Austin’s $6.6B budget directs billions to infrastructure

Austin is among the first cities in Texas to pass its annual budget, adopting a $6.6 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026 through 2027. Of that amount, $4.3 billion will go toward the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), while the General Fund budget amounts to $1.5 billion. 

The capital spending plan prioritizes investments in the city’s utilities, transportation and public works, aviation and continued support for the ongoing Austin Convention Center redevelopment project. Planned expenditures for FY 2026-2027 are categorized by department, covering core needs, services and amenities. The largest department budgets featured in the CIP include: 

• Aviation – $1.1 billion. 
• Austin Energy – $1 billion. 
• Austin Water – $651.7 million. 
• Convention Center – $649.8 million. 
• Transportation and Public Works – $266.6 million. 
• Financial Services – $160.7 million. 
• Fleet Mobility Services – $89.5 million. 
• Housing – $82.5 million. 
• Watershed Protection – $77.6 million. 
• Parks and Recreation – $46.5 million. 
• Technology Services – $30.8 million. 

Aviation plans for the coming year primarily revolve around improving airport infrastructure, IT systems and buying vehicles and equipment. Major goals include designing and building the Central Utility Plant and Utility Infrastructure Campus Wide, as well as completing the yellow parking garage and the atrium infill. Additional efforts will include implementing common use systems, upgrading Wi-Fi infrastructure, enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency and implementing vehicle movement area transmitters for all movement area vehicles. 

Austin Energy’s planned expenses cover a wide variety of applications, primarily targeting infrastructure for facilities, distribution, distribution substations, IT, power production, transmission vehicles and equipment and other capital projects. Some critical projects planned for the coming year include: 

• Finishing construction on the St. Elmo Vehicle Bay project. 
• Installing critical fencing and security upgrades at three facilities. 
• Finishing construction at Timber Creek Substation for the airport’s expansion. 
• Increasing circuit hardening program from 20 to 40 circuits. 
• Upgrading existing overhead lines with better equipment and technology. 
• Upgrading District Cooling Plant No. 2’s water pump and condenser water system. 
• Completing the Decker Dam Improvement Project. 
• Finishing construction of the Downtown Sixth Street Pipe Expansion project. 
• Upgrading transformers at Lytton Springs Substation. 
• Finishing construction of the Easton Park Substation. 
• Buying 41 new vehicles. 

Austin Water has similar wide-ranging aspirations for FY 2026-2027, heavily investing into water infrastructure, technology and pipe networks. The department plans to begin building the South Hub Site and continue renovating the Waller Creek Center. In addition to updating IT systems, plans include improving and building lift stations, pump stations, installing water and wastewater lines and mains and building water and wastewater treatment plants. 

The Austin Convention Center Department will oversee a variety of improvements and ongoing work for the site’s expansion efforts. For the coming year, the department will prioritize beginning vertical construction of the expansion project. Other work will consist of modernizing the elevator, making structural repairs and replacing parking equipment and booths at the Second Street garage. Palmer Events Center facilities will also receive work, including critical parking garage infrastructure repairs, HVAC system and cabling and elevator modernization. 

The Transportation and Public Works Department covers some of the more expansive categories featured in the CIP, including IT, parking, sidewalks, streets, trails, traffic signals and systems and vehicles and equipment. A selection of projects slated for investment in FY 2026-2027 include: 

• Addressing sidewalk gaps and building ADA ramps in West Campus. 
• Building Burnet Road Corridor C3 Segment. 
• Improving sidewalks along North Lamar Boulevard corridor. 
• Designing the West Rundberg Lane extension project. 
• Beginning construction for the 51st Street revitalization project. 
• Implementing signal upgrades along multiple corridors. 
• Building various trails. 
• Completing substantial construction on the Spicewood Springs Road and Ross Road expansion projects. 

Outside of the FY 2026-2027 CIP, the City Council introduced some notable amendments in the budget, highlighting investments in the city’s operations and services. The city allocated $1.4 million to create the Office of Joint Emergency Communications and restored social service contract funding levels for an additional year. 

In addition, city officials continue to tackle homelessness by directing $7.8 million toward local housing vouchers and increasing funding for permanent supportive housing wrap-around services by $6 million. Other budget highlights include: 

• Reducing funding for software and IT support by $5.8 million due to savings from IT centralization efforts. 
• Increasing fire department overtime funding by $6 million to right-size the budget. 
• Spending $1.5 million to conduct an efficiency audit aimed at identifying operation improvements and opportunities for cost savings across the city. 
• Directing $1.2 million for parkland and facility maintenance. 

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