Fort Worth residents can expect their city's service levels to hold steady, with some seeing amplification, as the City Council gave its nod to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget on Tuesday. The new budget, showing a 10.77% upswing from FY2025, totals $3.09 billion and comes in response to a ballooning population that now tips over a million souls, as per a City of Fort Worth release.
Where is that extra $300 million going? Funds are earmarked for maintaining the City’s Police, Fire, and EMS services, and for driving initiatives such as the Housing Priority Repair Program, Mobile Tool Shed Program, and bolstering animal shelters. Also, there's an injection of PayGo funds designated for streets and parks, keeping in stride with the City Council's Strategic Priorities.
Fort Worth taxpayers will also find a smidge of relief—the approved tax rate for FY2026 is set at $0.6700, that's a quarter cent drop from the current $0.6725. The breakdown funnels $0.5225 towards operations and maintenance, and the remaining $0.1475 goes to service debt.
Peeking into the $1.11 billion General Fund—up 4.56% from the last fiscal year—the city is restructuring its approach to emergency management and homeless strategies. New changes include the creation of an Emergency Management & Communications Department, and moving Homeless Strategies and Planning under the umbrella of the City Manager's Office, among other shifts.
Investment in public safety has ramped up, too; the addition of eight Neighborhood Police Officers (NPOs) and two School Resource Officers (SROs) trails a Beat Study, analyzing the demarcations for patrol areas. This move promises a more spry police response. The uptick in SROs arrives in collaboration with Fort Worth ISD, hinging on the mandate to keep up with Texas HB 3 and its stringent school security protocols.
