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Budget
Austin cuts 5 percent of police budget, promises to cut more over the next year
Austin is immediately cutting $20 million from the city’s police budget – and council members are vowing to make bigger reductions in the coming year. “I think this is without a doubt the most significant change in Austin’s public safety…
Budget • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 13, 2020
Austin City Council proposes cutting police funding by a third. It could vote Wednesday.
City Council members are proposing cuts to the Austin Police Department budget totaling roughly $149 million, or 34 percent of the department’s current budget. Council members are scheduled to vote on the city’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year as…
Budget • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 11, 2020
Council seeks $5 million for park facilities and trails
As it heads into next week’s budget hearings, City Council is searching for ways to add millions in programs and services to a proposed budget that is already nudging up against the 3.5 percent property tax increase cap Council committed…
Budget • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 6, 2020
Council talks six-month delay for bulk of police budget reform
As City Council struggles to comprehend what it would mean to cut approximately $100 million from the Austin Police Department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2020-21, Council members are floating a temporary fix: approve half of the department’s budget during next…
Budget • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 5, 2020
Travis County sets the stage for budget discussions in August, proposes 3.6% property tax hike
After an unprecedented year that has required Travis County staff to rework the county’s 2021 financial picture, the Commissioners Court opened public discussions about the upcoming 2021 budget on July 28. Despite predictions earlier this year of catastrophic budget shortfalls,…
Budget • By Jessi Devenyns • Jul 30, 2020
Music Commission eyes police dollars instead of hotel tax to support Black music fund
Included in the Music Commission’s request to create a Black Live Music Fund may be a suggestion that the city look for money outside of the Hotel Occupancy Tax – including funds intended for law enforcement – to rebuild the…
Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 27, 2020
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Hundreds of Austinites demand city reduce police funding, call proposed budget 'insulting'
Austinites waited with their phones on hold, some for over an hour, to tell City Council members Thursday that proposed cuts to the police department’s budget were too small. Residents seeking more profound changes called the cuts a “pittance,” “insulting”…
Budget • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jul 24, 2020
Public Safety budget discussion wrestles with demands to defund APD
Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo gave the Public Safety Committee a public safety budget overview at its meeting on Monday. Much of the discussion centered around the Austin Police Department budget. Community members and some City Council members have…
Budget • By Nina Hernandez • Jul 21, 2020
Manager proposes tax hike, 2 percent employee raise
Presenting a budget with a 2 percent employee pay raise and no layoffs and a 3.5 percent property tax increase, City Manager Spencer Cronk told Council Monday that his budget proposal meets the twin crises of the pandemic that has…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jul 13, 2020
What $100M from the APD budget looks like
In response to pressure from activists to defund the Austin Police Department, City Council unanimously approved a series of reforms to APD operations, including a resolution that asks for deep cuts to the public safety budget. The Austin Justice Coalition…
Budget • By Savana Dunning • Jun 29, 2020
Arts Commission shifts deepest funding cuts away from minority groups
Racial minority groups will be spared the deepest cuts in Cultural Arts contract funding in the next budget, if the recent recommendation of the Arts Commission is supported by City Council. On Friday the commission approved a funding matrix for…
Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 29, 2020
Capital Metro prepares a budget for recession, another for quick recovery
With the economy in recession and regional unemployment high, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is preparing to keep spending flat next fiscal year, equal to this fiscal year’s $403.7 million budget, in the event that revenue sources don’t see a…
