Waco weighs cuts to close projected $10.7 million budget gap
Waco officials are considering service reductions, hiring restraints and lower economic-development spending as they work to address a projected $10.7 million budget gap.
The options, reported July 17, are not a final adopted package. They outline the choices officials are weighing before the next fiscal year, with potential consequences for public access, city staffing and one of the city’s major economic-development commitments.
Library, museum hours could be affected
Among the possible measures are reductions to operating hours at the Waco Public Library and city museums. Officials are also considering a hiring freeze or other limits on filling positions.
If adopted, those steps could change when residents can use city library and museum services and could limit the city’s ability to fill open jobs. The approved materials do not establish which facilities or positions would be affected, how large any reductions would be or whether the proposals were ultimately approved.
That distinction is important. The reported measures are budget-balancing options, not confirmed service cuts. The sources do not establish that library or museum hours had changed or that a hiring freeze was in effect by Aug. 8, 2026.
Economic-development funding is also under review
Another option involves reducing Waco’s contribution to the Waco-McLennan County Economic Development Corporation, known as WMCEDC.
The city and McLennan County each contributed $4.5 million to the corporation for the referenced year, according to The Waco Bridge. A lower city contribution would put an existing economic-development commitment under review as officials search for ways to close the projected gap.
The approved sources do not identify a proposed replacement amount or confirm that the contribution was reduced. They also do not identify a single program or decision as the cause of the projected gap.
FY2026 budget shows competing priorities
Waco’s adopted fiscal year 2026 budget provides context for the scale of the city’s existing commitments, although the materials do not document those commitments as causes of the later projected gap.
The budget included $9.6 million for fire and police services. It also allocated $4 million for economic-development incentives and $6.9 million for downtown redevelopment site preparation.
Those figures show several areas competing for city resources: public safety, economic-development incentives and downtown redevelopment. They do not show which of those priorities, if any, would be reduced to address the projected $10.7 million gap.
Final decisions remain unresolved
For residents, the immediate issue is not a confirmed cut but the prospect of changes to services, city hiring and economic-development spending as officials prepare the next budget.
The approved materials do not confirm the precise fiscal year 2027 tax rate, final service reductions or the final budget timetable. Later Waco City Council records would be needed to determine whether officials adopted a hiring freeze, changed library or museum hours, reduced the WMCEDC contribution or approved another combination of measures.
Until those records establish the final action, the confirmed development is that Waco is developing responses to a projected $10.7 million gap. The eventual package will determine whether residents see changes in city services, staffing or economic-development commitments.
Sources
- Here’s how Waco is looking to plug a $10.7M budget hole, The Waco Bridge
- Budget in Brief Fiscal Year 2026, City of Waco
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