The first regionally elected Austin City Council passed its first budget Sept. 10 with a total of $3.5 billion in spending, but the vote was not unanimous. Health and human services will receive the biggest funding increase of $7.7 million, and parks, libraries and open spaces received the second biggest increase of $5.1 million. An average homeowner’s tax bill should be about $13.80 less than the previous fiscal year as a result of council’s efforts to take an additional $2 off of the proposed tax rate. “It feels very good to have passed the first 10-1 budget,” Mayor Steve Adler said Sept. 10. “It feels even better to have a budget that I think is as good as this one is. We were able to reduce taxes and the tax rate. We were able to substantially decrease … the combined fees of property tax.” Council also took a vote acknowledging the amount property tax revenue must increase in order to fund the approved budget because more tax dollars will be needed than the current fiscal year. The official property tax rate will be adopted Sept. 22 and is expected to be 45.89 cents per $100 of valuation with an $83.12 proposed rate per month for an average ratepayer’s property tax bill. All council members voted in favor of the budget except District 6 Council Member Don Zimmerman and District 8 Council Member Ellen Troxclair, who initially voted in favor of the budget, but when a vote recount occurred, she changed her mind. “I’m really torn about it because I think there are so many good things in the budget,” Troxclair said. “But I was reminded of a pledge I took to not support a budget that wasn’t at the effective tax rate.” Much of the three days of budget discussion centered around improving health services and programs for the most vulnerable or impoverished communities. Adler said he hoped when minority communities look at the approved budget, members of those communities will see the council was thinking about them. Public safety was another focal point of the council. Work hours for emergency medical services staffers were reduced, and funding needed for police body cameras was approved.