Central Health Board Approves Fiscal Year 2027 Tax Rate and Budget Including Historic $127 Million Commitment to Mental Health Crisis and Recovery Care

AUSTIN, Texas—The Central Health Board of Managers on Wednesday adopted a fiscal year 2027 tax rate and nearly $650 million budget that commits $127.5 million to mental health, crisis, and recovery care in Travis County, including $54 million in new investments to begin building a connected system of mental health care the county does not have today.

“In Travis County, we have talked for years about the gaps in our public mental health system and the consequences we see when people cannot get the right care,” said Central Health Board Chair Geronimo Rodriguez. “These investments represent a significant contribution from Central Health to lead the way—a historic down payment on the mental health system of care our community needs.”

Vice Chair Eliza May added, “Behind the numbers are people in our community who have struggled to find care until their needs become a crisis. Central Health is prepared to help start this work, alongside the City, the County, and other partners, so the community is assured these services remain available and effective.”

After five community meetings and one public hearing, the Board adopted a tax rate of 6% above the no-new revenue rate. Every dollar of the $22.1 million in new property tax revenue generated by the increase will be designated for new mental health investments.

The adopted budget expands Central Health’s capacity to address costly health crises in Travis County while holding administrative costs essentially flat and making no funding reductions to clinical services.

For more than half of Travis County homesteads, the increase amounts to on average, $22 or less for the year.

Next, Central Health’s FY 2027 budget and tax rate goes to the Travis County Commissioners Court for final approval on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Breaking the Cycle of Crisis

The investments respond to a costly and longstanding gap in Travis County’s mental health system. Today, about 950 people experiencing mental illness and other complex needs cycle repeatedly among emergency rooms, the jail, and the street. That cycle costs an estimated $144,000 per person each year—roughly $137 million in total—according to the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. The human cost for those individuals and their families is far greater.

Those 950 people are the most visible part of a much larger gap. Reaching them, and preventing others from reaching that point, requires services that work before, during, and after a crisis. That includes psychiatric care and addiction treatment, somewhere to go when a crisis happens, housing support, and teams that stay connected with patients as they move through the system.

Central Health’s $127.5 million crisis and recovery care commitment is designed to strengthen that continuum of care.

The commitment combines $73.5 million in services Central Health already supports—including outpatient and inpatient psychiatric care, addiction treatment, street medicine and mobile care, medical respite, skilled nursing, transitions-of-care teams, and enrollment assistance for people experiencing homelessness—with $54 million in new FY 2027 investments.

“For too many people in Travis County, getting mental health care means moving from one disconnected system to another—often only after they are experiencing a crisis,” said Central Health President and CEO Dr. Pat Lee. “The historic investments we’re making this year will help connect more people to the right care sooner so that fewer people are left cycling among the emergency room, the jail, and the street.”

What the new investments fund

The $54 million in new FY 2027 investments includes:

• $33.1 million for construction and operations of psychiatric emergency department services, including 22 inpatient psychiatric beds and 10 psychiatric emergency department bays.
• $16 million to support a mental health crisis center, including $13 million for planning, startup, and initial operations, and $3 million for Sobering Center operations.
• $1.5 million for justice-involved health and community-based complex primary care.
• $1 million for an additional crisis care team of two psychiatrists, two care managers, and a counselor.
• $1 million for long-acting injectable medications.
• $1 million to expand medication-assisted treatment.

$400,000 for additional psychiatric emergency services provided by Integral Care. This funding is reflected in the FY 2027 base budget.

The Sobering Center, founded in 2018, provides a safe place where people experiencing intoxication from alcohol or other substances can stabilize under supervision rather than being taken to jail or, when emergency medical care is not necessary, a hospital emergency department.

The new investments draw primarily on three sources: $22.1 million in property tax revenue generated by the increase over the no-new-revenue rate, $18.5 million from an eminent domain settlement related to parking at Central Health’s Hancock campus—part of the IH-35 construction—and $13 million from Central Health’s contingency reserve.

A down payment, not a solution

Central Health leaders described the commitment as an initial contribution toward a comprehensive mental health system of care that will require the City of Austin, Travis County, and other partners to help build and sustain.

The investments align with Travis County’s jail diversion and deflection efforts and the community-led No Wrong Door program, which recognizes mental health, addiction, homelessness, physical health, and justice involvement as connected challenges that require coordinated solutions.

“Our commitment to advancing mental health, which is a significant gap in our community, and optimal health cannot be achieved without addressing mental health,” said Board Treasurer Dr. Maram Museitif.

What it means for taxpayers

For the median Travis County homestead, valued at $372,638, the estimated increase in the Central Health portion of the property tax bill is about $36 for the year. More than half of homesteads will see an increase on average of $22 or less.

A tax rate of 6% above the no-new-revenue rate does not mean an individual homeowner’s Central Health tax bill will increase by 6%. The impact varies based on a property’s taxable value and exemptions.

View the latest FY 2027 budget presentation: https://cdn.intelligencebank.com/us/share/BnK4M4/74AZO/LYEwn/original/09.09.26+BOM+Budget+Presentation

Check your property taxes and estimated impact: https://travis.taxratestexas.com/taxTransparency/propertySearch

View the mental health resolution here: https://cdn.intelligencebank.com/us/share/BnK4M4/74AZO/2y7aO/original/Central+Health+Mental+Health+Resolution+v6+board+approved+9.9.2026