2026 Report

Fort Worth advanced a record $845 million bond package to voters while sustaining tens of millions weekly in water, street, and public safety contracts, anchored by a $383 million WIFIA-backed bond for the Mary's Creek, LLC Water Reclamation Facility.

Trend: Financial activity is building toward the May bond election on top of already-heavy weekly infrastructure spending; expect procurement and construction volume to scale further once bond proceeds become available post-election.

Fort Worth pushed through dozens of procurement actions this period, dominated by sole-source and cooperative-purchasing awards for water infrastructure and public safety technology, alongside a major hospitality management deal and two rejected competitive bids.

Trend: Sole-source and no-bid cooperative purchasing continue to expand as the default procurement path, even as two competitive bids were tossed out for insufficient responses.

Fort Worth's zoning docket this period was reshaped by a citywide multifamily-by-right reform, five continuances of two contested industrial/data-center cases, and three council overrides of Zoning Commission denial recommendations.

Trend: Contested industrial and data-center rezonings in CD 8 keep slipping later into 2026 amid sustained opposition, while council has grown more willing to substitute its own judgment for the Zoning Commission's on politically charged cases in both directions.

Fort Worth adopted a new Master Transportation Plan and pushed over $100M in bond-funded road contracts while prepping downtown and regional transit for the May bond election and the FIFA World Cup.

Trend: Momentum shifted from planning (MTP adoption, May bond election) to construction, with over $100M in awards across CDs 2, 6, 7, 9, and 10 in Q2.

A $347.7 million EPA WIFIA loan for Mary's Creek, LLC anchored a broader water and sewer capital surge, with Circle C Construction Company repeatedly winning main-replacement work citywide.

Trend: Utility capital commitments surged with the WIFIA bond, pointing to a multi-year procurement cycle for water reclamation and transmission projects.

Council funded a sweeping public-safety buildout — FIFA World Cup security, fire/EMS equipment renewals, and a new sex-offender residency zone — while shifting street-level enforcement toward sustained, data-tracked operations.

Trend: Fire/EMS and RTCC-technology spending accelerated sharply March–June, while enforcement moved from ad hoc sweeps (Nov. cleanup reversal) toward mapped, sustained programs — a pattern worth tracking for outcome data through summer 2026.

Fort Worth advanced a $10.5M PFAS treatment study, extended its Village Creek biogas revenue deal, expanded weatherization aid, and formalized natural-area stewardship policy, even as a lead-line replacement bid was rejected outright.

Trend: Environmental spending is pivoting from land acquisition toward treatment infrastructure (PFAS, biosolids) and stewardship policy formalization, while the rejected lead-line bid suggests a contractor capacity gap worth monitoring into the next procurement cycle.

Fort Worth enacted citywide zoning reforms unlocking small-lot and multifamily housing by-right while directing over $4.5M in direct housing investment and seeing sharply divergent outcomes on tax credit and abatement requests.

Trend: Fort Worth is shifting from case-by-case rezoning toward blanket by-right entitlements for infill and multifamily housing, paired with new bond-funded subsidy capacity — expect accelerating application volume in coming quarters.

Fort Worth advanced an $845M bond election, multiple park capital projects, and FIFA World Cup readiness while continuing neighborhood equity and animal-services initiatives.

Trend: Capital spending is shifting from routine park maintenance toward a single large bond ask and a targeted single-neighborhood equity investment, with World Cup logistics adding a parallel, time-boxed regulatory track.

Fort Worth held a major May 2 bond and charter election, canvassed results in June, and navigated a contentious rescission of the Cesar Chavez honorary street designation.

Trend: Governance activity is shifting from election administration toward implementation, with bond funds and charter changes now in effect pending project rollout and a new District 10 councilmember seated.

Council advanced two firefighter union agreements and filled dozens of board, commission, and judicial vacancies during the period.

Trend: Personnel governance remains routine but steady, with union agreements and appointments processed on a near-monthly cadence.

Fort Worth advanced a $1.1B west-side data center campus, established the Panther Island improvement district, and issued dozens of tax abatements and infrastructure deals citywide.

Trend: Data center investment and downtown redevelopment financing are accelerating faster than land-use policy is being written.

Council adopted a citywide mixed-use zoning framework, renewed six downtown PIDs, and previewed the 2050 Comprehensive Plan alongside a major green-space policy.

Trend: Zoning modernization toward denser mixed-use is proceeding in parallel with long-range comp-plan and open-space work.

Fort Worth centralized designation authority under the Landmarks Commission and advanced protections for the North Main Power Plant, Choctaw Code Talkers, and Heritage Park.

Trend: Preservation governance is consolidating under HCLC just as several high-profile designation and adaptive-reuse cases move through the pipeline.

Council cleared land assembly for the JPS Hospital campus expansion, advanced assessments in two large west-side PIDs, and rewrote citywide subdivision and infill rules.

Trend: Subdivision and PID mechanics are being retooled to keep pace with large master-planned buildouts on the city's west side.