On April 3, 2026, the City of Fort Worth held a public education meeting regarding the upcoming May 2, 2026 bond and charter amendment election. The meeting was hosted by Council Member Macy Hill (District 7) and featured presentations from city staff on the six bond propositions totaling $845 million and nine charter amendment propositions. The session included a question-and-answer period.
Estimated public art funding of $10.75 million is included in propositions A, B, C, E, and F (up to 1% or 2% per ordinance), with none for affordable housing.
Good evening. My name is Macy Hill. We're gonna get started. If y'all would like to find a seat. I am council member for District 7 and have the honor to um kick us off this evening for our bond and charter amendment QA. We're gonna have experts come up and talk to you about the election that's coming up. Yep, are you ready? I'm gonna start right there. Okay. I'm gonna turn it over to you and let you walk through the bond. All right. All right. Well, thank you all for joining uh for today's uh 20 or the 2026 bond and charter election education meetings. Um if we we will have an opportunity to go ahead and um allow individuals to go out to the rest of the tables if they happen to have any questions following the presentation. Uh there will also be an opportunity for QA. Um, so as mentioned, uh this is the bond and charter election. Today we'll be running through the purpose of the presentation as well as the 2026 bond program, run through the purpose, the program summary, the sample ballot, as well as the bond propositions themselves. We'll dive into the charter amendments that is part of the special election on May 2nd, as well as the upcoming schedule with again um opportunity for a question and answer. We are live streaming this presentation, um, so it is available for folks over um in YouTube world. And so they can also happen to have any questions. So, with that, when we go into QA, we do have some microphones and we'll be asking that if you have questions, um, we'll offer you the opportunity to use the microphone as well. So, the purpose of today's presentation is really to provide information related to the 2026 bond program as well as the charter amendments uh to offer the opportunity to ask questions as well as opportunity for future public education meetings. So, when it comes to the 2026 bond program, uh all of you may have received a bond booklet uh as you are entering. If you have not, and if you don't, if you don't have one in hand, a physical copy, uh feel free to wave any of us down. We can provide a couple of copies. I have a numerous up here up front. Um, but we also have the bond book and a QR code. Um, so you can take out your phone and you can easily take a like a photo and use it so you have a digital copy that you could share. Um, either text it to your friends, your family, or even your neighbors. So, with that, we'll go ahead and get started with a very short uh video on the 2026 bond program. Every four years, the city prepares a bond program. One way of funding large capital projects such as roads, parks, libraries, and public facilities that are appropriate for long-term financing. During this election, you might notice language on the ballot that says this is a tax increase. This is new language mandated statewide for all bond elections. However, here in Fort Worth, we've structured the bond package so that we don't anticipate a tax increase. The City of Fort Worth's 2026 bond program, totaling 845 million, is organized into several propositions. Each proposition outlines a set of projects that could be funded through bonds, pending voter authorization. Proposition A proposes 511 million dollars for streets and mobility infrastructure projects. It represents the largest portion of the 26 bond package and is intended to fund long-term transportation projects. The proposal includes funds for 12 major roadways. The largest amount of money in Proposition A, roughly 328 million will go towards rehabilitating our streets. Other funds will go towards intersections, bridges, traffic signals, street lights, adding sidewalks, and improving safety for street crossings around our schools. Proposition B includes 185 million dollars for parks, recreation, open spaces, including land acquisition, facility improvements, and trail enhancements. Park improvements may include renovations to existing community park areas, as well as development of new outdoor park amenities. Some projects in the proposition include a new outdoor pool, renovations and expansion of some athletic complexes, provide more open space areas throughout the city, and replacement of an aging community center. Proposition C allocates 14 million dollars for public library projects. This will include remodeling three of our existing locations. Proposition D provides 10 million dollars for affordable housing initiatives across the city. This proposition would provide funding aimed at creating new affordable home ownership and rental housing opportunities, specifically for households earning up to 120% of the city's area median income. Activities under this proposition may include land acquisition and site preparation, construction of affordable housing, construction of infrastructure to support affordable housing, home repair programs, and loans and grants for affordable housing.