Last week City Council directed City Manager Spencer Cronk to evaluate proposals from social service providers to help people file their federal income taxes – apparently a prerequisite for getting a federal stimulus check. The resolution started as an inquiry about how a ruling from Attorney General Ken Paxton may have weakened city regulations governing payday lenders. Council directed Cronk to look into that also. The chief sponsor of the item was Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza. Adler, a co-sponsor, said Thursday, “There are a lot of people in the city that just haven’t filed returns for lots of different reasons, including the fact that they haven’t made enough money in order to be able to pay taxes. … But someone who hasn’t filed for that reason will not be eligible for one of the checks. So I really appreciate this effort to ask the manager to negotiate a contract with Foundation Communities to continue a program that they run, which has been great, with the hope that we could pull down an additional $30 million to folks in our community who otherwise would not be able to receive that money.” Garza pointed out that the resolution did not refer to any specific service provider, and Adler said he would not have voted for it if it had. Nevertheless, Foundation Communities is already set up to do the work. A visit to the nonprofit’s website explains how it is helping people file their taxes online, a service planned to continue through May 8.

Both the city of Austin and the state of Texas have dedicated resources to finding child care for families employed in essential industries. A coordinated effort between the governor’s office, Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Health and Human Services and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has launched a new website to this end. Frontline Child Care has options for those in need of child care, including information about how to find financial assistance. Locally, Austin Public Health has convened an Austin-Travis County Covid-19 Child Care Task Force to aid those who need support finding child care. The income threshold for child care subsidies has been expanded for essential workers to apply to those earning 150 percent of the median family income or less. “Increasing the income eligibility for child care subsidies from 85 percent to 150 percent of state median income for essential workers greatly improves access to licensed child care for those who most need care as they work to respond to this global emergency,” said Nicole Robinson, lead for the task force’s child care scholarships and director of child care contracts for Workforce Solutions Capital Area. More information about the task force and resources for essential workers in need of child care can be found here.

Neesha Davé, who has served as chief of staff for District 4 Council Member Greg Casar for the past five years, announced her resignation on Facebook on Sunday. She has told aides in other City Council offices about her decision to quit a job she obviously enjoys. But with Casar’s imminent announcement that he will seek the seat being vacated by Austin state Sen. Kirk Watson, Davé is taking her leave at a logical time. And over in the District 1 office, Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison has a new chief of staff. According to a memo from Harper-Madison, when Eric Byrd first applied for the job, people were still thinking about which bands they wanted to see during SXSW. In spite of the difficulties caused by the pandemic, Harper-Madison writes, Byrd “still took the job without thinking twice,” which “testifies to the kind of person he is and what he brings to the table for District 1 … Eric was born and raised in this community and is as dedicated to serving it as I am. He’s a graduate of (the Liberal Arts and Science Academy) and has spent his professional life applying his psychology degree and his master’s in education and behavior analysis in various roles across the education, mental health and social justice fields.”

The Contemporary Austin has launched a new website called The Contemporary From Home in an effort to meet “the community’s need for escape, reflection and distance learning.” The site also moves the museum’s art school online to offer live classes in drawing, painting, ceramics and photography featuring “one-on-one feedback in real time by professional artists and educators.” Visitors to the online museum can enjoy “art-making activities, streamable performances and lectures, in-depth lesson plans, and quiet explorations of individual works of art.” The Contemporary’s two locations are closed at least through early May and all on-site spring classes have been canceled or postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While exploring a museum online may not offer the same grandeur as seeing works of art in person, it’s still a valuable opportunity for quiet reflection and contemplation of one’s own place in humanity’s cosmos. Art classes for adults, teens and kids begin this week.

City Council has voted to pursue an appeal of a recent ruling against the city about the ongoing Land Development Code rewrite. The ruling strikes the Council votes on the current draft and upholds protest rights for residents who oppose zoning changes to their property or property close to their homes. In response, Council members Alison Alter, Ann Kitchen, Leslie Pool and Kathie Tovo released a statement reiterating their opposition to moving forward with an appeal. The statement reads, in part, “It will be several months before the community is able to focus on the LDC revision. When the effort is re-initiated, we strongly urge that the Council respond collaboratively. We have long advocated for finding common ground. Especially now, we firmly believe that the true measure of this effort is how well we build consensus, foster mutual respect and listen to the community. That is how the city will be successful in achieving our adopted goals.” Doug Becker, who is the attorney representing the plaintiffs of the lawsuit, also responded to Council’s decision, calling it “unfortunate.” The majority of Council members supported the appeal, with Mayor Steve Adler expressing a desire to find a resolution to the conflict and move forward as a community.

City Council voted unanimously Thursday to suspend utility service cutoffs, reduce some rates for water and energy service and increase funding to programs assisting residents with their utility bills. The approved ordinance waives late fees on bills due as of March 15, suspends service cutoffs until Sept. 30 and adds $10 million to payment assistance programs for Austin Energy and Austin Water to help those who have lost income due to the pandemic. The two utility companies will each receive $5 million to enhance their respective programs. The increased funding will increase the discount to Austin Energy bills to 15 percent, instead of the standard 10 percent, for eligible customers. An amendment to the ordinance presented by Council Member Jimmy Flannigan directs the city manager to work with other utility companies that serve Austin residents to define eligibility and enrollment processes for similar assistance programs. The ordinance also made several adjustments to the fee schedules for the utilities, which will be reset to normal via a request to Council by their respective executives or during the course of the next budget process when annual rates are typically established. Also on Thursday, Council approved a resolution waiving fees for unstickered extra trash, in effect until the end of the city’s stay-home order that was issued March 24.

