The big picture
Early this year, City Council started considering a new investment plan aimed at Austin's climate goals and infrastructure needs. The process has already involved some resident feedback, and the formal creation of a potential bond package is expected to draw more input from Austinites through the months ahead.
Council recently created a volunteer panel to oversee the new bond framework. Projects could include land acquisition, water conservation initiatives, mobility upgrades, emission reduction projects, green infrastructure updates and other concepts pulled from hundreds of millions of dollars in previously proposed ideas. Other infrastructure and civic needs may also be wrapped in.
While the new bond is expected to target several of those areas, council members have asked to find funding for more climate-related projects as well. The bond is set to be part of a broader "comprehensive climate implementation program" city staff are also working on.
What's happening
Council members have been filling in their nominations for the newly established 2026 Bond Election Advisory Task Force over the past few weeks. It's meant to eventually help finalize the list of projects for the upcoming bond package with public input throughout the process.
After a series of community events, presentations to city boards and commissions, and meetings with Austin officials, the group's final project recommendations will be due next July.
Following council appointments approved in September, the task force is expected to hold its first meeting in October and now includes:
- Garry Merritt and Nicole Conley, nominated by Mayor Kirk Watson
- Dewi Smith and Luke Metzger, nominated by council member Natasha Harper-Madison
- Ana Aguirre and Frances Jordan, nominated by council member Vanessa Fuentes
- Kaiba White, nominated by council member José Velásquez
- Kenneth Standley, nominated by council member Chito Vela
- Noelita Lugo and Robert “Bo” Delp, nominated by council member Ryan Alter
- Carl Reynolds and Dale Gray, nominated by Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool
- JC Dwyer and Katrina Miller, nominated by council member Paige Ellis
- David Sullivan and Heyden Walker, nominated by council member Zo Qadri
- Charles Curry and Mary Hager, nominated by council member Alison Alter
Those included bond projects to support indoor children's play areas and water playgrounds at city parks; homeless shelter and permanent supportive housing; recovery housing for people with substance use or mental health disorders; and upgrades to municipal buildings tied to sustainability and resilience.
The resolution also called to establish an "open process" for submitting bond project ideas to the task force as its work continues, and allow local community groups and nonprofits to forward their ideas.
"There will be plenty of opportunities for council and the public to present ideas and projects. And those will then be evaluated by the [Bond Election Advisory Task Force] based on a set of scoring criteria that the city staff is also scoring and prioritizing projects based on," said Eric Bailey, deputy director of Austin's Capital Delivery Services that manages major city projects.
