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Austin Monitor
Commissioners pass health district tax increase but plan increased scrutiny
On their second attempt, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted 4-1 to approve a tax increase and 3-1 to approve the 2024 budget for the county health care district. The votes increase the tax rate to 10.07 cents per $100 valuation. With rising home values, this will add about $56 to an average home’s yearly tax bill. Property tax revenue will increase from $281.6 million in 2023 to $312.4 million. The budget will jump from $628.5 million to $744.2 million.
Downtown Commission pushes for progress on housing, Palm District planning
Members of the Downtown Commission want the city to adjust density bonus programs and other initiatives intended to add middle-income and affordable housing to new developments downtown. They also see a need for better planning and economic development measures for the Palm District and the patchwork of cultural areas contained in the areas between the Rainey Street District and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Capital Metro Board of Directors approves Fiscal Year 2024 budget
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously Monday to approve the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Operating and Capital Budget, as well as its Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan. The approved budget is $871,033,690 in operating and capital expenses. It includes $427.5 million in operating expenses, $12 million for commitments...
Barton Springs bridge gets new rules
As of this week, heavy vehicles traveling eastbound across the Barton Springs Road Bridge will be required to stay in the far right lane in an effort to extend the life of the bridge. The decision to limit options for heavier traffic, including buses, was made after the most recent...
East 12th Street rezoning wins final approval
City Council gave final approval last week to a major change in land use on East 12th Street from commercial to mixed use, including an increase in height limits from 40 feet to 60 feet. The properties in question are within Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison’s district, and she strongly defended her support for the changes for 3117 and 3121 E. 12th St.
Animal shelter audit calls out overcrowding, management issues for no-kill facility
An audit of operations at the Austin Animal Shelter has found that the no-kill facility is often beyond its capacity and lacks the data, staff and processes to meet the city’s 95 percent live-release goal. A draft copy of the audit, which was called for last summer by City...
Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison takes temporary leave to address mental health
Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison will temporarily step away from her position to address her mental health, she announced Monday. “This year has been extremely challenging for me,” she said. “I live with depression and anxiety. Thankfully these issues can be treated with focused care.”. Her leave...
Cap Metro board approves contract with new third-party bus service provider
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted Monday to approve a resolution authorizing a contract with a new third-party bus operator, despite concerns from union leadership. A motion to approve the item passed the board unanimously. President & CEO Dottie Watkins can now finalize and execute a contract...
Austin policy lets builders forgo red tape. The result? More affordable housing, less public input.
Tomás Ramírez moistens a reed, puts in his teeth, gulps down the last of his coffee and begins to play. The sound that comes from his alto saxophone is a mournful riff. “I just sort of make things up when people ask me to play,” Ramírez says. The 75-year-old has played on Carole King albums and with the Latin pop band Beto and the Fairlanes. Last year, the Austin Jazz Society inducted Ramírez into its Hall of Fame. And four months ago, he got his own apartment.
City taking criticisms, survey results to improve Live Music Fund process
The city is taking extensive feedback from a local musician advocacy group into consideration as it works to refine the Live Music Fund’s application process, which many hopeful recipients claimed was not aligned with the needs of working musicians. At this month’s meeting of the Music Commission, representatives from...
Austin Energy weighs climate goals, transmission constraints ahead of resource management plan update
After navigating the summer’s record temperatures, Austin Energy is shifting gears, preparing an update to its Resource Generation Plan for the first time since committing to total carbon neutrality by 2035. The 2030 Plan, which launched in 2020 as Covid-19 shook the globe, charts a course for the utility...
Austin slowly expands police oversight powers voters passed in the spring
Months after Austinites overwhelmingly passed a sweeping measure calling for stronger police oversight, the City Council voted Thursday to set hard deadlines for staff to expand the Office of Police Oversight’s power. The resolution was approved 10 to 1, with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voting against. Proposition A, which...
Council approves incentives for NXP Semiconductors’ $290M planned investment
The city has agreed to its first major economic incentive package in six years, with just over $1 million for a variety of uses headed toward tech manufacturer NXP Semiconductors N.V. That package will allow NXP, which has two major facilities in Austin, to qualify for additional federal incentives as...
Commissioners question health care district contingency fund, postpone budget vote
The Travis County Commissioners Court took no action on the county health care district’s proposed budget and tax increase Tuesday after repeatedly questioning the wisdom of the district’s $379 million contingency fund. The controversial fund grew rapidly in recent years as the health care district, which serves low-income...
Brodie Oaks redevelopment wins final approval
City Council gave final approval Thursday to the redevelopment of the Brodie Oaks shopping center, which developers envision as a vibrant mixed-use center with retail space, restaurants, offices and residential towers, as well as green space and a hotel. Attorney David Armbrust told the Austin Monitor that developers Barshop &...
Working group aims for systemic overhaul of Austin’s handling of sexual assault cases
City Council will consider today three agenda items related to the Austin Police Department’s handling of sexual assault cases. If approved, they would direct more than $443,000 in city and grant funds toward an outside review of such cases opened between 2021 and 2022, an audit of the department’s Sex Crimes Unit, and the hiring of five retired investigators to assist the unit.
Council weighs affordable housing goals as it restarts HealthSouth redevelopment process
Members of City Council want the city to reexamine how much affordable and market-rate housing could be generated downtown based on the redevelopment of the parcels known as the HealthSouth property. Item 101 on the agenda for today’s meeting directs the Austin Housing Finance Corporation to determine the best scenario...
Bee Cave residents sue city over proposed roadway
Citizens for the Preservation of the Brown Property, a nonprofit organization operating in Bee Cave, is gearing up for a court battle over the city’s action designating a 4-acre area near Little Barton Creek as a future roadway. The area is part of the 44-acre Brown Property, which the...
Starting next year, researchers will seek relatives of long-lost Oakwood Cemetery residents
City officials say genetic testing of 35 Austinites buried at Oakwood Cemetery more than a century and a half ago is done, and researchers could be ready to test possible descendants of those people as soon as next year. City staff discovered the bodies of 36 people under the Oakwood...
TipSheet: Austin City Council, 9.21.23
It’s the second week in a row of City Council meetings, so it makes sense that this one might lack pizzazz. As usual, however, there are some standouts on the agenda, and we’ve compiled the things we’re keeping an eye on here. In November, voters approved a...
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