Laura Huffman, who leads the Texas office of the Nature Conservancy, has been named president and CEO of the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Huffman will take the reins from longtime leader Mike Rollins on April 20, according to a news release from the organization. Rollins announced his intention to retire last year. Huffman is well-known around the city for her service as an assistant city manager under City Manager Toby Futrell. During her time with the city, Huffman negotiated Austin’s 100-year water deal with the Lower Colorado River Authority and led contract negotiations with public safety unions. Acknowledging that the pandemic and resulting unemployment crisis would create extra challenges, Huffman told the Austin Monitor Thursday, “I’m just extremely excited to take this role at this moment in time. As a native Austinite and as the mother of four children, as someone who cares deeply about this community, I understand that it’s all about people and what people are experiencing within their families, with their jobs and with their companies, whatever that looks like – a restaurant, a band or a major employer in Austin. And I think we’ve got some hard work ahead of us but I know this to be a resilient community and I have great confidence in Austinites.”

Thanks to the recently passed coronavirus relief package known as the CARES Act, Austin community health clinics will be receiving $4.6 million in funding. People’s Community Clinic will get $1,000,775 and Travis County Healthcare District (Central Health) gets $3,676,220. In an announcement about the news, Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who secured the funding, said, “Today, we’re deploying resources to reinforce our frontline health centers, who care for some of our most vulnerable neighbors. This is a good start, but much more is needed to adequately combat this pandemic. Until we resolve our health care crisis, we cannot resolve our economic crisis.” The supplemental funding will enhance the health centers’ response to the crisis by expanding their ability to detect, prevent and treat Covid-19. Regina Rogoff, CEO of People’s Community Clinic, said, “We are thrilled by this news. This funding will enable our workforce to continue tele-visits and facilitate video tele-visits with our patients. We can ensure that the strong team across our clinics can take care of the health needs of our community through the end of this pandemic.” Sherri Greenberg, chairperson of Central Health’s Board of Managers, said, “We appreciate Congressman Doggett’s advocacy for health care in our community – he has always been there for us, and more importantly, for the people we serve.”

The Stay-at-Home, Work Safe order has claimed another casualty. The Austin Independent School District announced yesterday that all district facilities and open spaces would be closed to the public, “including tennis courts, tracks, football fields, basketball courts and playfields.” Since playing contact sports of any kind is ill-advised – if not downright prohibited – during the pandemic, most people probably will not be too affected by the closures. Those who are desperate for a game of pickup basketball or a tennis match might want to explore a solo workout instead. We hear Yoga With Adriene is popular.

Although overall sales tax collection for Texas cities is slightly down overall, Austin and Round Rock will both receive an increased allocation this month compared to April 2019. Austin will receive more than $18.4 million, compared to about $17.8 million for the same month in 2019. Round Rock will receive more than $6.75 million, slightly more than the $6.68 million the city received last year.

On the other hand, San Antonio’s allocation for this month was more than 4 percent less than for the same month last year, according to an announcement from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who announced Wednesday that overall tax collections for cities are about 0.5 percent less than they were a year ago. The allocations are based on sales made in February. Hegar warned that next month’s allocations will be lower because they will reflect sales in March, when pandemic-related shutdowns started to impact sales. His news release also said, “June allocations will likely deteriorate further.”

The comptroller also reported that sales tax payments to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority for this month would be about $20.3 million compared to about $19.4 million for last year. Overall, Capital Metro’s sales tax collection has increased more than 10 percent for the current fiscal year. The local transit agency has received more than $92 million in sales tax this year, compared to about $84 million for the same period last year. Capital Metro has stopped collecting fares for the month of April in order to protect both its customers and its drivers during the pandemic.

Yes, oh studious one, the libraries are all closed, but if you are engaged in critical research, there’s still hope. The Harry Ransom Center – UT’s illustrious humanities research facility – is also closed to the public, but its staffers are providing some modified research and reference services remotely through at least May 1. As the center put it in a message on its website, “Without access to collections, many reference and research queries, duplication orders and other public services are necessarily on hold. However, librarians, curator, and research and instructional support staff continue to be available to provide consultations via email, phone, or Zoom.” The Ransom Center has waived all fees during the closure. “Staff may assist with identifying and accessing online resources, and enabling provision and support in use of digital materials when available, for ongoing teaching and research.” Find helpful email addresses and information about which services the center is offering here.

This week, Texas State Parks made the difficult decision to temporarily close all state parks, “until public health and safety conditions improve.” But there’s a silver lining: Because of the closure, parks pass holders can add two months to the life of their pass. The extension is automatically granted to anyone whose parks pass was active on April 7. It may take a few weeks before the additional time appears on online accounts. If the closures continue, the state parks department may consider adding even more time to the passes.