The city of Austin has promised voters it would build a wide variety of projects, ranging from roads to affordable housing to parks, libraries and health centers. City financial advisers told the City Council Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday that the total authorization for public improvement bonds is currently at $3.5 billion. But because […]
city budget
The city’s plan for expenditures based on income.
Posted inBudget
Record $5B budget includes pay increase for city workers – and for Council members
City Council’s $5 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022-’23 includes a pay raise for city workers, including Council members themselves. Council voted to adopt the budget, which includes increasing the minimum wage for city workers to $20 per hour, in a 10-1 vote late Thursday, with only Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voting “no.” Originally, the minimum wage was set […]
Posted inBudget
Council postpones deliberation on parks fees, plate readers
At the urging of Mayor Steve Adler, City Council members put off consideration of two controversial items from this week’s budget agenda. Council will now consider reinstatement of the license plate reader program for the Austin Police Department, as well as an ordinance that would require commercial property developers to pay into the city’s fund […]
Posted inBudget
Council set to modify, adopt city budget
Mayor Steve Adler is proposing a raise for City Council members and the next mayor starting in 2023 after he has left office. His proposal will be considered as part of the City Council budget adoption process, which starts tomorrow – although it’s hard to know whether they will complete the job the same day. […]
Posted inCity Hall
Decision to hike pay to $22/hour will cause future budget deficits
The upcoming wage increases for city staff will cause budget deficits in coming years and force leaders to identify new revenue sources, according to analysis by the Human Resources Department. A memo released last week presents a number of scenarios prompted by City Council’s recent direction to increase the minimum wage for all workers to […]
Posted inParks
Harper-Madison argues against increasing parkland fees
Austin’s residential parkland dedication fees, which the city uses to buy parkland, more than doubled last year as the price of land increased. Now city budget writers are proposing to double those fees again for 2023. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison posted a message to her colleagues on the City Council Message Board Tuesday, notifying them […]
Posted inBudget
Speakers urge Council to increase community services budget
City Council heard from about two dozen speakers Tuesday, the majority of whom urged Council members to put more money into the upcoming budget for community services such as helping the homeless, helping people pay their rent and building more affordable housing. A number of speakers urged them to increase wages for city employees, particularly […]
Posted inElections
Local campaign contribution limits to rise ahead of November election
Inflation isn’t only driving up mortgage interest rates, gas prices and the city’s living wage. It’s also behind proposed increases to the city’s campaign contribution limits, which cap how much money City Council candidates can accept from individual and out-of-town donors. The campaign contribution limits are tied to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer […]
Posted inBudget
Budget season begins with arguments over ‘riders’
It’s budget time again. Mayor Steve Adler got the ball rolling at Tuesday’s City Council work session by noting that staff had expressed concerns about the number of budget riders Council members might be bringing forward. He also said staff members were concerned about the timing of those directives from Council. Budget riders are generally […]
Posted inBudget
Austin Water set to address staff shortage
Austin Water discussed efforts to address its staff shortage at Wednesday’s Water and Wastewater Commission meeting. The discussion about recruiting and retaining employees was part of the department’s presentation on its 2022-23 budget, which was unanimously approved by the commission. As interim Director Robert Goode said in his introduction to the presentation, the city manager […]
Posted inBudget
Proposed $5B city budget leans on fees, less on property taxes, amid a boom in sales tax revenue
Austinites may not see as steep a hike in property taxes next year. Still, they could see an increase of 2.7% under a budget proposal released Friday. City Manager Spencer Cronk’s proposed $5 billion budget for 2023 leans more heavily on city fees for services like electricity and trash pickup – not on property taxes, as it […]
Posted inBudget
City must raise wages to $22/hour, working group says
Members of the city’s living wage work group urged City Council Tuesday to raise the city’s living wage to $22 an hour for the upcoming fiscal year. They said the wage should apply to all regular and temporary city employees except employees of the summer youth program, regardless of position or number of hours worked. […]