Since audits in 2016 and 2017, the Parks and Recreation Department has taken actions to address the management of its resources as well as cash handling problems. However, according to a follow-up report by the Office of the City Auditor, the city’s “funding priorities may continue to constrain the department’s ability to effectively offer its […]
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 inCity Hall
Report: City lacks complete list of homelessness agreements
The Office of the City Auditor reports that City Council initiated 47 resolutions, ordinances and other orders related to alleviating homelessness between September 2018 and May 2021. As a result of those directives, the city entered into at least 101 agreements, mostly with nonprofit organizations, to provide various homelessness services. Some of these agreements are still in […]
Posted inEnergy
Auditors to look at Austin Energy’s customer assistance program
Three members of the City Council Audit & Finance Committee want City Auditor Corrie Stokes to look into whether an Austin Energy program that offers bill relief to utility customers is helping the right people. According to a spokesperson for the utility, 34,008 customers are currently enrolled in the program. There were 35,540 last July, […]
Posted inCity Hall
Committee accepts critical city hiring audit
Members of the City Council Audit & Finance Committee delved into details of the city recruiting and hiring audit at yesterday’s meeting, questioning both the audit staff and Human Resources Director Joya Hayes. As noted in Wednesday’s Austin Monitor, only 39 percent of the city’s Municipal Civil Service workforce are women, as compared to 50 […]
Posted inCity Hall
City not tracking its interlocal agreements
The city of Austin has entered into a multitude of interlocal agreements, with Travis County, local school districts and even the state of Texas, worth millions of dollars. Yet no one at the city knows exactly how many of these agreements are in effect and the agreements are spread out among departments, not filed in […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit: City failing to hire equal numbers of women
While the city has achieved its overall goal of hiring racial and ethnic minorities in numbers equal to the local population, only 39 percent of Austin’s Municipal Civil Service workforce are women, compared to 50 percent of the Austin-Round Rock area population, according to a report by the Office of the City Auditor. Municipal Civil […]
Posted inCity Hall
Some board and commission meetings may stay virtual
Will the future of city board and commission meetings be in-person or virtual? Based on discussion at Wednesday’s Audit and Finance Committee, perhaps both. The committee decided to further study the feasibility of allowing hybrid or entirely virtual meetings after hearing testimony from City Clerk Jannette Goodall and Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission Chair Nehemiah […]
Posted inPolice
Council members seek better system to help troubled officers
In response to an audit that found Austin Police Department is using an outdated system to identify police officers in need of help, interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon told the City Council Audit & Finance Committee Wednesday that while his department is aware of the problems with its Guidance Advisory Program, or GAP, that does […]
Posted inAustin
Council to consider loan for Airport Hilton
When Austin’s airport lost 63 percent of its passengers last year due to Covid-19, the Airport Hilton lost 60 percent of its business. Now, Austin-Bergstrom Landhost Enterprises, or ABLE, the nonprofit corporation that operates the hotel, is asking for City Council approval to borrow up to $2.6 million from the city’s Aviation Department. The item […]
Posted inFire
Taking cues from audit, Austin continues to shore up its wildfire prevention strategy
Thanks to climate change, Austinites can expect to see more storms, floods and fires in their future. This week, City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee heard what steps the Fire Department has taken to address the threat of wildfires following a 2019 audit. That audit, which was released in October 2019, found that the city […]
Posted inAustin
Council committee delves into ACE finances
Jolsna Thomas, who serves as secretary/treasurer of the board of Austin Convention Enterprises, which oversees financial matters related to the downtown Hilton Hotel, asked members of the City Council Audit & Finance Committee Wednesday to work on getting City Council to appoint an additional two members to the board. With a full complement, the board […]
Posted inCity Council
Council stresses need for cooperation in forming strategic plan for homelessness
After hearing the results of a follow-up audit related to the city’s efforts to help the homeless, Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Leslie Pool both stressed the need for other segments of the community to get involved in resolving Austin’s homelessness problem. They made their remarks at last week’s meeting of City Council’s Audit […]