The Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget approved by City Council on Tuesday includes a $3.4 million increase in funding for homelessness services. City staff estimates that the new funds come on top of more than $26 million in annual city spending on programs related to homelessness. Most of the new money – $2.4 million – was […]
city budget
The city’s plan for expenditures based on income.
Posted inBudget
Mental health team faces funding crisis
Mental health professionals accompany police officers to all SWAT calls in Houston and Seattle, but Austin’s Mobile Crisis Outreach Team, which operates alongside the Austin Police Department, does not accompany officers on high-risk calls, such as when a weapon is involved. In addition, Austin’s crisis outreach team does not work at night, when many mental […]
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Council members talk about the budget
As City Council begins its final work session on the budget this morning in preparation for next week’s budget setting meetings, the Austin Monitor asked Council members to tell us the most important aspects of the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget. Both Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Greg Casar said increasing the minimum wage for […]
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Chamber groups’ funding would become leveled under proposed process
Austin’s Economic Development Department is in the beginning stages of restructuring how local chambers of commerce are funded by the city, with the goal of making the funding more equitable and available to more groups. A recent memo from interim EDD Director Rebecca Giello details the options for opening a stakeholder process that would convene […]
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Citizens simply ask for more at budget hearing
A significant majority of those who spoke at Wednesday’s public hearing on the city’s Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget seemed pleased with the money city staff had recommended allocating to their specific interest. Several praised City Council and City Manager Spencer Cronk on their allocations in the preliminary budget. But of course, most of them wanted […]
Posted inAustin
City budget boosts spending for homelessness services
The new city manager and City Council agree: The city needs more money to address the homelessness situation. The proposed Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget submitted by City Manager Spencer Cronk includes $3.1 million in new spending on homelessness-related services. That’s on top of the roughly $25 million of spending on such services that will continue […]
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Lower public safety bill cuts tax growth
Austin taxpayers will catch a break from the typical sharp escalation of city taxes, utility bills and other fees, so that the owner of a median priced home of $332,366 will pay only about $78 more in 2019 than they paid this year. That’s if City Council sticks to the budget numbers proposed by City […]
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What do Austinites want the city budget to prioritize?
In the process of crafting its annual budget to present to City Council, city of Austin staff held 11 events throughout the city in an effort to hear what Austinites think about how their tax dollars should be spent. In a lengthy memo addressed to Mayor Steve Adler and Council, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed […]
Posted inFire
Rising insurance costs reignite push for new fire stations in Austin
Homeowners in a Del Valle suburb learned last month that their insurance rates could go up as much as $1,000 this year because they’re too far from the nearest fire station. Concerns about the rising rates have jump-started a push to get fire stations built across the city. City Council voted in 2016 to build […]
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Safety, transit planning among priorities at start of budget input sessions
If the opinions expressed during the second of the city’s 11 community budget input sessions is any indication, City Council members will be considering sizable shifts in public safety resources later this summer before adoption of the city’s next $3.9 billion budget. In an interactive session that saw feedback offered digitally by attendees and those […]
Posted inFire
Lack of fire station pushes some insurance rates up
Some Southeast Austin homeowners have been receiving bad news from their insurance companies – the rates on their homeowners insurance are projected to rise as much as $1,000 this year. District 2 Council Member Delia Garza told her colleagues at Wednesday’s budget work session that the reason for the big jump in insurance rates for […]
Posted inBudget
Council braces for another tight budget cycle amid threats from Legislature
City Council will have to raise property taxes by 5 percent in the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget just to continue funding existing programs, according to a financial forecast prepared by the city budget office. In a presentation to Council members on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo projected that Council will have a […]