Oct. 1 marked a new fiscal year for the city of Fort Worth, initiating a new year of capital projects following the adoption of a $4.2 billion budget for 2026.
The budget has seen an overall increase compared to the previous year’s, emphasizing an increased operational focus for public safety services while empowering housing-centric, park, animal shelter and maintenance programs. The city’s General Fund budget sits at $1.1 billion and covers several organizational changes receiving support in FY2026.
Among these most recent changes, Fort Worth has already established a new Emergency Management and Communications Department to better coordinate disaster and emergency response efforts and collaborations. Additional shifts include the transition of Homeleess Strategies and Planning into the City Manager’s Office, transferring responsibility from Code Compliance to Environmental Services for homeless camp enforcement and reallocating funding and staff from the former Diversity and Inclusion Department.
The budget includes the city’s capital improvement plan (CIP) for the upcoming year, totaling $194.3 million across multiple focus areas. These areas include:
- General – $145.1 million.
- Stormwater – $24.7 million.
- Public Events – $8.9 million.
- Water and Sewer – $6.3 million.
- Environmental Services – $5.9 million.
- Municipal Airports – $3.4 million.
The General CIP – as the budget’s primary investment – will enable the city to acquire land, build infrastructure and support related activities. Projects included in the plan range from buying fleet vehicles, procuring equipment and updating IT resources to maintaining bridges, enhancing sidewalk infrastructure and repairing facilities. The largest singular investment – totaling $42.5 million – will go toward street maintenance.
The Stormwater CIP includes projects designed to enhance the city’s stormwater runoff management resources and infrastructure. Initiatives receiving the largest sums for the coming year include:
- Support for the Hazardous Road Overtopping Mitigation (HROM) Program.
- Implementing mitigation efforts for large flood events.
- Rehabilitating stormdrain pipes.
- Improving drainage.
- Restoring channels.
As the third largest category included in the capital budget, the Public Events CIP prioritizes developing, maintaining and upgrading public events facilities. Appropriations included in the plan will primarily go toward modernizing chillers, repairing building facades, implementing minor renovations and repairs and repairing roofs.
The entirety of the Water and Sewer CIP will be devoted to installing outlay to enhance water and sewer service maintenance. The Environmental Services CIP is devoted to managing residential and commercial solid waste and recycling, prioritizing efforts to remove hazards, remediate groundwater sources, improve storage tanks and procure equipment. All remaining money going toward the Municipal Airports CIP will be used to enhance Fort Worth’s airports.
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