CITY & COUNTY
News from Rollingwood, Lakeway, West Lake Hills & Travis County
QUOTE OF NOTE
Lakeway adopts FY 202223 budget
SOURCES OF REVENUE
“THESE VACCINES HAVE BEEN CRITICAL IN REDUCING THE SPREAD OF MONKEYPOX HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND PROTECTING PEOPLE FROM THE SEVERE PAIN THE MONKEYPOX VIRUS CAN CAUSE.” DR. DESMAR WALKES, AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY HEALTH AUTHORITY, ON MONKEYPOX VACCINES CITY HIGHLIGHTS ROLLINGWOOD The city approved a property tax rate of $0.1796 per $100 valuation at the Sept. 28 City Council meeting for FY 2022-23. This rate consists of a general operating fund tax of $0.0951 and debt service tax of $0.0845. LAKEWAY City Council approved an amendment to a 34.75-acre tract of land, which is part of The Oaks planned unit development, Sept. 12. One of the amendments requires developer Stratus to have a site plan by the time the road is nished and to dedicate the parkland to the city. WEST LAKE HILLS The city approved Brinkley Sargent Wiginton for the design of the new city municipal complex at 4010 Bee Caves Road, Austin at the Sept. 28 meeting. The contract for professional services costs about $1.75 million and schedules the delivery of the new building in early 2025. WEST LAKE HILLS The West Lake Hills Police Department welcomed ocers Irmalina Lopez and Brandon Muniz at the Sept. 14 meeting. Bee Cave City Council Meets Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. 512-767-6600 www.beecavetexas.gov Lakeway City Council Meets Oct. 17, 19 at 6:30 p.m. 512-314-7500 www.lakeway-tx.gov Rollingwood City Council Meets Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. 512-327-1838 www.cityofrollingwood.com MEETINGS WE COVER Travis County Commissioners Court Meets Oct. 18 and 25 and Nov. 1 and 8 at 9 a.m. 700 Lavaca St., Austin www.traviscountytx.gov West Lake Hills City Council Meets Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. 512-327-3628 www.westlakehills.org
Revenue for the Lakeway city budget comes from a variety of sources, with the largest being ad valorem property tax, followed by taxes from sales and mixed beverages.
BY TAYLOR CRIPE
LAKEWAY Homeowners in Lakeway can expect to see a reduction in their overall tax bill for the upcoming year following approval of the city’s $17.66 million budget and tax rate at the Sept. 19 City Council meeting. This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by nearly 4%. Last year’s projected property taxes were expected to generate $6.61 million in revenue. For FY 2023, that number has risen to $6.89 million. The 4% change, or $274,947, represents an increase in property values as well as new property added to the tax roll. Due to increasing property values in Lakeway, council proposed a lower tax rate for FY 2022-23 of $0.129 per $100 valuation, down from the $0.1545 tax rate in FY 2021-22. Former Lakeway City Manager Julie Oakley said this means the average homeowner will see a reduction of $40 in their overall tax bill despite rising property values. The majority of that revenue is projected to be from ad valorem taxes, or the tax rate based on property values, followed by sales taxes and revenue from building and development services. Projected expenses for FY 2022-23 at $17.82 million also represents a 9% increase from last year’s budget by $1.42 million.
$749,160 Fines and fees
$727,100 Other
$449,850 Activity center
$844,000 Franchise fees
$17.66M IN REVENUE
$2.34M Permits and licenses fees
$6.89M Ad valorem property tax
$5.66M Sales and mixed beverages tax
SOURCE: CITY OF LAKEWAYCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Monkeypox vaccine eligibility widened
LOWERING THE TAX RATE
The Central Health tax rate has been steadily declining since 2014, going from 0.129 in the 2014 budget to 0.098684 in the approved FY 2022-23 budget.
0.15
BY DARCY SPRAUGE
TRAVIS COUNTY Austin Public Health announced expanded eligibil- ity for the monkeypox vaccine based on federal guidance Oct. 3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now allows individu- als who are at risk for monkeypox to receive the Jynneos monkeypox vac- cine, instead of only individuals who had known or suspected exposure to the virus. Travis County residents can visit Wellness Equity Alliance online to determine eligibility and schedule an appointment for a vaccine.
0.10
0.05
0
FY 2014
FY 2015
FY 2016
FY 2017
FY 2018
FY 2019
FY 2020
FY 2021
FY 2022
FY 2023
SOURCE: CENTRAL HEALTHCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Central Health’s higher budget, lower tax rate approved
in $286.1 million. Contingency reserves—essential emergency savings—will cover nearly $5 million in additional expenses. The budget outlines new priorities for the district, including expanding services and direct care; imple- menting Epic, a software that holds electronic medical records; and building new health care clinics. Additionally, commissioners approved a new tax rate of 0.098684 for FY 2022-23, down from 0.111814 in FY 2021-22. This represents the lowest rate since 2013. Commissioners also approved quarterly work sessions with Central Health to improve transparency.
CASES ON THE RISE
BY KATY MCAFEE
Monkeypox cases in the county have been on the rise in September and October. More information is available at www.austintexas.gov/monkeypox.
TRAVIS COUNTY Travis County judge and commissioners voted at the Sept. 27 meeting to approve Central Health’s scal year 2022-23 budget, which represents an over $20 million increase from last year. The increased budget is funded in part by an increase in property tax revenue and a tobacco litigation settlement, which together brought
conrmed cases in Travis County as of Sept. 30
186
2,389 conrmed cases in Texas* 26,194 conrmed cases nationwide* *AS OF OCT. 5 SOURCES: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, CITY OF AUSTINCOMMUNITY IMPACT
19
LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • OCTOBER 2022
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