Proposition Q last year, a measure that would have permanently increased the property tax rate.<\/p>\n

A new city memo\u00a0<\/a>proposes phasing in $16.8 million in reductions to social service contracts over the next two fiscal years. The memo identifies 15 areas for possible reductions, including workforce development, which could see cuts of up to 32%.<\/p>\n

Lisa Stewart, CEO of the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, said her initial reaction to the proposed reductions was discouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitial reaction was deflated,” Stewart said. “You know, we try so hard to serve the city of Austin and the community that’s here, and get them where they need to be on an economic opportunity.”<\/p>\n

The Literacy Coalition of Central Texas provides adult education and workforce preparation services, and Stewart said the organization could be impacted by the proposed changes.<\/p>\n

Stewart said her organization already absorbed previous reductions this fiscal year by making internal cuts to avoid reducing its core education programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupport for housing assistance, emergency assistance for our students, and also like work attire or professional needs that a student might need, like tools, to get their jobs,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cSo we had to reduce there so we wouldn’t have to touch the education component.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart is not the only nonprofit leader watching the budget process closely.<\/p>\n

Organizations like El Buen Samaritano, which provides education, workforce development and other wraparound services, also rely on city funding and are waiting to see how potential reductions could affect their programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur overall budget is about 30% city funded,\u201d said Rosamaria Murillo, CEO of El Buen Samaritano. \u201cWe’re not only affected as an organization, with these cuts, the families that we serve are the ones that are affected by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murillo also said cuts to partner organizations can create a ripple effect across the nonprofit community.<\/p>\n

She said when other providers lose funding, more people may turn to organizations like El Buen Samaritano for help with basic needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so we start seeing an increase in people coming to our food access programs,\u201d Murillo said. \u201cWe start seeing an increase in people needing support services to pay rent, for transportation, for other services.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials say the proposed reductions are not final and could change as staff continues its budget analysis. The city manager is expected to release the proposed FY27 budget Friday and present it to Austin City Council next Thursday.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, nonprofit leaders are urging city officials to reconsider the potential reductions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big decision for Central Texas,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cAnd what we do now is going to determine what the future looks like for the city of Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city manager is expected to release the proposed FY27 budget on Friday and present it to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-366710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}