Fort Worth’s power players are eyeing a big change to how City Hall runs and how much its elected leaders get paid, and voters may be the ones to greenlight it this spring.
At a council work session yesterday, city staff pitched a package of eight charter amendments that would significantly raise pay for the mayor and council while expanding the city manager’s authority. Council members sounded generally open to the idea and could call a special election on Feb. 10 to place the measures on the May 2 ballot, right under the city’s proposed $845 million bond program. The package would also tweak quorum rules and strip certain hearing rights for department heads and council appointees who are facing termination.
What the amendments would do
Under the draft proposal, council members’ pay would jump from $25,000 to $50,000, and the mayor’s salary would climb from $29,000 to $60,000, starting Oct. 1. The plan would also give City Manager Jay Chapa more room to shuffle and reorganize city departments without needing a council vote each time.
Staff are further recommending the removal of a long-standing safeguard that allows department directors with at least six months on the job to demand a written explanation and a council hearing before they can be fired, along with a similar hearing right for council appointees. These details, and the broader charter package, were laid out by staff and summarized in reporting by Fort Worth Report.
How they could reach voters
Council members were told they can vote at their Feb. 10 meeting to call a special election and put the charter amendments on the May 2 ballot. They were also warned they must act by Feb. 13 or risk pushing the questions to the November election instead.
City staff argued that hitching the amendments to the May ballot, alongside the bond election, would save money by consolidating election costs. As reported by Community Impact, the council is set to vote Feb. 10 on whether to place the bond package and related items before voters.
History and politics
Fort Worth voters have not exactly rushed to embrace past charter changes around pay and council operations, which is part of why officials are treading carefully this time. In 2016, residents rejected a council pay-raise proposal by roughly a two-to-one margin, and in 2022, they narrowly opposed another charter tweak.
Supporters of higher pay argue that it lowers the financial barrier to serving in office, especially for people who are not independently wealthy or retired. Critics, on the other hand, worry about linking council pay to municipal staff compensation without additional oversight or safeguards. Reporting from KERA News has placed those earlier charter fights in context.
City manager role and staffing
Several of the proposed amendments focus on the authority of City Manager Jay Chapa, who was sworn in in January 2025 and has since overseen the city’s early budget work and organizational reshuffling. Staff told council the changes are intended to streamline internal decision making and reflect recommendations that have surfaced in previous charter review efforts.
Fort Worth Report has detailed Chapa’s hiring and the recent staff presentation, outlining how the proposed amendments intersect with his growing role at City Hall.
Reactions from city leaders
Mayor Mattie Parker and some council members have signaled they are open to paying elected officials more, framing it as a way to make public service viable for a wider slice of Fort Worth residents. Others are stressing the need for guardrails and transparency if voters are going to be asked to sign off on higher pay and broader executive authority.
The Feb. 10 meeting serves as the practical decision point. If the council moves ahead, residents will see the charter amendments on the May ballot alongside the bond package, where they could decide whether to reshape how their leaders are paid and how much clout the city manager has. If the council hesitates, the debate may stretch into November, giving Fort Worth a longer, and likely louder, runup to any changes at City Hall.
