Council hears proposed changes to city charter for November ballot

City Council on Tuesday officially received the Charter Review Commission’s proposed revisions to the city charter, along with some additional staff-proposed changes.

Council members limited their questions to the administrative items brought by staff because the commission’s nine recommendations will return to Council on May 2 for discussion and will be considered for action later in May. At that time, Council will decide which of the commission’s recommendations will be placed on the November 2024 ballot.

As Charter Review Commission Chair Jessica Palvino told Council, the “durable signature threshold” for petition requirements proved the most challenging of Council’s charges to the group. The commission recommended a 3.5 percent signature threshold, equating to roughly 20,000 qualified voter signatures.

“This was, I will say, our most debated recommendation. You can see by the vote count that this was a fairly divisive and much-discussed issue among the commissioners’ recommendations,” she said of the final 6-5 decision. The sticking point among commissioners was the potential threat of creating an imbalance for petition organizers as Austin’s voting population expands.

Given that state law sets the signature threshold of 20,000 qualified voters for charter amendments, imposing a higher threshold for ballot initiatives and referendum petitions could encourage policymaking through the city charter rather than the local government code. This could create an inequitable process for grassroots organizers with fewer resources, as highlighted in the commission’s report.

The recommended charter revisions from city staff primarily focused on language updates, streamlining and aligning with state law. The recommended changes include setting dates for special elections to fill a Council vacancy, revising the deadline for ballot applications and redrawing of districts following annexation or disannexation among other proposals for the ballot.

Some Council members were surprised to learn that the city manager’s spending authority for contracts is determined by city charter rather than state law. Staff recommends increasing the amount to $150,000 per contract. The current threshold is set at $43,000, which has risen to $76,000 over the years due to the Consumer Price Index. “Looking at it, it feels like a low amount for a city with a $5.5 billion budget,” Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo told Council. He suggested that granting the city manager the additional authority could eliminate about 30 to 40 low-value contracts from the Council agenda annually, provided Council is comfortable delegating this responsibility.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license. This story has been updated to clarify that any change to the city charter requires voter approval.

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