City Council is set to vote tomorrow on adopting the city manager’s recommendation for a 2018 bond package. Voters would decide on whether to approve the $816 million referendum this November. The proposal includes funding for transportation infrastructure, stormwater and open space, public safety, parks, libraries and cultural centers, health and human services, and affordable […]
Bonds & Propositions
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Arts, culture groups joining forces for bond request likely to exceed $100M
Representatives from the city’s three ethnic cultural centers will join forces with members of the Arts and Music commissions to ask City Council for a bond package request that could add up to more than $120 million. At Monday’s meeting, the Music Commission voted unanimously to form a working group with members from the Emma […]
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Parks board talks MACC design, and cost
Recently, the advisory board for the the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center wrote a letter to City Council asking to be allocated the full project cost – $40 million – instead of the $15 million that was recently recommended for the center from the 2018 bond proposal for city infrastructure. However, at the April […]
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Parks board pushes for $62M for pools
Austin pools are in serious need of repairs. Everyone knows that, but the question is how much money the citizens are actually willing to pay to fix them. Currently, $33 million of the proposed 2018 bond package totaling $851 million is specifically dedicated to giving the construction equivalent of emergency surgery to Austin’s aging pools. However, […]
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Mobility Committee doesn’t not want Council to add Project Connect to November bond
After some brief dais drama on Tuesday, City Council’s Mobility Committee unanimously endorsed the idea of at least talking about putting $15 million in Project Connect seed money on the November ballot. The 4-0 vote nudged forward a request made by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors last month aimed at funding preliminary […]
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Extra bond requests – $65M and counting – bring worry for cultural centers
Requests for additional funds for cultural and arts needs in a bond proposal expected to be voted on in November are causing worry from community groups that sticker shock could put much-needed funding at risk. Some of those concerns bubbled up at Monday’s meeting of the Arts Commission, during discussion on possibly linking requests from […]
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Creative ‘hubs’ requests moving forward for $40M bond ask
The questions surrounding a movement to build multiple creative “hubs” – or possibly one single campus – for Austin’s arts and music communities are becoming somewhat clearer as proponents of those groups continue talks ahead of an August decision on the size and makeup of the city’s fall general obligation proposal. The city’s Arts and […]
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Task force: Bond decisions up to Council
The city’s 2018 Bond Election Advisory Task Force sent a recommendation to City Council for a November bond ballot of $851 million – more than $200 million above the amount recommended by city staff, and one that is estimated to require a 2-cent property tax increase. Tom Nuckols, chair of the task force, told Council […]
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Housing bond forces tough decisions for Council members
While three City Council members say they want to present an affordable housing bond to voters worth between $250 million and $300 million, it is unclear how many others on the dais are in favor of such a large figure. First, some Council members are reluctant to support spending increases that will lead to tax […]
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Music Commission’s ‘hub’ concept prompts request for $15M bond increase
The Austin Music Commission is asking City Council to add $15 million to November’s bond package to buy or build property that could be used as a music hub to support the city’s flagging music industry. At Monday’s meeting the commission voted 8-0 to approve a recommendation that points to the need for a facility […]
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Arts Commission seeks $25M bond increase to fund ‘adaptive’ creative space
The Arts Commission has asked City Council to add $25 million to this fall’s infrastructure bond package. The money would be used to provide more rehearsal and performance space for arts groups that are quickly running out of usable space as the city’s property values continue to rise. At its meeting on Monday, the commission […]
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Council members push for $300M affordable housing bond
If Austin is going to do something about its affordability crisis, many on City Council believe that it will take a massive infusion of public funds to build housing that is affordable to low-income and working-class residents. To that end, at least two Council members have said they want to put a bond measure on […]