Fort Worth voters will weigh nine amendments to the city charter today, including changes to provide pay raises for council members and shift authority within City Hall.
Polls are open on May 2 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at these locations across Tarrant County.
Proposed changes include doubling the salaries of mayor and council members, allowing the city manager to make certain changes to departments without a City Council vote, and streamlining several internal processes.
The charter serves as the playbook for a city’s government structure as well as setting out the powers and responsibilities of its elected officials. Municipalities can call a charter election once every two years to ask residents to authorize or reject amendments.
Fort Worth’s next chance to change the charter will be in 2028.
About 1.7% of the city’s registered voters cast ballots in person during early voting, according to the Tarrant County elections office.
Get your election results from the Report
We’ll be reporting the unofficial results of tonight’s elections on this story as they start coming in at 7 p.m.
Find our coverage of more items on Tarrant County’s ballots at our Elections Central, and make sure you’re signed up for our news alerts to have the live results mailed directly to your inbox.
What’s on the ballot?
Find detailed reporting on each proposition at the links below, or visit the Report’s voting guide.
- Proposition G: To approximately double the mayor’s and council members’ salaries from $29,000 and $25,000, respectively, to $60,000 and $50,000.
- Proposition H: Removes department heads’ right to demand a written statement and a public hearing if fired by the city manager.
- Proposition I: Removes council-appointed staff’s right to demand a written statement and a public hearing if fired by City Council.
- Proposition J: Allows City Council members to approve the city’s annual budget at the same meeting as their public hearing on the document.
- Proposition K: Removes requirements for public service corporations to submit annual reports to the city.
- Proposition L: Removes a requirement for City Council to vote on whether businesses like trash collectors can use city streets to operate. Staff would instead have authority.
- Proposition M: Allows the city manager to create, abolish and reorganize city departments without a vote from council, as long as those departments are not among the six required by the charter.
- Proposition N: Changes city election timelines to align with updated state laws.
- Proposition O: Updates the language officials use to document payment claims.
One proposed amendment would about double the mayor’s and council members’ salaries from $29,000 and $25,000, respectively, to $60,000 and $50,000. If approved, the raises would go into effect in October, at the start of the 2027 fiscal year.
This will be the third time the City Council has asked voters for a raise since 2016. Residents have shot down Fort Worth’s two previous attempts.
Another proposition seeks to give the city manager the power to create, abolish and consolidate departments without a council vote, as long as those areas are not required by city charter. Currently, only the council can create, discontinue or combine departments.
City Manager Jay Chapa and Mayor Mattie Parker watch a presentation at a Fort Worth City Council work session March 31, 2026. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
City staff have argued that the change would increase City Hall’s efficiency while still retaining the council’s authority over the city manager, whom they hire. This proposition, among several others, has drawn criticism from local progressive groups and the Tarrant County Democratic Party for the autonomy it gives to the unelected city manager.
The Tarrant County Republican Party has not made any official recommendations for the charter election.
The amendments would appear lower on residents’ ballots, below the city’s $845 million bond proposal.
This spring’s ballot also will include at least one City Council seat as Alan Blaylock steps down to run for a seat in the Texas House representing Fort Worth.
Editor’s note: This story will be updated with election results throughout the evening.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.orgor @shawlings601.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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