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City Hall
In one-time move, county restores funding to social service group
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court granted a $200,000 funding request for one year from Asian Family Support Services of Austin. While the resolution was passed unanimously, several commissioners and lamented the lack of procedure of the motion, given…
Budget • By Seth Smalley • Oct 8, 2021
How much would more remote participation cost the city?
Since March 2020, when Gov. Greg Abbott suspended certain requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act to allow city officials to hold virtual meetings, the public has been allowed to participate by phone. Austin residents have participated in remote testimony…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Oct 7, 2021
With public comment procedures in flux, two dozen zoning cases postponed
City Council heard many fewer zoning cases than expected last week after city staff decided to postpone the cases because of a surprise reinterpretation of public meeting participation rules. When staffers originally gave public notice for 24 zoning cases scheduled…
City Hall • By Jonathan Lee • Oct 6, 2021
Park rangers get funding for six additional staff members
For months, the Parks and Recreation Department has been pleading for additional park ranger staffing resources. Finally, the city has answered its prayers with $615,000 in increased funding for the department’s Park Ranger program. In a memo sent to Mayor Steve Adler and City…
Budget • By Sean Saldaña • Oct 6, 2021
UT report says Austin could be more welcoming to immigrants
The city’s Equity Office is supporting the findings of a recent report published by University of Texas researchers who found there is work to be done to increase the economic and civic participation of immigrants locally. The report, titled “Advancing…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 6, 2021
In the face of statewide abortion ban, Council affirms support for reproductive rights
In 2019, the city of Austin made headlines for being one of the first cities in the nation to allocate funds to help women access abortions. Now, with the recent passage of Texas’ Senate Bill 8, the most restrictive abortion ban…
City Council • By Jackie Ibarra • Oct 1, 2021
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AISD sets lowest tax rate in 20 years, prepares for challenges ahead
Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees ended this week’s voting meeting on a bold note, adopting the lowest property tax rate the district has seen in 20 years. In the 2022 fiscal year, taxpayers will pay $1.0617 per $100…
Budget • By Kali Bramble • Sep 28, 2021
ICRC continues to request feedback in final month of district mapping
The Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission continues to gather public feedback on the preliminary map commissioners helped draw of Austin’s City Council districts. While commissioners approved a preliminary map on Sept. 15, they have until Nov. 1 to consider additional feedback from Austinites…
City Council • By Willow Higgins • Sep 27, 2021
Tovo eyes historic preservation funds for undisclosed property negotiations
The grant program that uses Hotel Occupancy Tax money to help improve historic sites could be put on hold for a year so the city could use its funding to purchase historic sites. At City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 24, 2021
Report: City lacks complete list of homelessness agreements
The Office of the City Auditor reports that City Council initiated 47 resolutions, ordinances and other orders related to alleviating homelessness between September 2018 and May 2021. As a result of those directives, the city entered into at least 101 agreements, mostly…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Sep 22, 2021
City backtracks, now says people can testify by phone at public meetings
The proverbial phone line had been cut. Now, it’s being restored. Over the summer, the city of Austin said residents would no longer be able to phone in to public meetings as they’d been doing during the pandemic. The change…
City Hall • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Sep 22, 2021
Early redistricting map reflects population growth of Northwest Austin
City Council districts for the rest of the decade will largely look the same as those created in 2013, based on the reveal of the preliminary map that has been in the works for much of this year. While the…
