10-1 Council passes budget with 9-2 vote
AUSTIN On Sept. 10 the first regionally elected Austin City Council passed its first budget 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.
City Council also worked to save taxpayers an additional $2, meaning the average homeowner’s tax bill should be about $13.80 less than the previous fiscal year.
“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 of tax revenue must increase to fund the budget approved 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 $0.4589 cents per $100 valuation with a proposed $83.12 per month for an average ratepayer.
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 employees were reduced, and funding needed for police body cameras was approved.
Central Health to reduce tax rate
TRAVIS COUNTY Central Health intends to lower its property tax rate, but because property values are higher than last year, homeowners will pay slightly more to the public entity.
The current tax rate set by Central Health is $0.1264 per $100 of property value. The new proposed rate is $0.117781 per $100 of property value. Despite the rate drop, Central Health revenue is expected to go up by 4.5 percent, partially because of new property added to the tax rolls and partially due to increased property values.
The Central Health Board of Managers was expected to finalize the budget and tax rate Sept. 23. The Travis County Commissioners Court is scheduled to meet Sept. 29 for final approval. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
Council mulls Uber, Lyft law changes
AUSTIN City Council is reviewing proposed changes to an ordinance governing transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft that could level the playing field with other ground transportation providers.
Council Member Ann Kitchen, who leads the Mobility Committee, said it is not the goal of council to promote one company over another but to protect the health and safety of the public.
“It’s time now after the pilot program that started last year to look at how we might put in place some improvements for our whole community,” she said.
Committee members heard public testimony Sept. 2 and will have a policy discussion Oct. 7 with representatives from Uber and Lyft.
WilCo OKs FY 2015-16 budget, tax rate
WILLIAMSON COUNTY Commissioners approved a $267.2 million budget Sept. 1 for fiscal year 2015-16. It includes a $158.7 million general fund, which funds capital projects, personnel costs, and operations and maintenance, as well as a $27.4 million road and bridge fund and an $81.1 million debt services fund.
On Sept. 8 commissioners approved a property tax rate of $0.481529 per $100 valuation, a half-cent decrease from the previous year. County Judge Dan Gattis said the court decided to lower the tax rate slightly and allocate funds toward reducing the county’s debt.
“We could lower that tax rate more than that, but we’ve elected to take $10 million out of the funds to pay off debt,” he said.
