City budget survey results are in

In light of protests that began in May, the city of Austin extended a public survey on budget priorities, and that report is now in and available to the public. As anticipated, there were a record number of survey results this year – 37,006 people completed the survey in full. From the report: “For most services, we observe that no change in budget has the strongest support, with the exception of the Police Department: 91.6% of the respondents requested some level of reduced allocation, with 48.6% requesting the maximum permitted reduction of 5% of their current budget.” In light of the 5 percent cap on reductions to any department, Austin Justice Coalition conducted its own budget survey and released the results of its #WeFund budgeting tool last week. The AJC survey found 95.8 percent of respondents supported reducing the public safety budget with the average cut to APD’s budget 54.4 percent, or just over $236.7 million. The budget presented by staff currently cuts the police budget by about 2 percent. City Council will meet for its work session today and is expected to discuss the budget for the first time since the budget suggested by staff was released.