Officials reviewed funding for services tied to parks, public safety, animal services and more July 24. Additional budget sessions are scheduled over the next few weeks before council finalizes the FY 2024-25 plan and sets a tax rate in mid-August.
The big picture
The bulk of the general fund is taken up by the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County EMS, all of which may see some changes over the next year.
Staff and officials noted that overtime spending in the police and fire departments continues to be a notable budgeting issue, although for different reasons.
APD's vacancy rate for sworn officers has nearly doubled since 2020, reaching about 19% as of this June. High overtime spending beyond budgeted levels has been common in recent years to maintain police responses amid the officer shortfall, although savings from personnel vacancies help cover the gap.For now, dozens of new officers are on the way. The ongoing 152nd and future 153rd APD cadet classes are expected to be among the largest since police training was rebooted in 2021.
Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson also said staffing has improved in the 911 call center where just three APD call-taker positions will be vacant after a current round of training wraps up. The 911 center has more than halved its overall vacancy rate since October.
At the fire department, overtime spending is also trending higher than expected. Staff reported that increased time off coupled with a rise in vacancies has proven to be a bigger factor for AFD.
“Given our previous calculations and experience, we thought the amount we budgeted for overtime was the right level. But then we’ve been surprised with how many people out on sick leave we’ve seen this year compared to previous years," Austin Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo said. "We’re going to have to reevaluate that moving forward.”Fire Chief Joel Baker attributed the rise in overtime to more firefighters getting injured in a dangerous line of work. Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks said the city should consider funding more mental health resources for employees as well, especially following recent suicides on the force.
What's new
EMS overtime wasn't called out as a budgeting issue, but the department is seeking to expand its presence and improve its responses downtown.
EMS resources are often stretched thin around central bars and entertainment districts thanks to higher rates of 911 calls there on weekend nights. Many of those incidents can be relatively minor and don't require significant medical responses.
For example, around 10% of patients EMS transports in those periods are for trips to the Sobering Center—assistance that generally shouldn't require a costly and time-consuming ambulance ride.
"What we want to do is make sure that an ambulance is not on Sixth Street dealing with something that might not need a trip to the hospital, and then there is a life-threatening emergency that comes in somewhere else downtown for a resident and that ambulance has to come from another part of the city," said EMS Chief Robert Luckritz.
EMS is seeking almost $1 million for three new positions and overtime, plus more than $800,000 in one-time spending for vehicles and equipment, to launch a new downtown command to more effectively respond to certain types of calls. The new strategy could involve a medical trailer and smaller utility vehicles to better respond around more crowded areas.
The funding would build on a pilot program around Rainey Street that helped dozens of people and likely prevented drownings in Lady Bird Lake. Downtown council member Zo Qadri said he aims to secure continued funding for that program, and other Central Austin safety initiatives.
Luckritz also noted the downtown situation mirrors growing issues around The Domain, where the needs of its developing retail and entertainment scene also pull resources away from nearby neighborhoods.
Also of note
More money could also go towards improving the APD's work with sex crimes.
New resources would build on recent civic commitments and funding that followed a settlement with sexual assault survivors and dozens of recommendations made through a review of years of case work.
Hundreds of thousands of one-time and continuing dollars could go towards new training, added detective staffing and other updates. Those items would back the ongoing Collective Sex Crimes Response Models partnership between APD and community advocates to implement the recommended improvements.
Some of the funding priorities were identified by staff as being unmet needs in the current budget outline. Council member Alison Alter said the items may be required under the survivor settlement, like the public apology issued by city officials earlier this year, and called for full funding to support the collaborative's work.
“I hope that the [rest of council] will join me in completing this commitment that we’ve made to the survivors and our community, and helping us go from being called out in national media as a failure in this regard to being the leaders," Alter said.
APD Lt. Chris Leleux, who's involved in the CSCRM process, said he couldn't speak to legal specifics but the requested funding would help complete the "critical" work.
“The nation is watching what we do and hoping that it is successful and hoping to replicate it," he said.
During public testimony, several residents including plaintiffs in the suit and CSCRM participants also petitioned city leaders for full funding.
"[The settlement] was never really just about the lawsuit, the facts of which were appalling and horrifying to everyone who read them from day one," said Lesley Varghese, president and chief legal officer with the sexual assault and domestic violence response nonprofit The SAFE Alliance. "It was about doing the right thing, the decent thing and the safe thing, and it was about the survivors."
One more thing
Outside of the three main public safety departments, funding is also being reserved to respond to violence with initiatives like the Harvest Trauma Recovery Center launched last year.
Officials said the TRC is already exceeding its service goals and is providing a regional benefit, most recently aiding those impacted by the Juneteenth mass shooting in Round Rock.
More than $1 million would be spent on other violence intervention work, a growing strategy in the city that staff said has:
- Served nearly 300 at-risk youth
- Prevented or de-escalated more than 50 potential shootings
- Provided over 80 hours of counseling
- Helped 26 people get housing assistance
- Offered more than 1,700 hours of "relational interactions" aimed at building trust in the community
