Members of the Regional Affordability Committee are continuing their work updating the group’s strategic plan for improving housing options, while another group tied to the Austin housing market has called for decisive action to keep housing prices from growing at an unsustainable rate. Last month the affordability committee, which is made up of three City […]
Austin City Council Regional Affordability Committee
A committee composed of City Council Members, Travis County Commissioners, CapMetro, the Central Board of Health and regional school districts to assess the Austin area’s affordability.
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy considers scams, rising home values in changes to assistance programs
The city-owned electric utility Austin Energy has been a national leader over the past 30 years in helping customers lower their electric bills through energy efficiency programs. In addition to helping customers of all income levels cut costs by reducing their energy consumption, AE provides discounted rates to low-income customers and has programs in place […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Austin, TravCo leaders brace for state laws targeting revenue, local control
Austin leaders have started gaming out the budget cuts and possible staffing and service reductions that would come from possible state caps on property tax increases. At last week’s meeting of the Austin Regional Affordability Committee, city staff briefed a consortium of city, county and education officials on what to expect from the 2019 session […]
Posted inTransportation
Solving regional affordability problems will require addressing transportation costs
Decreasing affordability in Austin and the surrounding area is primarily tied to a shortage of housing options coupled with rising property taxes. But the region’s lack of transportation options is the source of another significant, though less recognized, financial burden on residents. That was the message from Dave Couch, the Project Connect program manager, as […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council Committees
As part of our ongoing, tireless attempt to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we present our tip sheet for Austin City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. As a note, this week the City Council will […]
Posted inAustin
Regional Affordability Committee takes first steps
Though they have a long road ahead of them, members of Austin’s Regional Affordability Committee are taking a measured approach to developing a strategic plan to achieve their goals. Rather than take action at their second meeting on Monday, members made several requests for information from Budget Office staff and agreed to develop and adopt […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council Committees
As part of our ongoing attempt to keep our readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we will now be offering weekly tip sheets for City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of the meetings, with links to the entire agenda. Audit and Finance Committee Monday, […]