Mid City Times

At a recent City Council Work Session, an update on the 2026 Bond Program was provided. The Financial Management Services' analysis of the City's debt capacity was shared, indicating that approximately $800 million is available for the program.

The staff working group for the 2026 Bond Program has been actively meeting to assess city growth trends, discuss debt capacity, and evaluate anticipated resources. They have also focused on project scoring methodology and results. Additional meetings are planned to refine cost estimates and discuss evaluation scores.

Proposed projects for the bond program have been submitted by various departments including Transportation & Public Works, Park & Recreation, Fire, Police, Code Compliance, Neighborhood Services, Property Management, Library, and the Open Space/Good Natured Initiative. The total requested amount stands at $2.7 billion.

Currently, this list does not account for funding gaps in existing capital projects or requests from regional partners like those related to the TexRail extension or Community Arts Center. These projects may be considered during public engagement phases.

The next steps involve preparing draft recommendations for project funding. Projects may be reprioritized or eliminated if deemed unfeasible or too costly. Once finalized by staff, these recommendations will be reviewed by City Council. Following approval of a preliminary list by the council, public outreach will commence in early 2025 through summer 2025.

By fall 2025, based on public input and council approval targeted by year-end, the bond project list will be finalized. A bond election is expected to be set in early 2026 with public education meetings scheduled for spring 2026. The election is slated for May 2026.