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Quote of the Day
“We’re going to have to do things a little differently, and that’s going to be uncomfortable for some people, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do it.”
— Council Member Ryan Alter, from Austin spends millions on overtime pay for police officers. The city is scaling that back.
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Council passes budget, triggering tax rate election
From Lina Fisher:
After a long and often procedurally-confusing meeting that stretched into the better part of two days, Council passed a $6.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2026 based on a tax rate 5 cents above the state cap, triggering a tax rate election this November. Should Austinites approve that tax rate, the average homeowner’s property taxes would increase by about $300 annually next year. Either way, fee increases for city services like water and trash will increase by around $116.
Duchen tries (but fails) to raise Austin Energy bills
From Jo Clifton:
Council Member Marc Duchen opposed or abstained on the majority of his colleagues’ amendments to next year’s city budget and voted against the overall budget. However, did try to raise Austin Energy’s income by proposing to increase its rates and fees. His proposal would have added up to $63 million in revenues. Neither the Mayor nor any other Council Member joined Duchen in voting for the amendment during Thursday’s budget adoption.
The utility has not kept pace with inflation and fell further behind after helping customers through the Covid pandemic. As a result, Austin Energy projects a $43 million shortfall in 2026. The utility proposed a small increase to the monthly customer fee from $15 a month to $16.20 a month for the 2025-26 budget. Customer Assistance Program (CAP) customers do not pay this fee.
Duchen’s motion did not spell out whether the utility was supposed to increase revenue by raising the customer charge further, by increasing rates for electricity used, or both.
Austin spends millions on overtime pay for police officers. The city is scaling that back.
From Andrew Weber, KUT News:
For Austin’s fire, police and emergency medical professionals, overtime is just a fact of life. In the last budget year, overtime spending on those three departments was $84 million, according to city payroll data.
But after years of ballooning overtime payouts, Austin is throttling back some of that spending, asking its fire and police departments to cut millions in overtime, while pushing city staff to monitor how much the city spends and where it could spend smarter.
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Does your business (or one you admire) deserve the spotlight? This is your chance to make it happen! 🏆
The Greater Austin Business Awards (GABA) is the largest and most prestigious business event in our region, and nominations for the 2025 ceremony are now open.
Celebrate companies, like yours, across Central Texas who are making a difference whether through leadership, tech innovation, workplace excellence, or community impact.
It costs $0 and less than 30 minutes to apply. Self-nominations are encouraged. And, you don’t need to be an Austin Chamber member to participate!
Submit your nominations here: https://my.reviewr.com/s2/site/GABA_2025
Winners will be recognized at the 2025 GABA event on November 19th at the JW Marriott Austin.
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CapMetro is evaluating its obscure bike shelter program
Many Austinites may not know about CapMetro’s bike shelter program, which offers the opportunity for cyclists using the Red Line to park their bikes in locking, fenced-in, covered enclosures billed as “MetroBike Shelters” (not to be confused with the defunct bicycle rideshare operator, which was taken over by CapMetro a few years ago) by buying a $3, two-year pass. The shelters also featured benches, tools for light repairs, and 24/7 video surveillance, according to an info page on the CapMetro website.
At their most recent meeting, Urban Transportation Commissioner Spencer Schumacher asked whether CapMetro had plans to try to promote the shelters or change the branding to distance them from the aforementioned former bikeshare operator. After momentarily a pause, CapMetro bike program manager J.D. Simpson said the agency was “doing an evaluation” of the program, which she noted had been around 10 years and received “no love at all.”
“It’s an old program and it just does not work,” Simpson said.
She added that the agency plans to ask Austinites about their experiences with and thoughts about the program through an “open-ended” survey in the coming months, likely in September, with an eye towards improving the program. Simpson also noted that as the construction of the shelters was grant-funded, there may be some restrictions on how much they can change them.
For more info about what’s up with CapMetro’s bikeshare program, check out our May 22 newsletter.
— Miles Wall
Urban Transportation Commission opts not to comment on proposed autonomous vehicle rules
The Monitor recently reported on another presentation about autonomous vehicles to City Council, so we won’t rehash all of that here. The short version of the story is that they’re are coming, and the city can’t pass any laws regulating them, thanks to a bill (S.B. 2205) that passed in 2017. However, the state also just passed another bill (S.B. 2807) that creates a regulatory structure for the state to address the burgeoning industry, mostly through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
One thing that has changed since our earlier article was published is that the department has published its first set of proposed rules for the program in the state code, and they’re soliciting comments and feedback from policymakers and the public through August 25 (comments can be sent to rules@txdmv.gov or by mail to Office of General Counsel, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, 4000 Jackson Avenue, Austin, Texas 78731).
The agenda for the meeting included discussion and possibly approval of sending comments on the rules for the commission as a body, but no commissioners proposed a motion to do so. Commissioner Spencer Schumacher said he thought that commissioners would accomplish more by commenting as individuals.
“I think the things that we want as a body, y’know, the data, the public safety, the accountability, are maybe things we aren’t going to find on the state level. And I think really, it’s probably more incumbent on us as citizens to shame those companies that aren’t good citizens,” Schumacher said.
“Rather than us trying to push the city to do more, when really the best thing they can do is maintain those good relationships,” he added.
— Miles Wall
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Elsewhere in the News
The Austin Chronicle explains how the state is deciding which AISD schools to close.
KXAN reports that a break-in at Austin Pets Alive! has left one dog dead and the majority released (though they were all subsequently found.)
The live streamer charged with shooting someone with a paintball gun on the hike and bike trail has been arrested.
And NPR has an update on Alex Jones, who might have to turn over his Infowars assets for real this time.
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