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Austin, Travis County cut program funding for Clean Air Force

The City of Austin and Travis County are planning to shift some of the funding they’ve traditionally contributed to the Clean Air Force of Central Texas to a different air quality organization in the upcoming year.   The move appears…

Commission backs Crestview neighbors’ request for historic zoning

Siding with the neighborhood and defying the owner’s request, the Historic Landmark Commission has unanimously backed initiating historic zoning for a beloved Crestview property.   The house at 1501 Richcreek is one of a cluster of larger homes in the…

New EMS contract out for ratification by rank-and-file union members

Under a contract that union members will be considering over the next two weeks, sworn employees of the Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical System would see a 1 percent raise for FY2014 and FY 2015, and a 2 percent raise in…

Council vote on legal fees could rile AE ratepayers outside city limits

Austin could be headed for another fight with Austin Energy ratepayers who live outside city limits.   Council members voted Tuesday to affix about $1.56 million in legal fees associated with the city’s defense of the recent Austin Energy PUC…

Council lowers tax rate slightly for 2014 budget

Austin City Council members Tuesday approved a $3.3 billion FY2014 budget for the city and its various enterprise and public safety arms. The document features a 50.27 cents per $100 of valuation tax rate, just a hair under the 50.29…

Central Health’s budget raises eyebrows at commissioners court

Officials with Central Health laid out their FY 2014 budget plan before the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, explaining to some skepticism how the agency’s tax rate is growing by more than 60 percent and its budget will increase…

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County benchmarks Civil-Family Courthouse budget at $284 million

Travis County’s Planning and Budget Office is working with a fresh target cost – a few tens of millions of dollars less than the original projection – for getting the new downtown Civil and Family Courthouse built. On Tuesday, Commissioners…

Council agrees to maintain property taxes at nominal rate

Following the lead of Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Austin City Council members moved quickly Monday to declare that they would leave the city’s property tax rate where it was for FY2013, at 50.29 cents per $100 of property tax valuation –…

Council members struggle to expand funding for city’s park system

Council members took turns Monday appropriating a total of $4.75 million in FY2014 Parks and Recreation budget dollars requested by an advocacy group over the past several weeks. In the end, however, the funding may be subject to phasing –…

Spelman pleads with Council to hold the line on city spending

As Council members entered the final three days of deliberations over the city’s FY2014 budget, Council Member Bill Spelman emerged as an unlikely ally to Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s hawkish budget position.   As part of Monday’s budget discussion, Spelman presented…

Spelman proposes fund for Council projects outside budget

Items brought by Austin City Council members over the past year that depend on funding not already carved out in the FY2013 budget amount to well over $14 million in additional costs for that budget year. The figure includes $10…

Tired of waiting, ZAP approves subdivision with stakeholders absent

Weary of continued postponements, the Zoning and Platting Commission approved a north central Austin subdivision last week, despite the absence of the developer and neighborhood representatives at the meeting. The commission voted in favor of the subdivision at 5409 Shoalwood…

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