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Budget
Adler: Business incentives shouldn't be 'bad word'
In a booming city with an unemployment rate south of 3 percent, it’s not surprising that people might be skeptical of spending taxpayer dollars to lure more jobs into town. In a recent survey of Austinites about city spending priorities,…
Budget • By Jack Craver • Aug 11, 2016
Environmental Commission recommends funds for river watchers
The health of Austin’s rivers is carefully monitored on a regular basis by a team of experts. But some of those experts are much younger than many people may realize. Austin Youth River Watch has been training at-risk high school…
Budget • By Cate Malek • Aug 11, 2016
Council members want more social services spending in budget
A number of City Council members voiced surprise and disappointment at the 2017 budget proposed by city staff, saying it fell woefully short of the commitment to health and human services called for in previous Council resolutions. Council Member Delia…
Budget • By Jack Craver • Aug 4, 2016
Austin police short-staffed and underprotected, advocates say
In the aftermath of two shootings in Austin last weekend, City Council should increase police numbers as well as invest in better body armor, advocates say. Those shootings, along with a fierce national debate over the role police should be playing…
Budget • By Cate Malek • Aug 2, 2016
How do Austinites want the city to spend their money?
As Austin grows, so does its government. City staff unveiled a proposed budget Wednesday that would increase general fund spending by $56 million, or 6.1 percent, for a total of $969.2 million. The increased spending is made possible not because…
Budget • By Jack Craver • Jul 28, 2016
Budget strives to address Council directives
The non-senior Austinite who owns a median-priced home and uses an average amount of water and electricity can expect his or her bill for taxes, fees and utilities to increase by about $12.48 per month for the 2017 Fiscal Year,…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jul 27, 2016
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By slim margin, Council approves an 8 percent homestead exemption
In a vote that pitted representatives of the city’s lowest-income districts against their colleagues, City Council members Wednesday narrowly approved an 8 percent homestead exemption — an increase of 2 percent over last year’s exemption. To a resident with a…
Budget • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jun 30, 2016
Council sets stage for last-minute homestead exemption debate
City Council has scheduled one final meeting this month in order to take another crack at fulfilling a key campaign promise many members made during the 2014 elections. Wednesday afternoon’s special called session will feature the third-reading vote on a…
Budget • By Caleb Pritchard • Jun 28, 2016
Budget process could calm employees' fears
At the end of a very long City Council budget work session last Wednesday, Mayor Steve Adler asked his colleagues to weigh in on a budget process proposal that he, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and members of the city’s…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jun 7, 2016
Fire Department to seek new stations
Wednesday was the 100th birthday of the Austin Fire Department, so, naturally, the members of City Council had to sing “Happy Birthday” to AFD Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr during their work session. Kerr noted that the department started with 27…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jun 6, 2016
Chief praises assignment change for detectives
Although the president of the Austin Police Association has criticized the department’s decision to deploy detectives from their usual assignments to work patrol shifts for three weeks each on a rotating basis, Police Chief Art Acevedo told City Council during…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jun 2, 2016
Tough choices ahead on human services spending
After hearing from the Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday about the community’s many needs, several City Council members had questions, but only Council Member Delia Garza said she would like to add to the upcoming budget the $8.3…
