The City of Austin is planning to spend up to $10 million to create an eco-industrial park south of the city’s airport. Officials hope the park will lure dozens of businesses that specialize in manufacturing goods from recycled, reused or repaired materials. They add that the project could bring more than 1,200 new jobs for […]
Local Government
Posted inLocal Government
Travis appraiser says high-end residences could be undervalued
Concerns over the local property tax process continued to surface Saturday afternoon at an informational forum. There, Travis Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler said that, in addition to wide concern that commercial property is undervalued, there is also a potential for high-end residential housing to be undervalued. City Council District 1 candidate Ora Houston hosted the […]
Posted inLocal Government
Travis County fiscal picture for Tuesday, June 24
Each week the Monitor reports on Travis County spending habits. From here on out we’re changing it up a bit. Moving forward, we’ll be giving you the weekly expenditures, gained revenue and grant monies received. We hope this gives you a fuller picture of week-to-week fiscal action. For the week of June 24, 2014 […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics
Heated discussion ensues at West Lake Hills over ethics complaints
Accusations flew during Wednesday’s meeting of the West Lake Hills City Council, where ethics complaints against a former city employee and former council member continue to fester. The city is in the midst of an investigation into a formal complaint filed by attorney Chris Gunter. That complaint alleges that former city planner and council […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics
Public Integrity Unit investigating former West Lake Hills city planner
The Travis County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit has opened an investigation into allegations surrounding a former city planner for West Lake Hills who is now in private practice as an architect. Assistant District Attorney Greg Cox confirmed the inquiry Tuesday but said he could not offer any details of an ongoing investigation. […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics
West Lake postpones action on subdivision pending investigation
The West Lake Hills City Council, acting as its Board of Adjustment, has postponed action on a Redbud Trail subdivision and asked its city attorney to hire outside counsel to investigate whether the developer’s representative –who recently stepped down as city planner for West Lake Hills – acted unethically while working for the city. […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics, Resources
Travis County Commissioners Court spending for June 17, 2014
Here is a detailed look at how much money Travis County Commissioners spent this week: · Approved $36,000.00 for a proposed interlocal agreement with Pflugerville Independent School District to pay for half the cost of a traffic signal at the intersection of Gattis School Road and Priem Lane. · Approved $1,107,685.00 for a 25 […]
Posted inLocal Government, Resources
LCRA Board raises rates for water customers through 2015
Water along the Colorado River Basin will get pricier, at least for customers who can still turn on the tap. The Lower Colorado River Authority’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Wednesday to raise rates for water customers. The rate increase does not affect the City of Austin, which prepaid $100 million in 1999 as […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics, Resources
Travis County Commissioners Court spending for June 10, 2014
Here is a detailed look at how much money Travis County Commissioners spent last week: · Approved $4,938.54 for three different cash security agreements with Gehan Homes, Ltd. for sidewalk repair in Pct. 1. · Approved $720.00 for a cash security agreement with Highland Homes, Ltd. for sidewalk repair in Pct 3. · Approved […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government
Commissioners scrap petition to challenge commercial appraisals
Over the past two weeks, there has been a quickly escalating debate over the whether the Travis County Commissioner Court should file a challenge petition with the Travis Central Appraisal District regarding the undervaluation of county commercial properties. However, after a long day in court, and a drawn-out executive session, the Commissioner’s Court decided […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government, Local Politics
Austin Monitor Radio, Show 2
Travis County Chief Appraiser, Austin City Council Member Kathie Tovo, and Travis County Intergovernmental Relations Coordinator Deece Eckstein join the Monitor‘s Mike Kanin and Beth Cortez-Neavel to talk property tax appraisals. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/154218203″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government
Demographer says city’s rapid growth a complex statistical issue
Austin’s growth has received a lot of attention over the past few years. The pace of that growth certainly warrants attention – but are we seeing it clearly? The Austin Monitor sat down with City Demographer Ryan Robinson to try to figure that out. “People just grasp on to how many people move here […]