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Austin plans to move forward with abortion travel fund, officials say

The city of Austin will be allowed to move forward with plans to implement its Reproductive Justice Fund, despite a lawsuit challenging its legality, city officials said. The Reproductive Justice Fund is a provision in the city’s 2024-25 budget that is…

Public Health • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Sep 3, 2024

Council pushes forward with density bonus changes

Though it has been in place only since February, the city’s newest density bonus program – DB90 – was updated by City Council during its Thursday meeting. DB90, which is a new zoning category ushered through the codification process at…

Land Development Code • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 3, 2024

Judge’s order halts Nov. 5 charter election

Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Thursday ordered the city of Austin to eliminate 13 proposed charter amendments from the Nov. 5 ballot because City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act in setting a hearing on the…

Courts • By Jo Clifton • Aug 30, 2024

Audit finds low pay, telework policy among drags on the city's worker retention rate

A recent audit by the Office of the City Auditor found the city’s efforts to retain employees are falling short, with compensation, career progression and telework policies standing out as problem areas. With a turnover rate that peaked at 11.77…

City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 30, 2024

Audit: City needs better data to improve e-scooter rules

The city of Austin does not have enough information to ensure it can make and enforce rules governing electric scooters, according to an audit report presented to the City Council Audit & Finance Committee on Wednesday. The audit also indicated…

Transportation • By Jo Clifton • Aug 30, 2024

Hays Commons development’s parkland proposal wins support from Parks Board

The Parks and Recreation Board has given a proposed development its unanimous support based on the amount of parkland the builder has promised to provide on a nearly 500-acre site straddling Travis and Hays counties. The development, Hays Commons, is…

Parks • By Amy Smith • Aug 30, 2024

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County to fully staff lawyers at bail hearings beginning Oct. 1

Justice advocates have been calling for Travis County to instate Counsel at First Appearance (CAFA) – an integral part of the justice system that ensures everyone access to a lawyer at their initial bail hearing – for years. In the…

Public Safety • By Lina Fisher • Aug 29, 2024

Parks board asks City Council to review why boating concession ordinance exempted community input

The Parks and Recreation Board wants City Council to reexamine, and possibly rescind, a 2019 ordinance allowing an adventure excursion company to operate a boating concession in East Austin without going through a public process. The company, called the Expedition…

Parks • By Amy Smith • Aug 29, 2024

Critics still say hydrogen gas plant would be a dealbreaker in Austin Energy Resource Generation Plan

As Austin Energy continues to iron out the details of its Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan, environmentalists are keeping the pressure on, demanding the utility abandon its proposal to build a new hydrogen-capable combined cycle power plant. Austin Energy…

Energy • By Kali Bramble • Aug 29, 2024

Council to see start of contracts for nearly $2.5B to fund airport expansion

City Council will consider a handful of funding items today that collectively would approve almost a half-billion dollars in contracts for the expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The five requests total $497.8 million and represent the next major decisions in…

Transportation • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 29, 2024

TipSheet: Austin City Council, 8.29.24

Today, City Council will convene to hold its regular Thursday meeting and, to celebrate the occasion, we’ve put together a collection of things that caught our eye while reading through the agenda. Behold! In February, Council approved a new density…

TipSheets • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 29, 2024

Class action lawsuit targets Austin taxes over Project Connect

A new class-action lawsuit is seeking to block the city from collecting any property taxes, potentially starving Austin’s municipal government of almost all revenue, until it kills a tax approved by voters in 2020 to fund the largest public transit expansion…

Courts • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Aug 28, 2024

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