CITY & COUNTY
News from Austin & Travis County
Austin City Council will meet Aug. 16, 17, 18 and 31 at 10 a.m. at Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second St., Austin. 512-974-2250. www.austintexas.gov/department/ city-council Travis County Commissioners Court will meet Aug. 8, 15, 22 and 29 at 9 a.m. at the Travis County Administration Building, 700 Lavaca MEETINGS WE COVER TRAVIS COUNTY Leaders in the county initiated a burn ban for unincorporated areas July 18 as high temperatures and dry conditions have led to an increased risk of wild res. Williamson, Hays, Guadalupe and Comal counties also issued outdoor burning bans in July. HIGHLIGHTS AUSTIN The city’s homestead exemption for senior and disabled residents will increase by $11,000. The exemption allows eligible homeowners to lower the taxable value of their houses for some property tax relief. AUSTIN Interim City Manager Jesús Garza is billing Austin’s proposed $5.45 billion scal year 2023-24 budget as a “back-to- basics” spending plan with funding for a range of local priorities, dozens of new sta positions and annual raises for city employees. A total city tax rate of $0.4242 per $100 property valuation is proposed for the upcoming scal year, an 8.32% decrease from the current $0.4627 rate. However, rising property values mean Austinites may end up paying more next year. AUSTIN Plans to redevelop two city-owned properties located downtown and in Crestview have fallen through after extended negotiations over the proposed projects ended in July, delaying hundreds of a ordable housing units and other community bene ts such as parkland.
City manager search begins
SETTING UP THE SEARCH The council-driven search for Austin’s next city manager could wrap up next summer.
BY BEN THOMPSON
o cials developed a solic- itation for a search rm to seek out candidates. A tentative schedule laid out by Mayor Kirk Watson calls for the rm chosen by council to begin recruiting later this year with a goal of onboarding a nalist by late next summer. “Sept. 1[, 2024] is only a target. If things go beyond that, so be it,” Watson said on council’s message board. “We all want to be thoughtful, and there’s no need to rush to a decision if, at the time, we feel we want more time. This is too
AUSTIN City Council members initiated a search for Austin’s next perma- nent city manager and could pick a nalist before next fall. The unelected city manager is responsible for local government administration, such as hiring department heads, and ful lling o cials’ policy directives. Interim City Manager Jesús Garza was appointed by council in February after Spencer Cronk was red. This spring, several city
Oct.-Dec.: Recruitment, community outreach begin July: Request for search rm issued Sept.: Council chooses rm
Jan.-March: Candidate pool cut to shortlist
April-May: Three to ve semi nalists named; community meets with candidates June-Aug.: Finalist selected; contract negotiated Sept.: New city manager starts work
SOURCE: AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY IMPACT NOTE: TIMELINE AS PROPOSED IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
important of a decision.” The search will be paid for through the city’s
general fund, per Watson’s o ce, at a cost to be nal- ized during negotiations.
Austin moves to end DPS partnership; state sends more troopers
BY BEN THOMPSON
partnership with DPS,” Mayor Kirk Watson said in a July 12 statement. “This partnership was an innovative approach to address acute sta ng shortages that were years in the mak- ing. However, any approach must be in sync with Austin values.” Despite city leaders stating the partnership had ended, the DPS said it had no intention of halting its Austin operations. On July 13, Gov. Greg Abbott deployed 30 additional state troopers to Austin on top of the 100 already patrolling the city. A push to halt the program came soon after some council members cited local news reports about recent state trooper activity in Austin. The program has been criticized
AUSTIN City o cials announced the suspension of a law enforcement collaboration with the Texas Depart- ment of Public Safety on July 12, citing a break with local values. The update came several months after local and state leaders formed the partnership and just 10 days after state troopers returned to Austin following a pause in e ect since May. Troopers had been backing up Aus- tin’s short-sta ed police department and responding to violent crimes and critical tra c incidents since March. “From the start of this partnership with DPS, I said I wanted Austinites to feel safe and be safe. Recent events demonstrate we need to suspend the
State troopers will continue patrolling Austin, now without local oversight.
for concentrating law enforcement in areas with more nonwhite residents and disproportionately targeting Black and Hispanic drivers, but also drew support from some community members. APD representatives said the collaboration resulted in positive public safety outcomes.
St., Austin. 512-854-4722. www.traviscountytx.gov
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NORTH NORTHWEST AUSTIN EDITION • AUGUST 2023
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