Austin financial staff propose delaying bond to 2028

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin has released its final bond recommendation to city council members and the mayor. It’s one of at least three base options city council is expected to consider later this month. 

City staff ultimately recommended the city council not pursue a bond in 2026 — but rather in 2028 — citing the “decision tree” city council adopted earlier this year.

“Staff also recognizes that there are priority funding areas that will need to be considered in the FY 2027 budget process for programs within the existing bond propositions that have reached 90% of the funds expended,” staff wrote. Those areas include transportation, watershed protection and parks.

In a work session Tuesday, many city council members expressed they still wanted to move forward with a bond this year — especially one that focuses on parks.

“Parks are so central to the identity of Austin; they’re so valued by people here — almost uniquely — amongst so many communities that I know. They are essentially out of capital funds … and I do feel an obligation to continue to get them some capital dollars,” Mayor Pro Tem Chito Vela said.

The Bond Election Advisory Task Force proposal

There are at least two additional base proposals up for consideration: One from a task force that’s been working for roughly a year and a half to identify the city’s greatest needs and another from a group of five city council members that focuses on parks.

The Bond Election Advisory Task Force (BEATF) has identified a package that would cost the city roughly $767 million and would tackle major projects in affordable housing, parks, transportation and flood mitigation.

The BEATF proposal puts money in the following buckets:

• $200 million: Affordable housing
• $175 million: Parks and open space
• $106 million: Facilities (libraries, museums, the Austin animal center)
• $25 million: Homeless Strategy Office (helping fund a new 1,200 bed shelter)
• $147 million: Transportation
• $113 million: Storm and flood mitigation infrastructure

You can find the full list of recommended projects here.

The ‘parks’ proposal

Last month, a group of city council members proposed an additional 2026 bond idea, worth more than $400 million, but that also includes a second bond ask in 2028. The focus of that bond is parks.

In a message board post, five council members pitched the following for a 2026 bond:

• $250-$260 million for parks projects, not including any maintenance facilities
• $50-$60 million for community facilities, such as libraries and cultural arts
• $75-$80 million for active transportation projects

“Should this option ultimately be pursued, we would then use the work of the BEATF and staff for the non-parks categories as the starting point for a 2028 bond discussion,” the council members said.

The BEATF then reworked that additional option — which is not their preferred proposal, but satisfies the ask from some council members — that would come in at $436 million.

The breakdown is:

• $225 million: Parks and open space
• $106 million: Facilities
• $25 million: Homeless Strategy Office
• $80 million: Transportation

You can find the breakdown of that option here.

City staff also put forward a version of this scenario which would cost roughly $390 million.

The breakdown of that alternate proposal is:

• $92 million: Transportation
• $250 million: Parks and Recreation
• $48 million” Community facilities

What happens next?

Council members and the city will now need to narrow down which of these proposals — if any of them — will be the final proposal.

In a work session, council members suggested they would not be able to have a decision made by the end of the month (staff initially put a placeholder for that vote on the May 28 council agenda). Mayor Pro Tem Vela told staff he would like to see a vote happen in July.

The deadline to call an election is in August and voters would have the ultimate say in November.

How much would these cost you?

City staff previously said that for every $100 million in additional debt the city takes on, the average Austin homeowner will see their bill go up by $14.34 annually.

It’s worth noting that your property tax bill will go up over the next several years regardless of whether a bond is approved or not in 2026. City staff say the city still has more than $2 billion in outstanding debt.