Austin council confronts $110M revenue shortfall; EMS brownouts, homeless services and social‑service cuts top discussion

Mayor Kirk Watson and budget staff presented a condensed timeline of the council’s schedule and the options for responding to the shortfall created by the failure of Prop Q. Carrie Lang, director of Budget and Organizational Excellence, said the FY26 amended budget reflects roughly $110 million less in general fund revenue due to the tax‑rate vote outcome and that staff reversed a planned $40.5 million transfer to reserves and are using approximately $14.1 million in reserves to balance the year.

Lang walked council through department‑level changes in the proposed amendment: targeted cuts, transfers, and line‑by‑line adjustments to social service contracts, homeless strategy funding, police and fire budgets, and internal services. She told the dais that overall the amended package would keep the city balanced in FY26 and FY27 but showed a projected deficit beginning in FY28 that grows to approximately $37.4 million by FY30. The presentation noted the general fund reserve balance is projected at $233.2 million (about 15.7%), below the council’s 17% policy target.

Public comment that followed was extensive and largely focused on two themes: (1) preserving homeless services and recently expanded shelter and permanent supportive housing operations, and (2) redirecting funds from Austin Police Department vacancies and overtime toward EMS, mental‑health crisis response and social services. Service providers and unions urged the council to avoid reductions that would destabilize programs already contracted and operating: Integral Care, which operates the 24/7 mental‑health mobile crisis teams, asked to sustain funding to maintain effective clinician‑led responses rather than reverting those calls to police.

Chief Luckritz (EMS) explained why staffing shortages and onboarding timelines create recurring brownouts—days when ambulances are not staffed—despite recent recruiting gains. He described a multiyear hiring and training pipeline and said staff had estimated roughly $4.4 million (department figure) would be required to fund overtime and academy costs to sustain ambulance availability while onboarding recruits. Councilmembers proposed a mix of ongoing and one‑time funding in amendments to prevent brownouts and fill EMS staffing gaps.

Council questions ranged across funding mechanics (vacancy savings and how they are budgeted), which restricted revenue streams cannot be repurposed (hotel occupancy tax for convention center, certificates of obligation for Cap and Stitch, and Project Connect proceeds), and whether the police contract clause tied to a failed tax‑rate election could be used to reopen APD pay commitments. Legal counsel explained that the police contract’s reopening language is triggered by a failed voter approval tax‑rate election in certain contexts and that staff judged the Project Connect TRE context made reopening unnecessary for this case, a determination council members discussed.

Next steps: Council asked staff for detailed responses to outstanding budget questions, to provide options for funding EMS overtime and protecting homelessness services, and to post requested CBQ answers before tomorrow’s 10:00 a.m. work session. A public hearing on the proposed amended budget was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Nov. 19, and council is expected to consider votes on Nov. 20; additional posted meetings remain if the council does not complete votes.