City Council members were faced with the grim reality Wednesday that the city’s financial situation is going to force some tough spending choices in the coming years. A budget overview presented by the city finance department projected the city would face a $1 million shortfall during Fiscal Year 2017-2018. That might not sound bad, but […]
city budget
The city’s plan for expenditures based on income.
Posted inBudget
Council members want more social services spending in budget
A number of City Council members voiced surprise and disappointment at the 2017 budget proposed by city staff, saying it fell woefully short of the commitment to health and human services called for in previous Council resolutions. Council Member Delia Garza was particularly flummoxed by the $99.2 million Health and Human Services budget submitted by […]
Posted inBudget
Austin police short-staffed and underprotected, advocates say
In the aftermath of two shootings in Austin last weekend, City Council should increase police numbers as well as invest in better body armor, advocates say. Those shootings, along with a fierce national debate over the role police should be playing in communities, gave added gravity to a discussion over Austin’s shortage of police officers and […]
Posted inBudget
How do Austinites want the city to spend their money?
As Austin grows, so does its government. City staff unveiled a proposed budget Wednesday that would increase general fund spending by $56 million, or 6.1 percent, for a total of $969.2 million. The increased spending is made possible not because of a tax hike necessarily, but because the ever-rising value of Austin homes is generating […]
Posted inBudget
Budget strives to address Council directives
The non-senior Austinite who owns a median-priced home and uses an average amount of water and electricity can expect his or her bill for taxes, fees and utilities to increase by about $12.48 per month for the 2017 Fiscal Year, under a proposal from the city’s budget staff. The projected property tax rate is 44.11 […]
Posted inResources
Push to expand city composting continues
Austin has made major progress in its efforts to reduce the amount of trash it sends to landfills, but the city will have to make a big change if it wants to realize the ambitious goals it has set through its Zero Waste initiative. Current recycling efforts have succeeded in diverting 43 percent of the […]
Posted inPolice
APD response times continue to increase
According to the city of Austin’s latest annual performance review released on June 22, the time it takes Austin police officers to respond to high-priority calls has been steadily increasing over the past five years. During Fiscal Year 2014-2015, the department missed its goal of responding to emergency and urgent calls within seven minutes and […]
Posted inParks
Parks and Rec budget bogged down by golf
The Parks and Recreation Board is concerned that expenses from Austin’s city golf courses will overshadow the other needs in its already tight budget. At their meeting on June 29, board members looked over a budget forecast that predicts an increase of $11.9 million for the next fiscal year. But they pointed out that the […]
Posted inBudget
By slim margin, Council approves an 8 percent homestead exemption
In a vote that pitted representatives of the city’s lowest-income districts against their colleagues, City Council members Wednesday narrowly approved an 8 percent homestead exemption — an increase of 2 percent over last year’s exemption. To a resident with a home worth $250,000, that equates to a nearly $23 yearly savings on property taxes. But […]
Posted inBudget
Budget process could calm employees’ fears
At the end of a very long City Council budget work session last Wednesday, Mayor Steve Adler asked his colleagues to weigh in on a budget process proposal that he, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and members of the city’s budget staff had put together with the hope of having a more orderly process and […]
Posted inBudget
Fire Department to seek new stations
Wednesday was the 100th birthday of the Austin Fire Department, so, naturally, the members of City Council had to sing “Happy Birthday” to AFD Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr during their work session. Kerr noted that the department started with 27 men, with an emphasis on “men.” “I can’t imagine what they would think about having […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: True Facts
Über Uber… Avid Whispers readers will note that, last week, we reported on an erroneous Uber claim that the Circuit of the Americas racetrack was outside of the Austin City Limits and drivers “could earn BIG” by driving people to and from the X Games. Of course, the city annexed the track in 2012, making […]