What you need to know about Austin’s budget season

It’s that time of year again. The process to adopt the annual city budget is set to begin late next week and last through mid-August, according to a detailed schedule released by Mayor Kirk Watson last Friday. 

Over the next several weeks, city staffers will brief City Council on how different departments plan to spend money in Fiscal Year 2023-24, which begins Oct. 1. Council members will then respond with amendments before voting to adopt the budget sometime between Aug. 16-18.

Community members will have multiple opportunities to participate and give feedback.

The infographic below, which Watson shared via newsletter, shows the major steps in the process: 

On July 14, interim City Manager Jesús Garza plans to release the draft budget, a document typically spanning several hundred pages that describes detailed spending plans for each department. Garza and staff from across the city will present an overview of the budget to Council on July 19.

For many, taxes are the biggest news from budget season. This year, the proposed city property tax rate will be announced on Aug. 1, when Council plans to conduct a hearing to allow the public to comment on the rate, as well as the budget in general. 

Council may change the tax rate as they see fit, though the rate will almost certainly remain below a 3.5 percent year-over-year increase (anything higher would trigger an election, per state law). 

Last year’s $5 billion budget – the city’s largest ever – brought a 2.7 percent increase in the typical resident’s monthly bill for city taxes and services. That increase, along with higher than expected sales tax revenue, allowed for a $20 minimum hourly wage and 4 percent raises for all city employees. Council members also voted to give themselves a raise. 

Also on Aug. 1, city staffers will brief Council on spending for the city’s Enterprise Funds, which include Austin Energy and Austin Water. 

A work session scheduled for Aug. 3 is likely to be canceled, Watson said, but it will remain on the calendar in case it is needed. 

Council members have until Aug. 7 to file budget amendments and items from Council – also known as IFCs, which are policies passed through the budget process that do not affect spending.

The deadline is earlier than in recent years, a shift that Watson said should increase transparency for the public and give Council more time to contemplate changes. ​​It will also give staffers more time to determine how amendments from Council will affect the budget and department operations, he said. 

Council members will present their amendments and IFCs on Aug. 10 (a meeting on Aug. 8 also is scheduled, if needed), before up to three meetings on Aug. 16-18 to adopt the budget. 

Those who would like to share their opinion or learn more about the budget process can visit the 2023-24 Budget Engagement web page, which includes information about the budget, a budget simulation exercise and a schedule of budget town halls hosted by Council members. 

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