City Council went through another meandering, confusing and at times tense all-day budget discussion Tuesday and still has tough decisions left to make today, when it is scheduled to give final approval to the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 budget. The Council debate has generally not centered on major changes to the roughly $4 billion budget proposed […]
Budget
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Council begins final slog through budget today
After hours and hours of budget work sessions, including two such sessions last week, today City Council must at least start to make the hard decisions of what to fund and what to leave for another year. Today is the first of three days set aside to finalize the budget. Although several Council members have […]
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Austin sales tax revenue lower than expected
City Council has known for months that it would struggle to come up with the money needed to cover many of the programs its members hope to put in place in the coming year. However, the most recent data on sales tax revenue suggests things might be even worse than anticipated. In June, the most […]
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Central Health discussion once again dominates Commissioners Court meeting
Central Health’s annual budget presentation to the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday brought with it a fresh round of familiar complaints from activists about the level of transparency displayed by the hospital district. Freshly installed President and CEO Mike Geeslin kicked off what later became a drawn-out discussion by obliquely acknowledging the critics who […]
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City Budget: Austin weighs in
For the past month or so, City Council has been working through the details of this year’s proposed budget. At their most recent meeting, Council members heard from Austinites in a 2 1/2-hour public hearing that focused on the shape Austinites would like to see this year’s city spending take. On Thursday, Council held a […]
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Council moves toward tax swap with AISD
In an effort to help the Austin Independent School District lower its tax rate and send fewer dollars to the state under the so-called Robin Hood plan, City Council voted 6-4 Wednesday to begin consideration of raising the city’s property tax rate to 46.51 cents per $100. That’s two cents higher than the current rollback […]
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Adler bashes Texas over ‘state property tax’
During Wednesday’s budget presentation to City Council, Mayor Steve Adler spoke passionately about the state’s system for funding public schools, calling the current system a “state property tax.” It is not city taxes that are out of line, Adler said. If Austin taxpayers are unhappy with the continuing increase in property taxes, they need look […]
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Budget proposal would raise Austin property taxes, increase permitting capacity
Austin homeowners could see higher property tax bills next year. Under the city’s proposed $3.9 billion budget, most residents with a median-value home ($305,510) would pay an additional $118 in property taxes compared to last year. Utility fees would rise, too – with median-value homeowners seeing an additional $60 annually in fees. The proposed budget […]
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Budget: Staff says higher taxes needed
Even though Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo has already held 13 separate budget sessions and several retreats with City Council as well as numerous other meetings with boards and commissions and interested citizens, budget season begins in earnest today. The bottom line for Austin taxpayers: A taxpayer who is not a senior citizen […]
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Push on to ‘normalize’ minority chambers’ funding
Austin’s four minority group chambers of commerce could see their funding from the city of Austin restructured and made more transparent in the coming budget year, a change that is seen as needed to make the groups more equal. The city’s Economic Prosperity Commission approved a resolution at its meeting last week asking City Council […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Texas lawmakers may alter property tax collection. But how does it even work?
During a recent committee hearing on a property tax bill, a state lawmaker made an unusual comment: He praised Travis County. “Travis County has the best record on reducing tax rate,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), the author of Senate Bill 1. The bill, which has passed out of the full Senate and may […]