The city of Austin collected about $10 million in 2012 and $12 million in 2013 in airport car rental fees, according to a city audit. Assistant City Auditor Walt Persons told the Council Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday that one rental car company owed the city $15,000 in concession fees in 2013 and another […]
Austin City Council Audit and Finance Committee
A sub-group of the Austin City Council whose members are charged with oversight of city fiscal operations and anything that falls under the purview of the Office of the City Auditor. Reports and documents for the committee can be found here.
Posted inBudget
Austin General Fund forecast strong
Austin’s sales tax revenue is up 7.2 percent this year compared with the previous fiscal year, and city financial officials are forecasting that the city will bring in $2.1 million more than was budgeted, for a projected annual growth rate of 5.8 percent. The information comes from the second quarter fiscal year 2015 report. Although […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council Committees
As part of our ongoing attempt to keep our readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we will now be offering weekly tip sheets for City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of the meetings, with links to the entire agenda. Audit and Finance Committee Monday, […]
Posted inCity Council, City Hall, Reporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Zim appointments continue
More nomination fun … District 6 City Council Member Don Zimmerman continued his streak of commission nominations last week. Zimmerman posted his latest round of picks Thursday on the Council message board, and they include Antonio Buehler to the Public Safety Commission and Mackenzie Kelly to the Commission for Women. Buehler founded the Peaceful Streets […]
Posted inCity Council
Council committee examines Animal Services audit
Unlike the majority of city audits, the troubling Animal Services audit did not come with an immediate plan of action from the department. However, City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee did find some answers to the many questions its members asked at Thursday’s meeting. Animal Services concurs with the findings in the audit. However, Auditor […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit reveals trouble in city’s animal shelters
A city audit of Austin Animal Services has revealed serious problems within the department and its shelters. The audit found that the department does not have sufficient resources to meet its 90 percent live outcome goal while maintaining state requirements and industry best practices. The city conducted the audit from October 2012 through November 2014. […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: The Return
What a country! … Before hearing a set of briefings from Transportation Department staff at a March 25 meeting of the City Council Mobility Committee, Council members had a high-level discussion about the merits of regulating Austin’s taxicab industry. Council Member Don Zimmerman turned heads when he compared Austin’s taxicab regulations with his experiences in […]
Posted inAustin, Budget, City Council
Council staff proposal up in the air ahead of vote
Despite committee efforts and new cost projections, a conversation among City Council members Tuesday revealed that they still have some work to do on a proposal to increase staffing and resources for the mayor and Council offices ahead of a vote Thursday. “We’re two months, already, past January,” said Mayor Steve Adler, urging his colleagues […]
Posted inBudget, City Council
Committee tweaks, approves Council staff boost
This Thursday, City Council members will once again take up the issue of increasing their own staff. Last week, the Council Audit and Finance Committee considered the proposal for a second time. Members voted unanimously to recommend adding 12 full-time positions — one for each Council office and two for Mayor Steve Adler’s office. Most […]
Posted inCity Council
Council sends cost overrun issues to committee
City Council members approved an additional expenditure last week of a little more than $91,000 for the construction contract for restoration of infrastructure along lower Shoal Creek to Lady Bird Lake. The total budget of that project was $1,217,366 to repair erosion along the shoreline of the peninsula, restore native plants and limestone boulders and […]
Posted inBudget, City Council
Committee reaches few conclusions on new staff
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee had a wide-ranging discussion Monday about the possibility of hiring more staff to help Council, but arrived at no conclusions. The conversation was sparked by an attempt by Mayor Steve Adler to add as many as eight new employees to his own staff. However, as Adler acknowledged during the […]
Posted inAustin, City Hall, Development
Audit reveals big trouble with PDR fees
A city audit of the Planning and Development Review Department has found that the Office of the City Auditor “cannot provide assurance that development-related fees are charged accurately and consistently.” In one part of the audit, 40 percent of the fee transactions tracked were incorrect. The audit evaluated 30 transactions, and found that 12 were […]