City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2015 budget and tax rate Tuesday, despite Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s dissent. Council members voted in favor of an operating budget with an $854 million general fund after approving a set of amendments this week that totaled $3.4 million. They also increased combined enterprise and internal service fund spending by […]
Local Politics
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Flood victims tell of bureaucratic nightmare
A Travis County couple whose home was heavily damaged by the Halloween Flood last November told County Commissioners Tuesday of a 10-month ordeal of bureaucratic intransigence, inflexible regulations and endless red tape in their quest to get a permit to repair their house. Mike and Nancy Kimbro say they apparently checked the wrong box on […]
Posted inElections, Local Politics
Ballot Boxing: The District One Forum Video
Below is the complete video of the first of our candidate forums. Enjoy!
Posted inLocal Politics
Leffingwell, Council clash over budget changes
City Council began its 2015 budget adoption reading Monday with Mayor Lee Leffingwell making two unsuccessful motions to reduce the property tax rate. In fact, throughout the day he objected to the majority of Council-initiated operating budget amendments. Deputy Budget Officer Diane Siler told the Austin Monitor that, at the end of Monday’s meeting, Council […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Adler to present ‘affordability agenda’
Mayoral candidate Steve Adler promises to help Austin’s “neglected middle class” in an eight-point affordability agenda that will be released today. The Adler campaign released a copy of that agenda to the Austin Monitor on Monday. This is a brief description of the agenda. No doubt, it will be the source of much controversy in […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Martinez, Adler bicker over homestead exemption
Mayoral candidate Mike Martinez staged yet another battle in the ongoing war over homestead exemptions Thursday, holding a news conference to attack candidate Steve Adler’s plan and reveal details of his own proposal. “If Steve Adler has his way, the average middle-class renter in Austin will see their cost of living increase by $80 each […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
South Austin park is nameless no more
Though discussion remained contentious up until the bitter end, the third time proved the charm last week for a once-nameless park in South Austin. City Council christened the park at 3000 Del Curto Road “The Tom Lasseter South Lamar Neighborhood Park” in a vote of 5-2, with Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Council Member Bill Spelman […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
AE low-income program comes at a high cost
Though there is a push to increase some parts of Austin Energy’s low-income weatherization program, there is at least one part of that program that no one was clamoring to save at Wednesday’s budget session. Activist Paul Robbins started the conversation about revamping Austin’s low-income weatherization program in the next year, and provided City Council […]
Posted inLocal Politics
City budget talks turn to city schools
Though it was the last budget work session for City Council, there was plenty left to talk about on Wednesday. After the public hearing had been closed, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo presented Council with the most recent budget figures. Notably, since the adoption of the tax rate, the city has about $6.8 […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
Council postpones action on hauler ordinance
Following complaints from stakeholders, City Council voted on Thursday to postpone action on a measure known as the “hauler ordinance,” which would amend city code regarding the private solid waste collection program. It also postponed action on amendments to administrative rules associated with that code. Council will reconsider the issue at its Nov. 6 meeting […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Candidates battle at United Way mayor forum
Five of the eight candidates vying for Austin mayor met at the South Alamo Drafthouse for the United Way of Greater Austin Mayoral Forum on Wednesday, where they took time to talk affordability, child care, education and, despite the tone of the event, urban rail. United Way of Austin’s Vice President of Marketing Heather Luecke […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Environmental Democrats back rail, 3 candidates
Even though a majority of the City Council candidates asking for their support said they are opposed to the rail and road proposition on the Nov. 4 ballot, members of the Austin Environmental Democrats enthusiastically endorsed Proposition 1 on Wednesday. More than 75 percent of those casting votes on the issue said they favored passage. […]