Budget News
Austin's proposed $6.3 billion budget to move to public session

Austinites still have a chance to review the budget before attending the public comment session on Wednesday.
Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax released his 2025-26 budget proposal for the city on Friday, July 11, and Austinites will be able to respond in a public comment session on Wednesday, July 23.
The budget comes as the city projects a $33 million shortfall in the General Fund, which helps pay for city services such as police, fire, public health, parks and recreation, EMS, libraries, courts, housing, animal services and more. The shortfall is driven by the state’s 3.5% cap on property tax rates, lower-than-projected sales tax revenue, and cuts in federal funding.
The $6.3 billion budget includes $544 million for the Austin Police Department and $51 million for the Homeless Strategy Office, as well as investments in equitable housing, cultural and heritage districts, the new Austin Convention Center, Austin Animal Center, and more.
Broadnax said the budget makes reductions to realize savings where appropriate and “in a way that does not impact important services.”
“Doing so enabled us to increase funding in key areas such as wildfire response equipment, shelter for people experiencing homelessness, emergency rental assistance, energy rebates and incentives, youth athletic field maintenance, storm drain rehabilitation, and more,” he said.
What happens now?
Austin City Council discussed the proposed budget on Tuesday, July 15. On Tuesday, July 22, an Audit and Finance Committee special meeting will happen to discuss budget scenarios for a tax rate election.
The city will also host a public comment session focused on the General Fund on Wednesday, July 23, a public comment session focused on enterprise funds on Tuesday, July 29, and a public comment session focused on the maximum tax rate on Thursday, July 31.
The city council will have the opportunity to review and initiate amendments to the proposed budget ahead of its final adoption. That's scheduled for August 13-15, though it might not take all three days.
Breaking down the budget
The proposed budget for APD, $544,071,279, is an increase of $26 million and makes up about 36.7% of the $1.5 billion General Fund. Another major percentage of the General Fund is the Austin Fire Department budget, making up about 17.8%, and the Emergency Medical Services budget, making up about 10%.
Meanwhile, the $51,495,996 set aside for the Homeless Strategy Office makes up about 0.3% of the General Fund budget. The Housing Department, which helps with affordable housing resources, was designated a budget of $56,212,339, making up 0.8% of the General Fund.
Here are a few other highlights of the proposed budget, as outlined by Austin Mayor Kirk Watson in a memo on Saturday [...]
--
Read the full story at KVUE.com. The order of the story above has been altered to bring timely information about meetings to the top of the story (the "What happens now?" section).

This new facility will allow Austin Screen Printing and Austin Embroidery to work with more state-of-the-art technology. Photo courtesy of Austin Screen Printing
Wheatsville is among Austin Screen Printing and Embroidery's long list of Old Austin clients. Photo courtesy of Austin Screen Printing
Esther's Follies really embraced color in this design.Photo courtesy of Austin Screen Printing
An up-close look at an embroidery machine doing its thing. Photo courtesy of Austin Screen Printing