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Budget
Travis County considers how to recoup revenue
As the deadline for Travis County’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget draws near, the Commissioners Court is grappling with how to appropriately price county fees and services in anticipation of the 3.5 percent property tax increase cap that will go into…
Budget • By Katherine Corley • Sep 13, 2019
$7.7 million added to housing trust fund
Council agreed during Tuesday’s budget meeting to more than double the funds in the city’s housing trust fund, by adding $5 million for rental housing development assistance and $2.7 million for a new home repair program. The trust fund now…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Sep 12, 2019
Council adopts $4.2 billion budget
For the second year in a row, City Council has adopted its fiscal year budget in a single meeting of discussing and adopting amendments. With the budget passing 10-1, Council Member Jimmy Flannigan said his vote against the budget came…
Budget • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 11, 2019
Cronk promises employee pay raises next year
Austin city employees were expecting a 2.5 percent pay raise for Fiscal Year 2020 from the time staff’s proposed budget was revealed. But many of them, after reading about the 3.5 percent tax cap imposed by the state Legislature, were…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Sep 11, 2019
Commissioners Court OKs small pay hikes for law enforcement
After approving raises for the county’s civilian workforce, the Travis County Commissioners Court wants to boost pay for the region’s 1,300 sheriff’s deputies, park rangers, jail guards and constable officers. However, members of the court are opting for a more…
Budget • By Jack Craver • Sep 9, 2019
Council looks at police, fire department budgets
At Council’s final budget work session on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo told Council members he had learned that the city would have about $2.4 million more than anticipated when staff prepared the original budget of $4.2…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Sep 5, 2019
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Council sets differing expectations for homeless strategy officer
While Lori Pampilo Harris, the city’s newly hired homeless strategy officer, packs her things and prepares for her journey from Orlando to Austin, City Council is making big plans for her first day on the job. The first order of…
Budget • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 5, 2019
Council looks beyond the budget
City Manager Spencer Cronk sat down with Council members at a special called work session Thursday to give an overview of four budget-related topics that have come up in recent weeks: the Hotel Occupancy Tax; an emergency-response report by the…
Budget • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 30, 2019
Human Rights Commission calls for $1.75M for more mental health emergency responders
The Human Rights Commission has joined the city’s Public Safety Commission in recommending that City Council commit funds in the next budget to add staff for first responders dealing with individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The rights commission unanimously…
Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 29, 2019
Central Health presents 2020 draft budget with substantial structural changes
Central Health, the Travis County health care district that provides medical care to indigent residents, unveiled its preliminary 2020 budget on Monday evening at a community discussion held at its headquarters in East Austin. This year’s budget incorporates a 6.9…
Budget • By Katherine Corley • Aug 28, 2019
Budget, tax hearings coming soon
Budget and tax rate season is upon us once again. As Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo told City Council at Tuesday’s work session, the city will hold three public hearings on the $4.2 billion budget, beginning today at…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Aug 22, 2019
County to advocates: Don't just tell us where to spend, but where to cut
With revenue caps on the horizon, members of the Travis County Commissioners Court have the unenviable task of telling groups calling for increased funding of critical services, from social programs to law enforcement, that there simply may not be the…
