Austin City Council The 10-1 Austin City Council was sworn in January 2015.[/caption]

Austin City Council created a Regional Affordability Committee during its Jan. 29 meeting.


The group is tasked with reviewing best practices from other cities to help create and maintain policies that promote affordability in Austin. The new committee is expected to tackle various topics such as education, child care, food, housing, transportation, utilities and health care.

Three members of the Austin City Council will serve on the committee: Councilwoman Delia Garza,Councilwoman Ann Kitchen and Councilwoman Ellen Troxclair. The other members of the committee will be representatives from the Austin ISD board of trustees, Travis County Commissioners Court, Austin Community College board of trustees, Capital Metropolitan Board of Directors, Central Health Board of Directors, Del Valle ISD board of trustees, Pflugerville ISD board of trustees and Williamson County Commissioners Court.

The original plan called for a committee composed of strictly Austin representatives, but after receiving input from constituents the scope was widened to include other areas, Garza said.

Almost 23 percent of Austin residents are "cost-burdened" and dedicating 30 percent of their net income to housing costs, according to city documents associated with the creation of this committee.

The committee will hold its meetings publicly and be subject to the Open Meetings Act, but so far no meeting schedulehas been established.