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<\/p>\nAustin City Manager T.C. Broadnax has proposed a $6.6 billion budget, aiming to balance a $26 million shortfall with a 3.5% property tax increase.<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax is set to present his proposed $6.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 to the Austin City Council on Thursday, outlining how the city plans to balance growing service demands with a projected $26 million budget shortfall.<\/p>\n
The proposal calls for a 3.5% increase in property tax revenue \u2014 the maximum allowed under Texas law without requiring voter approval \u2014 while continuing to invest in public safety, utilities and other essential city services.<\/p>\n
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The proposed tax increase is expected to generate about $82 million more in revenue than last year’s budget. Broadnax said about $18 million of that property tax revenue is projected to come from new developments added to tax rolls over the year.<\/p>\n
The proposal comes months after Austin voters rejected Proposition Q, a ballot measure that would have allowed the city to exceed the state’s voter-approval tax rate.<\/p>\n
“The voters told us, we need to go back to basics,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said after the November 2025 election.<\/p>\n
For some homeowners, another increase in property taxes remains a concern.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been a homeowner since 2018,” South Austin resident Hose Dimas said. “I’ve been paying my property taxes every year, and it just becomes a little bit more difficult each and every year where there’s an increase in property tax.”<\/p>\n
Dimas said he supported taking a closer look at how the city plans to spend taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n
“I can’t remember how I voted, but I think initially I was against [Proposition Q] simply because, again, I just needed to see the numbers and where it’s coming from,” he said.<\/p>\n
North Austin homeowner Linda Galloway said she has watched Austin’s rapid growth firsthand.<\/p>\n
“I’m an elder, but I still notice it’s growing like crazy,” Galloway said.<\/p>\n
\nPublic safety and utilities make up the largest share of spending\n <\/p>\n
According to the proposal, about 65% of the city’s budget is dedicated to General Fund operations and citywide utilities. Austin Energy and Austin Water alone account for 43% of the proposed $6.6 billion budget.<\/p>\n
Within the General Fund, public safety remains the city’s largest investment. Police, fire and emergency medical services would receive the majority of General Fund dollars, including $504,000 dedicated to Austin Police Department recruiting efforts.<\/p>\n
“I personally haven’t had a need for the police presence in my area,” Dimas said. “But just hearing statements about what’s going on around the city, I do believe there’s a need for that.”<\/p>\n
Galloway said while she believes public safety is important, she also wants to see continued investment in community services.<\/p>\n
“They take up a disproportionate amount of the budget, I think,” Galloway said. “But anything that serves the people, I’m all for it. I’ll pay my share.”<\/p>\n
The proposal also aims to address increased demand for city services, including Austin’s parks system.<\/p>\n
When asked why parks remain important, Galloway pointed to the role they play for families across the city.<\/p>\n
“Because I don’t have a pool in my backyard, and neither do all the little poor kids who get real hot, too,” she said.<\/p>\n
\nWhat’s next?\n <\/p>\n
Broadnax plans to formally present the proposed budget to the Austin City Council on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following the presentation, council members will hold several public hearings and budget work sessions throughout July and early August before voting on a final budget in mid-August. If approved, the new budget would take effect Oct. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax has proposed a $6.6 billion budget, aiming to balance a $26 million shortfall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-371275","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\/371275","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=371275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}