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- HUD cuts could endanger portion of more than $15M in federal housing funds
- Austin Transit Partnership presents pedestrian features, changes to stops in revised Project Connect plan
- Austin’s new CapMetro Rapid lines debut with buses every 20 minutes
- Amid ongoing measles concerns, Austin ISD’s vaccination rate is below target for its youngest students
- Council sets the stage for more short-term rental regulations, with tax collection to begin in April
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Austin City Council could use e-scooter regulations to limit homeless encampments, memo says
City officials released additional guidelines Friday on how to limit homeless encampments in Austin, including spatial limitations on sidewalks and along waterways. The memo from the city manager and the Homeless Strategy Office is meant to guide the Austin City…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Sep 3, 2019
City memo says Austin could put limits on where homeless people may camp or rest
Austin will reexamine its new rules governing homelessness, according to a memo released Friday. The memo sent to City Council on behalf of Austin’s Homelessness Strategy Office says the city could abandon its idea to make space for emergency encampments…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Aug 19, 2019
Tourism Commission wants agreement between city, short-term rental companies
The Tourism Commission has asked City Council to change its long-held stance toward short-term rental platforms like Airbnb in favor of an agreement that would earn the city millions of dollars in new Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue each year. At…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 14, 2019
City outlines displacement mitigation strategy based on People’s Plan
Following a Council directive last year to analyze the recommendations put forth in the People’s Plan, city staffers from a variety of departments have released a Displacement Mitigation Strategy report detailing an approach to contend with gentrification and displacement in…
Austin • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 12, 2019
Council approves hotel tax increase
Despite requests from Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and commissioners Margaret Gómez, Brigid Shea and Jeff Travillion, Austin City Council voted early Friday to approve a 2 percent increase in the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax, which will allow the city…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Aug 9, 2019
Legislature cuts farmers market fees, costing city
Passage of a little-known bill, Senate Bill 932, which establishes a $100 maximum fee for food sales permits at farmers markets, will cost the Austin Public Health Department about $4,000 in the current fiscal year and an estimated $41,485 in…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Aug 8, 2019
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Showdown over hotel tax increases could put city and county at odds
A week after the Travis County Commissioners Court voted to explore tapping a 2 percent increase in the local Hotel Occupancy Tax for its own uses, Austin City Council appears set to claim the same tax increase to fund an…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 7, 2019
ECHO has a new leader
The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, one of the leading organizations involved in addressing Austin’s homelessness problem, will have a new top executive today as the group’s co-founder, Ann Howard, steps down to focus on her campaign for a seat on…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 5, 2019
Travis County, city of Austin ramp up census efforts
Travis County and the city of Austin are mounting an aggressive effort to make sure the 2020 U.S. census count is as complete and accurate as possible. The county and city are collaborating by jointly funding a temporary position “to…
Austin • By Jack Craver • Aug 5, 2019
Amid criticism, Travis County DA resigns from state sexual assault task force
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore resigned from the state’s Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force on Friday. Her appointment was cut short after critics, including survivors suing over Moore’s record of handling sexual assaults, expressed concern. The task force was…
Austin • By Nadia Hamdan • Jul 30, 2019
Council, neighbors plan meetings on how to manage South Austin shelter
City leaders and residents are planning a series of meetings in the coming weeks to help them move forward and provide some clarity on efforts to manage the city’s growing homeless population. The Aug. 8 City Council meeting – the…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 29, 2019
Packed homelessness forum calls for more shelters, support: 'We are dealing with human beings here'
As the city adjusts to new rules for panhandling, camping or sitting or lying in public, the Downtown Austin Alliance hosted a forum Tuesday to discuss the road ahead for dealing with homelessness and plans to expand emergency shelter access…
