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Budget
Council gauges interest on proposed budget items
City Council inched closer to adopting the city’s Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget at a work session on Tuesday when it took a “straw poll” – in the words of Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo – of the concept menu items…
Budget • By Tyler Whitson • Sep 2, 2015
Travis County reduces proposed tax rate
Crucial new data has given Travis County’s budget writers a little extra leeway to lower the proposed property tax rate in the next fiscal year. A Planning and Budget Office staff presentation before the Commissioners Court on Tuesday revealed that…
Budget • By Caleb Pritchard • Sep 2, 2015
Council sets tax rate, talks budget
On Thursday, City Council tackled the city budget once again. Though a deadline to finalize the budget is fast approaching, Council members opted to keep all of their budget proposals on the table for the time being. Although Council covered…
Budget • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 28, 2015
Minorities, low-income residents top budget amendment requests
With city budget season in full swing, dozens of Austinites took to the podium at City Hall during a public hearing Thursday to ask City Council to amend the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year to include more services…
Budget • By Tyler Whitson • Aug 21, 2015
Council argument about pay raises begins
As Austin’s unemployment rate goes down, the city’s employee turnover rate goes up, Acting Assistant City Manager Mark Washington told City Council at Monday’s budget work session. Currently, Austin’s unemployment rate is about 3.3 percent, and the projected turnover rate…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Aug 18, 2015
Council scrutinizes proposed police officer increase
City Council members spent over an hour Wednesday grilling Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo and other APD staff on the department’s proposed Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget, zeroing in on a plan to add 82 sworn police officers to the…
Budget • By Tyler Whitson • Aug 13, 2015
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Budget proposal catches Council off guard
With a city budget of $3.5 billion, there are a lot of line items that don’t get individual attention during Austin City Council’s budget talks. But on Monday, there was one Parks and Recreation Department allocation request that was curious…
Budget • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 13, 2015
Zimmerman seeks cut to Chapter 380 funding
City Council Member Don Zimmerman has proposed that Council cut by 50 percent payments to companies that have Chapter 380 agreements with the city, as a way to “reduce the tax burden by over $6.8 million without cutting city services.”…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Aug 11, 2015
Code budget talk quickly turns to STRs
City Council managed to tear through budget presentations for seven city departments yesterday. Of those, the Code Department seemed to bear the lion’s share of scrutiny, with the promise of more to come. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if…
Budget • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 11, 2015
Lower tax rate, higher tax bill in Travis County's draft budget
Travis County’s property tax rate is expected to dip during the next budget cycle, but taxpayers shouldn’t necessarily expect lower bills. According to the preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2016, the rate will drop by 6.62 percent. However, rising property…
Budget • By Caleb Pritchard • Aug 5, 2015
Updated: Council resolution would cut wage hike for most employees
City Council members Don Zimmerman and Ellen Troxclair have crafted a resolution that would cut the proposed salary increase for the majority of city employees and save the city an estimated $6 million in next year’s budget, according to their…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Aug 4, 2015
City may add as many as 85 new police officers
How many police officers should Austin have? That is a question that City Council members will likely be wrestling with over the next few weeks as they consider the Austin Police Department’s request for 85 new officers in the proposed…
