Sparked by a case where city employees walked away with $11,000 in prizes from a work-related convention, Human Resources Director Mark Washington has outlined a new policy that places stricter limits on the gifts city employees can receive while on the job. Washington told Council Audit and Finance Committee members last month that the […]
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 inTransportation
Lone Star Rail presses City of Austin over tax increment funding
Officials with the Lone Star Rail District continue to push Austin City Council members to approve a tax increment financing deal between the two parties. If consummated, such an arrangement would use a portion of City of Austin property tax revenue to pay for both operations and maintenance of the potential Georgetown-San Antonio rail line […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety
Fleet Services says it needs more staff, bays to service vehicles
The head of the city’s Fleet Services Department told members on the Council Audit and Finance Committee last week that his department has numerous unmet needs, noting that department is short 60-80 repair bays for the city’s vehicles, including nearly 2,000 public safety vehicles. “We have about 87 bays right now,” Gerry Calk told […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety, Uncategorized
Cole, Morrison question use of employee criminal background checks
An audit designed to examine the effectiveness of the city’s approach to criminal background checks has raised the ire of two City Council members, who thought they had removed such checks from city hiring protocol in 2008. At last week’s Council Audit and Finance Committee, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and Council Members Laura […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Audit: EMS personnel report high fatigue rate
An audit performed by the City Auditor’s Office suggests that Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service rank-and-file employees are overly fatigued. The document also hints that a policy of allowing patients to decide which hospital they are delivered to adds to employee fatigue – and costs taxpayers extra dollars. Auditor Ken Mory’s team presented the […]