In depth budget work sessions began today with various departments presenting their proposed budgets and answering questions from Austin City Council.

Ten departments were scheduled to present Aug. 10, however only seven were heard from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.  Austin Code Department as well as Parks and Recreation had the longest discussion time of an hour each. All other presentations lasted at least over 40 minutes with the exception of Municipal Courts' presentation lasting about 12 minutes.

Animal Services Department

New Chief Animal Services Officer Tawny Hammond presented her departments budget of $11.8 million, an increase from its $10.9 million budget during Fiscal Year 2015. She touted the shelters' ability to achieve No-Kill status for four years and said Austin is the largest No-Kill city in the country.
  • 94.1 percent of animals at the shelter survived 2014, exceeding Austin City Council's goal of 90 percent live outcome.
  • 6,140 spay or neuter procedures were performed at the Animal Center in 2014.
  • Proposed 7 new Animal Care Workers to address increased workload and 1 Animal Health Technician Lead for Dog Behavior Program totaling $418,000.

Austin Code Department

Carl Smart, code compliance director, told council his staff is working on ways to improve enforcement and projects such as neighborhood enhancement, short term rentals and a new administrative hearing process are going well. The department has come under criticism recently following a report that said the repeat offender program does not function properly.
  • The department's average goal number of days between a complaint being received and non-judicial appliance occurring or a transfer to the judicial system is 107 days. In 2014, substandard structure complaints took an average of 200.9 days while zoning complaints took 152.9 days.
  • The department spent most of its funds on case investigations in fiscal year 2015 and is proposing the addition of 4 new positions for those services totaling $475,000.
  • The proposed budget is $20.1 million, an increase from the $18.4 million for fiscal year 2015.
  • Over 90 percent of the department's funding comes from the Clean Community Fee totaling $1.5 million.

Austin Public Library

The new Central Library is slated to open November 2016 while renovations of current libraries are planned for the near future. A book mobile program is in the works to help serve communities where a library is not currently near or communities that will be affected by library closures for construction.
  • Central Library will cost $2.3 million in staff, operations and one-time costs.
  • A budget of $42.3 million is proposed increasing from $37.3 million.
  • Circulation has increased by 25 percent since 2010.
  • Milwood, Will Hampton at Oak Hill, Pleasant Hill, University Hill and Southeast Austin branch libraries will be renovated during fiscal year 2016.

Health and Human Services

Under Austin City Council's homestead exemption plan, Health and Human Services is slated to receive $740,000 to provide rental and financial assistance to displaced residents.
  • 7,583 children under age 18 received vaccinations during fiscal year 2014.
  • Social service contracts make up the biggest portion of the $79.2 million proposed budget, an increase from $76.9 million.
  • A representative for the department explained they do not provide primary care services, but they do partner with Central Health for those services. The department focuses on educating the community on health issues and how to obtain health services.

Neighborhood Housing and Community Development

  • 6,420 households or persons were assisted by the department during fiscal year 2014.
  • 87 rental units were created or retained through the Rental Housing Development Assistance program.
  • A $17.4 million budget is proposed for fiscal year 2016, a slight decrease from $17.5 million in fiscal year 2015.
  • Betsy Spencer, department director, said most financial assistance requests come from developers or home owners with few requests from rental properties.

Parks and Recreation

Sara Hensley, director of Parks and Recreation, said her department is having trouble keeping up with the financial needs of Austin's parks. Work on parks and trails to make them more ADA accessible will next month, she said.
  • A budget of $85.3 million is proposed for fiscal year 2016, an increase from $83.5 million in fiscal year 2015.
  • Pool renovations are slated for Govalle and Shipe. The average age of Austin's pools is 50, however the oldest pool was built in 1930s, Hensley said. The antiquated system is not environmentally friendly or fiscally responsible, Hensley said.
  • The department plans to increase revenue through an increase of various fees.

Municipal Courts 

A bond is in the works to fund a new civil and family courts complex. The bond would be set for a vote on the November election ballot.
  • 96 percent of customers are served within 10 minutes while 97.5 percent of cases are placed on a docket within 60 days.
  • A $25 million budget is proposed for fiscal year 2016 increasing from $23.4 million in fiscal year 2015.
  • Revenue increased by $0.2 million from fees associated with traffic fines, warrant fees, deferral fees, city ordinance fines, misdemeanors and more.

Budget work sessions will also take place Aug. 12, Aug. 17 and Aug. 19. The budget is slated for approval by council during meetings from Sept. 8-10. Fiscal year 2016 will begin Oct. 1, 2015.

During the Aug. 10 budget work session, District 6 Council Member Don Zimmerman posted a resolution to the council's online message board proposing to reduce Austin's subsidies for corporations by 50 percent. The move would save tax payers $6.8 million, according to a news release.