Travis County and an outdoor music festival had their day in court on Monday, and now the future of controversial revisions in the mass-gathering permitting process rests in a district judge’s hands. The organizers of the Euphoria Music & Camping Festival sued the county in September seeking an injunction against the month-old permitting guidelines, which […]
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Update: City loses appraisal district lawsuit
Update: Moday, Nov. 9 After Judge Tim Sulak’s ruling dismissing the city of Austin’s lawsuit on Friday, several parties weighed in. Mayor Steve Adler said, “We need a court to rule on the fairness of the property tax system. The court’s decision today did not reach this question. That’s frustrating. The city of Austin’s challenge […]
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Court denies injunction against Foundation Communities
How much havoc can one neighbor wreak on a $20 million affordable housing project backed by federal, state and local governments and nonprofits? Potentially, quite a bit. On Tuesday, Foundation Communities avoided potential disaster for its Bluebonnet Studios on South Lamar when Judge Rhonda Hurley denied an injunction that would have stopped construction on the […]
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County responds to music festival’s lawsuit
Travis County has fired off its first volley in its legal fight against an electronic music and camping festival. County Attorney David Escamilla put his imprimatur on a motion filed Wednesday in the 98th District Court asking the judge to throw out the lawsuit brought by the organizers of the Euphoria Music & Camping Festival. […]
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Who is being sued in city’s appraisal suit?
In its lawsuit challenging the Travis Central Appraisal District’s valuations of commercial property and vacant land, the city of Austin has sued the owners of numerous tax exempt properties, including the Salvation Army, the Congress Avenue Baptist Church, the Faith United Methodist Church on South Lamar, the Austin Independent School District, the University of Texas […]
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County Clerk speaks out against MERS ruling
Travis County isn’t hiding its displeasure with a recent ruling by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Though the ruling on Dallas County, Texas, et al. v. MERSCORP Inc., et al. came down this summer, it was last week that the Travis County Commissioners Court and Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir issued a statement […]
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Judge pondering appraisal district suit
After a three-hour hearing Wednesday, Travis County District Judge Tim Sulak told approximately a dozen lawyers involved in the lawsuit between the city of Austin and the Travis Central Appraisal District, “I’m nowhere close to making a decision on the merits” of the case. The city, represented by Assistant City Attorneys Andralee Lloyd and Michael […]
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City, Junk Yard Dogs to fight in court today
Although the city of Austin has sued the Travis Central Appraisal District over its valuations of commercial and vacant properties, the first test of the lawsuit’s merit will come in court today not from TCAD, but from the commercial property owner Junk Yard Dogs LP. The lawyers for Junk Yard Dogs, picked perhaps for their […]
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Save Our Springs sues toll road agency again
The Save Our Springs Alliance filed suit on Tuesday against the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, seeking information that the agency has refused to release concerning a traffic and revenue study on the proposed MoPac South toll lanes. According to SOS, “The agency refused to release the traffic study, claiming it was ‘draft’ internal policymaking, […]
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Junk Yard Dogs answers city’s TCAD lawsuit
Junk Yard Dogs LP, the owner of a commercial property at 8322 Cross Park Drive, on Monday responded to the city’s lawsuit against the Travis Central Appraisal District and all owners of commercial and vacant property in the county. The business’s response cites numerous alleged legal errors on the part of the city in filing […]
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PUC hears arguments in water, wastewater case
The Public Utility Commission of Texas heard oral arguments Friday from attorneys representing the city of Austin as well as those representing a group of wholesale Austin Water utility customers who have challenged post-2012 water and wastewater rate increases. Rather than take action, the commissioners opted to take some additional time to digest the details […]
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Zimmerman suit could undo campaign finance law
City Council Member Don Zimmerman, who plans to run for re-election in 2016, has filed suit in federal court against the city of Austin, seeking to overturn four important provisions of the city’s campaign finance rules. If he wins, the changes would have an immediate and lasting impact on how elections are conducted and financed […]