At a public hearing Thursday, City Council took the first step toward a possible tax rate election on the November ballot in order to plug Austin’s $33 million deficit and fund the proposed $6.3 billion budget, setting the maximum Council can ask voters to increase their property taxes at 8 cents, or an extra $421 […]
Texas Legislature
The state’s legislative governing body composed of the House and Senate.
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Legislature watchers report to Council
Austin’s Intergovernmental Relations Officer Carrie Rogers briefed Council Tuesday and expressed optimism about what might happen in the current special session of the Texas Legislature, which started on Monday. She told Council it was very important to their success as a team to reach out to a bill’s author “to let them know what our […]
Posted inEducation
Austin ISD eliminating jobs at its central office to reduce budget deficit
Austin ISD is trying to slash up to $10 million in spending by restructuring its central administrative office. Staff will learn the future of their positions Wednesday. “The process will include eliminating positions, reassignments, new reporting structures and pay scales,” district officials told KUT News in an email. The changes at the central office, which […]
Posted inDevelopment
Texas lawmakers finalize bill limiting property owners’ right to protest new homes nearby
Property owners in Texas hoping to stop or stall new housing next door will soon find it harder to do so. Texas lawmakers finalized a bill last week that loosens a little-known state law guaranteeing homeowners the right to protest zoning changes in their neighborhoods. A zoning change is when a landowner asks for the […]
Posted inEnergy
New Data Center Planned for Lockhart in 2028
Only a few weeks after Austin City Council passed a resolution requiring various regulations on artificial intelligence operations, a new 2GW data center is coming to Lockhart. Tract, a Colorado-based developer, has secured 1,500 acres for a “megasite” in Caldwell County, only about six miles away from famous barbecue joints Smitty’s Market, Kreuz Market, and […]
Posted inPolice
After court ruling, APD says it won’t cite people for small amounts of marijuana — for now
When an appeals court struck down Austin’s marijuana decriminalization ordinance late last month, confusion and disappointment flooded social media. “So am I a criminal now?” Reddit user Environmental_Ad3964 commented. “So.. I’m kinda confused about what this accomplishes,” another user wrote. Good question, u/DrDrago-4. In the immediate future, the appeals court ruling will not change much about how […]
Posted inBudget
Tax rate election seems likely this November
During the City Council Audit & Finance Committee meeting Tuesday, Kerri Lang, director of the city’s budget office, laid out the steps the city would take in deciding whether to submit a request to voters for a property tax increase on the November ballot. At least seven members of Council must vote in favor of […]
Posted inFire
Two bills compete to reform firefighters retirement fund
Two competing bills in the Texas Legislature aim to tackle the issue of reforming the funding structure of the Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund. In a message on the City Council Message Board (posted by the mayor’s chief of staff, Colleen Pate), Mayor Kirk Watson said: “AFRF has been on the Texas Pension Review Board watchlist […]
Posted inAustin
Council members celebrate unanimous defeat of bill that proposed putting Austin under state control
Austin City Council members celebrated the resounding defeat of House Bill 274 on Wednesday, a bill that would have created the “District of Austin” as the state’s official seat of government. “Our message is loud and clear: local leaders are best equipped to address local needs. The overwhelming rebuke from members of the state Legislature […]
Posted inEducation
Austin public education advocates blast Trump’s order aiming to close Education Department
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday to phase out the U.S. Department of Education – an agency that provides loans and grants to college students, distributes federal funding to schools and is tasked with protecting students’ civil rights. The move follows significant layoffs at the department, including staff at a regional office in Dallas. In […]
Posted inHousing
Eviction crisis spreads as affordability pressures worsen
A record-breaking 13,210 evictions were filed in Travis County in 2024, according to a memo released last week from BASTA (Building and Strengthening Tenant Action), a project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. The memo, a snapshot with key evictions-related findings from 2024, found that the typical eviction case lasted around 20 days, and the median […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Texas won’t offer a program to help feed kids over the summer. Advocates push for change next year.
About three dozen states plan to participate in a federal program that helps families pay for groceries over the summer. For the second year in a row, Texas – which has the second-highest rate of food insecurity in the U.S. – won’t be among them. The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, also known as Summer […]