Amid concerns that Fun Fun Fun Fest would not take place this November at Vic Mathias Shores, City Council has intervened in negotiations between festival organizers and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to ensure that it goes forward as planned. Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday directing Parks and Recreation Department staff to allow […]
Austin City Council
The Austin City Council is the body with legislative purview over the City of Austin. It offers policy direction, while the office of the City Manager implements administrative actions based on those policies. Until 2015, the body contained seven members, including the city’s Mayor, all elected at-large. In 2012, City of Austin residents voted to change that system and as of 2015, 10 members of the Council are elected based on geographic districts. The Mayor continues to be elected at-large.
Posted inAustin
Council prohibits use of bullhooks on elephants
While several bullhooks were brought into City Council chambers as evidence Thursday – one even passed around on the dais – these instruments, used to train circus animals, will be prohibited from use on elephants within city limits starting in fall 2016. Critics of bullhooks say the sharp-tipped tool breaks the skin of elephants, causing […]
Posted inEnvironment
City to purchase preservation land
Austin will move forward with the purchase of slightly more than 10 acres of land in the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, despite concerns from some City Council members about whether the purchase price could be lower. Council voted 9-2 to move forward with purchasing 10.099 acres at 11101 and 11105 Zimmerman Lane for $400,000, with Council […]
Posted inAustin
Council not likely to ban bullhooks this year
Based on a discussion at a work session on Tuesday, City Council is not likely to ban the use of the bullhook — a common elephant training tool — in circuses before Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey comes to Austin on Aug. 19. “I understand the interest in not having this take effect immediately […]
Posted inBudget
Lower tax rate, higher tax bill in Travis County’s draft budget
Travis County’s property tax rate is expected to dip during the next budget cycle, but taxpayers shouldn’t necessarily expect lower bills. According to the preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2016, the rate will drop by 6.62 percent. However, rising property values mean that the owner of a home with the average taxable value of $262,199 […]
Posted inEnvironment
Council likely to purchase endangered species tract
Despite questions about the price from City Council Member Don Zimmerman, Council appears poised to move forward Thursday with the purchase of a significant tract of land in the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. The tract is within Zimmerman’s District 6. City real estate specialist Junie Plummer told Council on Tuesday that an independent appraiser had appraised […]
Posted inDevelopment
City staff fixes plan review backlog, looks ahead
When it comes to planning and development, city staff has a lot on its plate in the foreseeable future. It no longer has to worry, though, about a plan review backlog that began to pile up earlier this year. Development Services Department Acting Director J. Rodney Gonzales made the announcement at a City Council work […]
Posted inBudget
Updated: Council resolution would cut wage hike for most employees
City Council members Don Zimmerman and Ellen Troxclair have crafted a resolution that would cut the proposed salary increase for the majority of city employees and save the city an estimated $6 million in next year’s budget, according to their calculations. Joining them in sponsoring the resolution are Council members Ora Houston and Sheri Gallo. […]
Posted inBudget
City may add as many as 85 new police officers
How many police officers should Austin have? That is a question that City Council members will likely be wrestling with over the next few weeks as they consider the Austin Police Department’s request for 85 new officers in the proposed city budget – 26 more than it took on last year. According to the proposed […]
Posted inBudget
Council talks budget affordability and city services
There are some things that the proposed Fiscal Year 2015-16 city budget does and some things that it does not do. Aside from raising the property tax rate, along with utility rates and fees for many homeowners, one of the major things the budget does is implement a 6 percent homestead exemption. One of the […]
Posted inBudget
Austin water bills going up, electric bills decreasing
Residential customers of the Austin Water utility are projected to pay $4.94 more per month in Fiscal Year 2016 than they are paying this year, but the same customers should see a decrease of $2.22 in their monthly Austin Energy bills, according to the city’s budget writers. Either of those numbers could be wrong if […]
Posted inBudget
Proposed city budget includes tax, fee hikes
City management is proposing a budget for fiscal year 2015-16 that includes 85 additional police officers, 12 new paramedics, 19 new 911 call takers and 27 new employees for the beleaguered Development Services Department. Under a proposal presented this morning to City Council, the owner of a median-priced home will see taxes, fees and utility […]