The advisory board for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center will ask members of City Council to more than double the $15 million that was recently recommended to be provided to the center from an expected fall bond proposal for city infrastructure. At its meeting last week, board members voted to write a […]
Bonds & Propositions
Posted inBonds & Propositions
UTC calls on Council to fund east side urban trails
The Urban Transportation Commission on Wednesday night called on City Council to put potentially millions of dollars’ worth of of east side urban trail projects on the November ballot. The four projects would fill in gaps in the existing and proposed bicycle network and connect neighborhoods to parks, trails and other destinations that are currently […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
City unveils proposed Corridor Construction Program
The long-awaited proposed Corridor Construction Program, the road map to Mayor Steve Adler’s Smart Corridor Plan that he’s now touting as potentially “genius,” is finally out of the stable. The city’s Corridor Program Office has been working to develop the program voters approved in the record $720 million mobility bond in November 2016 that set […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
2012 APD bond projects appear to be stalled on many sides
Generally, if a bond is issued with a specific project in mind, when the money is awarded, the city gives a project team five years to complete whatever project the taxpayers are funding. That is, of course, unless the costs of the project were arbitrarily estimated and the team runs out of funds before the […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Bond session puts focus on neglect of East Austin infrastructure
Affordable housing, upkeep of parks and cultural centers, and assorted infrastructure projects were some of the more popular civic needs advocated for by residents Wednesday night in the third of a series of town hall forums on the bond package Austin voters will vote on in November. The session, held at the Millennium Youth Entertainment […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
How big of a bond will Austin voters support?
This November, Austin voters going to the polls to vote for mayor, governor and a variety of other city, state and federal positions will likely be asked to approve a bond package worth hundreds of millions of dollars that will go toward infrastructure, drainage improvements, facilities maintenance, new parks and low-income housing. It remains far […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
AISD and Travis County bonds win easy victories
AISD Voters resoundingly supported the Austin Independent School District bond, which maintained a wide margin of victory all Tuesday evening. In the end, 72.06 percent voted in favor of the bond. Austin ISD posed a $1.05 billion bond question to do improvements to all the district’s schools. For some schools, this will mean repairs or […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
AISD board and east side group dispute bond tax rate
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees has hedged its bet on passing the largest bond in the district’s history by asserting that it will not raise the tax rate. At its Sept. 25 meeting, however, the board was confronted by many non-believers who accused the district of intentionally misleading the public about the […]
Posted inAISD
East versus West: Who wins with the Austin ISD bond?
The Austin Independent School District has a $1 billion bond that voters will be asked to approve this November. The bond would pay for projects at schools all over the district, but there’s a difference between funding for schools on the east side versus the west. If approved, some campuses would receive money to do […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Housing advocates want a bigger housing bond
With Austin facing an affordable housing crisis, city leaders are hoping that taxpayers will OK tens of millions of dollars to fund the construction of low-cost apartments and houses as well as repairs to homes for Austin’s low-income and working-class population. Right now, the figure proposed is $85 million. That’s what city staff presented to […]
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Crucial uncertainty remains after Commissioners Court chooses bond projects
After a morning and afternoon marked by high pique and dudgeon, the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a $280 million slate of transportation, parks and drainage projects to be funded by taxpayer-backed bonds. The list is split between projects of high urgency and those that can afford to wait for voter approval. The […]
Posted inRoads
Daugherty set to ruffle feathers with Reimers-Peacock push
Tuesday could be a bumpy ride for Reimers-Peacock Road. The long-planned connector between Hamilton Pool Road and State Highway 71 is set to play a featured role in the Travis County Commissioners Court’s expected final discussion of project recommendations for a November bond vote. The staff-endorsed list of recommendations – which includes roadway, bicycle, sidewalk, […]