Top 10 Hits
Proposed Budget Cuts Have Some Singing the Blues
By Kayte VanScoy, Fri., Sept. 12, 1997
|
|
Austin Music Network
When Marcia Ball and the head of Arista Records go to bat for an issue before city council, you can bet that the council is listening. A unique entity in the United States, the AMN was initially born out of the buzz surrounding the "Live Music Capital of the World" campaign. Although it is a feel-good program for Austin musicians and fans, it also happens to take $280,000 to pay for a non-essential program in a tight budget season. The city manager's budget scrapped the program altogether, but it looks like the city council will try to give it at least $150,000 through a variety of channels, including privatization and using a portion of Austin's bed tax revenue that goes to the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Health Clinics
The besieged city clinics, already grappling with privatization of laboratory services, suffered yet another blow in the new budget with the elimination of prenatal programs at both the Montopolis and Far South Austin health clinics. Although extensive audits have found that the clinics do need to concentrate on efficiency, council argues that prenatal programs are the wrong place to tighten the belt. The programs will almost certainly be restored (along with a threatened social worker position at Zavala Elementary), while council looks for the funds to come from other sources, including improved attempts at collecting payment for services.
Recreation Centers
In a classic example of mugging Peter to pay Paul, the policy budget axed morning hours at several city rec centers to fund a key piece of the ever-expanding Social Fabric Initiative -- the Roving Leader program. The innovative program would send Parks and Rec employees to recruit youths from existing lists of chronic truants and criminal first offenders to participate in rec center programs. While there are some under-utilized centers, most are filled with preschoolers and seniors in the morning hours. Council is desperately looking for the money to keep rec centers open, but we probably won't know which centers will be saved until the last minute.
Riverside Library
No way, no how is the Riverside Library going to close. At least that's what councilmembers say off the dais. The rented space is slated to be cut from the budget along with three other rented branches which will all be replaced by new space owned by the city. In the age of Social Fabric, libraries are the least likely to get the axe. Don't expect the city to close the book on Riverside.
Bikes and Pedestrians
Chalk one up for the Green council. Word is that bike activists who have been calling for "5%-6% funding" for bikes and pedestrians may just get their wish. The overall transportation budget is $22.6 million and activists would like to see 5% dedicated to bikes and 6% to pedestrians. The numbers come straight from the recommendations of the Austin Metropolitan Area Transit Plan, but Public Works has never really jumped on the project of implementing the funding. The city manager's budget only awarded the bike program $103,000, but expect the council to up that ante to more than $500,000 -- not quite the $2 million that bike and ped advocates would have preferred, but an unprecedented leap in city funding nonetheless.
Curb Cuts
The 1990 federal Americans with Disabilities Act stipulated that cities would have to achieve accessibility by 1995. That means curb cuts, continuous sidewalks, and improved maintenance. A simple stroll to the store will tell you that Austin is woefully behind schedule and therefore vulnerable to lawsuits. ADAPT, a local chapter of the national group fighting to keep disabled people living safely in communities, is fighting to up the funding for ADA improvements from $850,000 to $1 million -- which would make Austin the national leader in accessibility funding. Buzz is they might get the dough.
Development Review & Inspection
DRI drafted its budget in May when no one could have known that a hectic summer lay in wait, what with the SB 1704 turnaround and all. The original draft proposed axing 11 DRI employees. Now, following the accidental repeal of 1704, city development codes have been completely rearranged, putting long-term projects in a scramble to finish before new deadlines force them to comply with stricter codes. Among the many consequences of the new ordinance is drastically increased demand for DRI's services. Expect the council -- which unanimously backed the new ordinance -- to find the funding to keep the department afloat with adequate staffing levels.
Parks Maintenance
If you have noticed more mud than grass at your local soccer field, or fallen trees at your neighborhood park, you're not alone. A Parks Board task force found city parks in want of $48 million in maintenance, which is not surprising considering that the Parks budget has no dedicated maintenance fund. The deterioration has everyone from soccer moms to pool patrons up in arms, especially -- once again -- in the dawning of the age of Social Fabric funding. One controversial funding source to shore up parks is a long-lost 1985 $2 million bond issue to refurbish the State Theatre, which some say is too dilapidated to be worth saving.
Property Tax
In all the budget hubbub, there's been hardly a peep about the city manager's proposed two-cent property tax hike -- which would translate to more than $20 a year for the average household. Never fear. While citizens are busy waving flags in the name of parks and libraries, the council is still fighting against the hike. Whispers around city hall suggest that council is just waiting for the annual game of funding hide-and-seek to be over. It's not unusual for miraculous 11th-hour funds to appear, making program cuts and tax hikes unnecessary. Council is hoping that just such a miracle might at least bump the tax down to 1.5cents.
Tax Equity
Though city-county tax inequity is nothing new, the new council is the first to make enough noise to have it garner two paragraphs' mention in the city manager's budget. The issue is nothing if not sticky, with Austin residents paying double for some county-provided services, and subsidizing smaller cities in the bargain. With 16 taxing entities in the region -- the City of Austin, the county, and 14 emergency service districts -- untangling the web of who-pays-what is not going to be easy. But, the net result could mean millions in tax savings for Austin. Mayor Kirk Watson has proposed one of his patented task forces to take on the detangling efforts, but don't expect them to pop their heads above water with any answers until spring.
This Week In Council: Live Oak Theatre is under consideration to use $1.9 million in bonds originally issued to renovate and operate the State Theatre. Expect pro and con arguments alike. Next week (Sept. 15-17), the city budget enters its final stretch with first, second, and final readings.
Got something to say on the subject? Send a letter to the editor.
