{"id":392923,"date":"2026-07-31T02:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/392923\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T02:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:45:09","slug":"breaking-down-apds-25-million-proposed-budget-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/392923\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking down APD’s $25 million proposed budget increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Advocacy groups and individuals are calling for money to be redistributed from the Austin Police Department (APD) budget to social services.<\/p>\n

Protesters gathered outside City Hall ahead of the City Council budget meeting today, demanding action after the death of Anthoneil Williams II, the 17-year-old who was killed by APD officers in an incident that police are calling a ‘suicide by police’.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Unarmed teen fatally shot by Austin officers in suspected ‘suicide by police’<\/a><\/p>\n

Some, like Courtney Szigetvari, an organizer with Hands Off Central Texas and a licensed social worker, are questioning why APD is slated to receive a $25 million funding increase in the proposed 2026-27 city budget while social services are expecting more than $5.3 million in funding cuts.<\/p>\n

“Especially recently with the killing of Anthoneil, we really reconsider where that $25 million is going to go to,” she said. “I also think that this is a public safety issue as well. Maybe we can take a look at that police budget and see if we can reallocate some of those funds through the department to social services.”<\/p>\n

Where is the $25 million increase going?<\/p>\n

A breakdown of APD’s $25 million increase reveals that a majority of the money will be allocated to wage increases, per a 2024 meet and confer agreement<\/a> between the City of Austin and APD.<\/p>\n

$9.9 million will go to citywide allocations, representing APD’s budget for the shared city services they utilize, such as administrative costs, IT expenses, and fleet maintenance.<\/p>\n

The third largest item is $1.3 million that will go to retirement stipends.<\/p>\n

In terms of new resources, District 4 councilmember Jos\u00e9 “Chito” Vela confirmed with Kerri Lang from Austin’s department of Budget and Organizational Excellence:<\/p>\n

“Things that the police department did not have before that they now have: if I remember correctly, I think there was one additional position for recruitment.?” asked Vela.<\/p>\n

“Yes, one civilian position for recruitment,” confirmed Lang.<\/p>\n

ALSO | City memo: Austin budget staff recommend $5.4 million cut to social service contracts<\/a><\/p>\n

Councilmembers weigh in<\/p>\n

At the time of this article’s publication, CBS Austin has received the following responses from city council members regarding their position on diverting funds away from APD into social services:<\/p>\n

From the office of Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes, District 2:<\/p>\n

“Q1: Does the Councilmember support reducing APD funding increases to transfer that money to social services?<\/p>\n

A1: I support restoring Austin’s social services. When families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and afford basic needs, every option to protect Austin’s lifelines must be on the table. We have a responsibility to look at every line of this budget with fresh eyes and ask: are we spending Austin’s limited dollars where they\u2019re needed most?<\/p>\n

Q2: How does the Councilmember feel about roughly $5 million in cuts to social services?<\/p>\n

A2: A cut to social services is a decision about whose lives we value. Well-funded, robust services prevent crime before it happens, keep families housed, and support Austin’s most at-risk neighbors. Drastic cuts like this not only undermine our values as a city; they set up families for long-term failure.<\/p>\n

Q3: Does the Councilmember have any other comment regarding APD versus social service funding?<\/p>\n

A3: Public safety means our children have enough to eat, our families have a stable home, and our neighbors in crisis get support before they ever reach a breaking point. Fully funding social services isn’t at odds with public safety. It is public safety.”<\/p>\n

From the office of Councilmember Mike Siegel, District 7:<\/p>\n

“I consider it a societal failure when a City facing a budget deficit recommends adding 25 million dollars to the police department, while cutting from the social service programs that form a thin safety net for our most vulnerable residents. We have to commit to reallocating our resources in a way that reflects our priorities as a City, and so I absolutely want to restore the entire $5.3M proposed reduction to social service spending.”<\/p>\n

From the office of Councilmember Marc Duchen, District 10:<\/p>\n

“The death of Anthoneil Williams II was an undeniable tragedy, and I strongly support the APD\u2019s investigation into the matter. If that investigation determines the officers acted inappropriately, then they must be held accountable. Some community members have called for diverting funds our city manager has allocated for first responders toward third-party mental health providers, believing that would have prevented this situation. My constituents value both public safety and mental health services, so my colleagues and I need to verify that these outside groups can deliver the services Austinites need before making a final decision.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Advocacy groups and individuals are calling for money to be redistributed from the Austin Police…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-392923","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\/392923","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=392923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}