City Hall
Travis County approves 6.5% tax rate increase for Central Health budget amid financial controversy
Travis County commissioners unanimously approved a 6.5 percent tax rate increase and a $888 million Fiscal Year 2025 budget for the county’s health care district, Central Health, on Tuesday – amid uncertainty about a potential conflict between Central Health’s mission…
Budget • By Lina Fisher • Sep 26, 2024
TipSheet: Austin City Council, 9.26.24
Today, City Council will convene for its regular meeting, and we’ve taken a look at the agenda to piece together some educated guesses about what the most interesting things on said agenda are. As evidenced by today’s edition of the…
TipSheets • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 26, 2024
Incentive programs, cultural district framework headed back to Council after postponement
City Council appears set to vote on a trio of Economic Development Department programs that were postponed from the Sept. 12 meeting because of concerns that Council members hadn’t had enough time to review and suggest changes. The delay was…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 25, 2024
Watson, Council members refine direction in push to keep Marshalling Yard shelter open
Mayor Kirk Watson and other members of City Council want to give city staff specific directions and benchmarks in their work to keep the Marshalling Yard Emergency Shelter open indefinitely and keep other city shelters from becoming overwhelmed with the…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 24, 2024
‘A ticket home’: New Austin city law will require pets to be microchipped
The city of Austin will soon require people to get microchips for their pets. Microchips are small grain-like trackers that are implanted under a pet’s skin that can be used to trace the animal back to its owner. Essentially, it’s…
City Council • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Sep 23, 2024
Fuentes airs budget concerns over move to keep Marshalling Yard shelter open indefinitely
City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes has signaled her concerns with a resolution scheduled for next week’s meeting that could result in keeping a 300-bed emergency shelter open far longer than it was originally budgeted for. The resolution directs the city…
Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 19, 2024
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Travis County commissioners postpone tax rate increase for Central Health amid financial transparency concerns
After last week’s confusing and concerning audit report on Travis County’s health care district Central Health, the Commissioners Court this week put off voting on the district’s budget and a 6.5 percent tax rate increase for Fiscal Year 2025 amid…
Budget • By Lina Fisher • Sep 19, 2024
Arts Commission weighs sizes of grants to aid underserved groups
Members of the Arts Commission want the city to show how effective new grant programs have been at reaching arts organizations from underserved communities, out of concern that large award amounts for the Thrive grant program may result in too…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 18, 2024
Tourism Commission considers consequences of decaying Dougherty Arts Center
Local arts leaders and members of the Tourism Commission hope to bring City Council’s attention to the lack of action on the deteriorating Dougherty Arts Center, which has been caught in a sort of planning and budgetary limbo for more…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 17, 2024
Postponements spark talk of examining Council work sessions
The lack of City Council work session meetings in recent weeks appears to have played a large role in the postponement of a trio of programs pushed by the Economic Development Department that had been up for a vote at…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 16, 2024
Council urges cutting PFAS from firefighting equipment
On a unanimous vote Thursday, City Council adopted a resolution urging the city’s Fire Department to eliminate PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) from the city’s firefighting equipment, noting that the substance is dangerous not only to firefighters but also to…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Sep 13, 2024
Council delays vote, opts to fine-tune incentive program for creative spaces, legacy businesses
City Council plans to take the next two weeks to fine-tune the guidelines for a proposed place-based economic incentive program aimed at creative spaces, legacy businesses and community needs such as child care providers and grocery stores. Thursday’s meeting featured…
