City Budget: Here's Your Adoption Punchlist

Starting (and likely ending) Monday, Sept. 13, City Council will be adopting the 2010-2011 city budget. While three days are formally allocated to read and pass the budget, if there's a consensus on the dais, the affair is usually finished in one. However, with property taxes having taken a precipitous hit and a tax rate proposed by the city manager that doesn't rise to the "rollback" ceiling, there's a chance we may see some disagreement as council attempts to prioritize services within a less-than-generous budget. Though some initiatives – such as stepped-up park maintenance – seem to enjoy broad agreement, other areas, such as additional social service funding and whether Austin Energy should continue to fund the $10 million Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office, aren't likely to provide easy answers.

Below is a primer on the proposed tax rate, the rate-and-fee impact on Austinites, major proposed additions to the General Fund, and the outstanding items. And for more on the budget, see "City Hall Hustle," p.14.

Tax Rate

• The current tax rate of 42.09 cents for every $100 valuation is off the table, as declining property values would produce a projected loss of $16.6 million from the current year.

• The city manager's proposed rate of 45.71 cents is estimated to bring in $13.5 million above collections from FY 2010.

• Going to the rollback rate of 46.93 cents – an 8% increase in the operations and maintenance portion of the tax rate and the highest the city can go without a special election – would bring in $22.7 million more than FY 2010. According to council sources, that rate is also unlikely.

Tax, Rate, and Fee Impacts

While they represent the largest chunk in the chart below, property taxes are only one revenue stream the city collects – fees and utility rates also affect the bottom line. Austin Water's increase, part of a planned multiyear ramp-up in rates, has proven especially controversial this budget season, as opponents of Water Treatment Plant No. 4 have tied the hike to construction of the $500 million plant.

	2010 Rate	2011 Proposed	Monthly Change
Austin Water Utility	$67.35	$71.19	*$3.84
Austin Energy	92.15	92.94	0.79
Solid Waste Services	23.75	23.40	(0.35)
Public Works	6.63	7.29	0.66
Watershed Protection	7.75	7.75	0
Property Tax Bill	65.90	70.27	**4.37
Total	$263.53	$272.84	$9.31

* Average increase for residential customers using 8,500 gallons of water and 5,000 gallons of wastewater

** Average increase for a median-value ($184,484) home

General Fund Additions

Between City Manager Marc Ott’s springtime “budget forecast” and delivery of this proposed budget, some major changes were made.

A sampling:

• 35 additional police officers, added to the 13 initially proposed in the budget forecast, for a total of 48 new officers

• Accelerated conversion to four-person staffing on fire trucks through adding a second four-person ladder truck

• Funding of two family advocate positions for the Center for Child Protection

• $100,000 funding for Homeless Services Continuum

• Two new branch library delivery units for transferring materials between locations

Total General Fund Additions:

$3.9 million