Memo outlines the high cost of planning for Austin’s environmental future

With the city already facing a budget deficit exceeding $13 million in the 2025 budget year, a recent staff memo with cost estimates for funding an array of environmental initiatives may be causing sticker shock in some circles. Yet proponents of financing the city’s climate goals view the projected costs as an investment that could yield substantial long-term savings.

The Office of Sustainability prepared the May 21 memo in response to a City Council resolution that called for the creation of an investment plan for funding the environmental goals outlined in the city’s evolving Climate Equity Plan. The resolution also directed staff to gather input from the Joint Sustainability Committee, which held a public hearing in March to assist in putting forward a list of recommendations. Many of the recommendations align with the climate priorities identified  by staff.

In the memo, Chief Sustainability Officer Zach Baumer reported on the results of meetings and workshops with staff from across city departments to review existing departmental climate plans and identify gaps and potential new projects.

“A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of these potential environmental investments in comparison with other City priorities has not yet been completed and is necessary,” Baumer wrote.

The potential projects are categorized into four groups, each with a total cost estimate:

Carbon emissions, $455 million – includes an Austin Resource Recovery transfer station plus electric vehicle charging network, weatherization and EV charging programs for low and moderate-income customers, and $40 million in matching funds for federal clean energy/resiliency grants.

Water quality, quantity and land: $1.1 billion – includes acquisition of 20,000 acres of land, a tree canopy assessment, a citywide green infrastructure plan, and the expansion of the Austin Civilian Conservation Corps.

Community resilience: $233 million – includes Decker Lake dam improvements, climate and health investments, community programs for residential and commercial businesses that support fire resilience, water use reduction, and battery storage; and improvements to Falwell Lane, which is the primary access route to the South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and Austin Energy’s Sand Hill Energy Center.

City operations: $90 million – includes developing a unified city facilities operation, maintenance and improvement plan, with emphasis on resilience, electrification, energy and water use-reduction, and advanced decarbonization of city fleet and communitywide EV infrastructure.

Austin Council Member Ryan Alter, who sponsored the investment plan resolution, said he’s not surprised by the high price tag attached to each of the projects.

“We knew that there were a lot of needs across the board, in a lot of different departments, in order to meet our aggressive climate goals,” he said, adding he was impressed by the thoroughness of the departments’ work toward turning the goals into an actionable plan.

The next steps, he said, are determining priorities and which of those will have the greater impact now, such as applying for the time-limited matching federal grant money currently available. “It’s a combination of what needs to be done now, what our priorities are now, and then building that into the next budget cycle,” he said.

With Council set to begin work on the FY 2025 budget later this summer, Alter said water conservation remains a priority of his. “I think it’s great that it’s been raining but we all know that we are still in the drought, and as the summer approaches it’s going to be another reminder of how precious our water is, so that’s top of mind for me.” Alter said his other environmental priorities include land acquisition and exploring incentives for more efficient water and electricity use in homes and businesses.

On the city staff side, Baumer said his office and other departments will continue developing the project proposals with an eye toward more closely analyzing costs and quantifying environmental benefits, and identifying the impact on taxes, rates, and fees for residents. Staff is also exploring the creation of a “climate fee” that would create annual dedicated funding for environmental projects.

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