Most of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department programs operate on money from the city’s General Fund, but at some point in the past City Council designated golf as an enterprise fund. City staff reported to Council at last week’s budget work session that the Golf Enterprise Fund would have “a significant negative ending fund balance” […]
city budget
The city’s plan for expenditures based on income.
Posted inBudget
Public Safety Commission weighs in on tight city budget
In advance of what promises to be a budget process full of tough choices, the Public Safety Commission received a briefing from the Budget Office on Fiscal Year 2017-18 at its meeting May 1. The presentation included information and findings from various city department reviews. Included in the presentation was a five-year outlook of General […]
Posted inBudget
City employee pay raises an open question
Studies, both nationwide and in Texas, project a 3 percent increase in salaries this year, including wages for public employees, according to data presented to City Council during Wednesday’s budget work session. Last year, all city employees got a wage hike of 29 cents per hour, and all but fewer than 30 of the city’s […]
Posted inBudget
Growth slows, making city budget tighter
The days of Austin’s turbo-charged growth are over – at least for now. City Council got that message from the city’s economic adviser, Jon Hockenyos, as well as Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo, at Wednesday’s financial forecast and economic outlook work session. Hockenyos told Council that the Austin area “remains among the regional […]
Posted inCity Council
Union talk makes arts funding approval rancorous
After more than two hours of often angry and conflicting testimony about the state of labor relations at the ZACH Theatre, City Council on Thursday approved the cultural arts services contract for the upcoming year with a number of controversial amendments that were reworked during the day. The agreement covers eight nonprofit organizations – ZACH, […]
Posted inBudget
Council approves $3.7 billion budget
After weeks of back-and-forth with city staff and three days of wrangling for dollars and cents on the dais, City Council approved a $3.7 billion budget Wednesday evening for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2016-2017. Austin homeowners will pay 44.18 cents per $100 of property value. That amount represents a decrease of 1.71 cents from last […]
Posted inBudget
Council seeks elusive low-hanging fruit in budget
City Council spent hours Monday discussing and debating ways to balance the budget by finding small cuts in each city department. In the context of the city budget, some of the figures Council members are debating are minuscule. But even small cuts prompt debate on the dais, as well as pushback from department leaders. City […]
Posted inBudget
APD vows to end DNA evidence backlog
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said Monday that the police department is committed to erasing its backlog of untested DNA evidence, which includes sexual assault kits as well as evidence collected from the scenes of property crimes. Acevedo told City Council that a $200,000 grant the department had just received would help eliminate that backlog, […]
Posted inCity Council
Stagehands at ZACH Theatre ask city to step into wage fight
Although they’re used to being behind the scenes, the stagehands from ZACH Theatre are going public with their requests for more equitable pay. On Sept. 1, representatives of the stagehands asked City Council to put stipulations on cultural organizations like ZACH Theatre requiring that they pay fair and stable wages. This is the first campaign […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Cash rules everything around us
In for a penny… This week, City Council will OK the city’s budget. So, it’s understandable that the conversation last week was dominated by budget discussions – particularly given the $1.6 million or so that City Council is left looking for this week, and the many programs still left to fund. Although it took no […]
Posted inBudget
Council bickers over proposed budget cuts
The only thing clear from City Council’s most recent discussion about the budget is that there remains plenty of disagreement among the 11 members over where to cut. Mayor Steve Adler kicked off Thursday’s budget work session with a list of programs he suggested adding to the budget that was proposed by city management earlier […]
Posted inBudget
City budget: Austinites say their piece
In just about a week, City Council will approve its Fiscal Year 2016-2017 budget. After hours of public testimony, it is clear that there are a lot of tough decisions left to make. Council closed the public comment portion of the budget adoption process at its last meeting and will vote to adopt the new […]