Tag Archives: Travis County Commissioners Court
Monday, July 16, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Transit
County’s new transit plan includes buses, other odds and ends
The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a three-year transit development plan that aims to bring a variety of transit and transit-adjacent services to parts of the county where no buses currently operate.The 10 transit gap zones identified in…
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Travis County reveals proposed location for new courthouse
Travis County is negotiating with a private development group to build a brand-new civil courthouse at West 17th and Guadalupe streets.The location was revealed after County Judge Sarah Eckhardt announced at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting that she had signed off…
Monday, July 2, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
TipSheets
Reporter’s Notebook: Go Spurs go
What’s in the box… As City Council spends the next few weeks on vacation, let’s take a moment to reflect on the hardest-working body in local government, the Travis County Commissioners Court. Sure, the court took the first half of…
Monday, July 2, 2018 by Elizabeth Pagano
Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: Deece Eckstein
This week, Travis County Intergovernmental Relations Coordinator Deece Eckstein joins Austin Monitor freelancer Caleb Pritchard and editor Elizabeth Pagano. Listen in below to hear predictions about the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature and a review of some of the…
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Elfant updates Commissioners Court on Tax Office troubles following arrests
The Travis County Tax Office says that the first of four satellite offices that closed down after a fraud investigation netted seven arrests last month won’t reopen until late July at the earliest.Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant delivered that news along…
Tuesday, May 29, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Transit
Commissioners Court goes for Green Line
The Travis County Commissioners Court gave the green light last week to advance a study of a potential commuter rail line extending from downtown Austin out to Manor and possibly Elgin.The court voted 3-2 to approve the financial consulting firm…
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Commissioners Court tackles Tax Office troubles as disturbing audit is released
Travis County will have to face “some honest and possibly difficult conversations” during the upcoming budget process if it wants to avoid a repeat of the alleged crimes that have rocked the Tax Office, according to Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant.Elfant…
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Elfant to address Tax Office fraud investigation
Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant will brief the Commissioners Court on Tuesday morning about the fraud investigation that landed seven people in jail on Friday, four of them Tax Office employees.“There I will be able to provide details on…
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Contractor apologizes for racist remark at county meeting
The contractor who used a racial slur against Latino immigrants during a Travis County-sponsored meeting last week is apologizing.Aaron Cabaza, president of Aaron Concrete, sent an email to county staff on Tuesday afternoon expressing regret for his remarks at a…
Wednesday, May 2, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Water
Purple pipe to save water, Travis County tax dollars
Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea gathered members of the media at the Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon to tout a water conservation program that will save millions of gallons of drinking water per year.Those savings are courtesy of…
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Lingering senior staff vacancy vexes Commissioners Court
Not only can Travis County not find someone to fill its open county executive of operations management position, it can’t even find a recruiting firm to help with the search.That was how Tracey Calloway, director of the county’s Human Resources…
Monday, April 23, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Commissioners Court delays action on worker safety recommendations
The Travis County Commissioners Court will put off for several weeks a decision on a package of proposals aimed at strengthening protections for construction workers on county projects.Last Tuesday, the court discussed 10 recommendations set forth by Purchasing Office staff…
Friday, April 13, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Preservation
Palm School survey offers ground rules for redevelopment
The Travis County Commissioners Court on Thursday received a long-awaited report on the historic bona fides of the county-owned Palm School building during a briefing that offered potential redevelopment scenarios of the 19th-century downtown Austin structure.All of those scenarios would…
Monday, April 9, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
Office development on unincorporated land draws neighborhood opposition
Anxieties over traffic, safety, environmental degradation and more pushed the Travis County Commissioners Court last week to postpone action on an item that would clear the way for the construction of two new office buildings on a rural but rapidly…
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Transit
Green Line creeps forward at Commissioners Court
The Travis County Commissioners Court voted in a split decision on Tuesday to initiate a study of potential financing options for the proposed commuter rail line between Austin and Manor known as the Green Line.The move marks a small victory…
Monday, April 2, 2018 by Austin Monitor
Reporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Let’s talk talk
Talking to themselves… Do the members of the Commissioners Court and their staff need to take some time to discuss how they discuss things? Well, last Tuesday, the court discussed that very question! Concerning an upcoming retreat, Commissioner Brigid Shea…
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Public Safety
Commissioners Court hits pause on new women’s unit at county jail
The Travis County Commissioners Court has shelved for a full year what was supposed to be the first installment of a $97 million plan to build a new housing unit for female inmates at the county’s jail complex in Del…
Monday, March 5, 2018 by Austin Monitor
Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: Margaret Gómez
This week, Precinct 4 Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez sits down with Austin Monitor freelancer Caleb Pritchard and editor Elizabeth Pagano in a special live broadcast to talk about why she is seeking a seventh (!) term on the Commissioners…
Thursday, March 1, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Roads
Travis County looks to tap CTRMA to fast-track bond projects
Travis County and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority have both signed on to negotiations that could leverage the CTRMA’s prodigious road-building capabilities to boost priority safety improvements in the southeastern quadrant of the county.On Wednesday, the CTRMA board of…
Wednesday, February 28, 2018 by Caleb Pritchard
Budget
Split Commissioners Court endorses higher exemption for some homeowners
The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday took a preliminary step toward enlarging the property tax exemption for homeowning residents over the age of 65 or living with a disability.The court voted 3-2 to direct Planning and Budget Office staff…
