City of Austin Council Message Board

Council Members: I know we are all concerned about the recent state declaration that crosswalks and roadways can't have certain so-called messaging, and that such messaging should be removed within 30 days or face a loss of state funding for projects. City staff has been looking into what this could...

Colleagues: I’ve seen Council Member Duchen’s post and his proposed motion to delay a vote on a navigation center that we all know we need. We need a city operated navigation center. Unlike the quote in the post, our highly professional staff and this Council aren’t putting “parties in a real estate...

Council Members, Prior to passage of House Bill 2802 during the recent legislative session, the mayor was statutorily required to be a member of the Austin Firefighter Retirement Fund (AFRF) Board of Trustees. HB 2802 now gives the mayor discretion to either serve on the board or appoint a member of...

Council: Last year was the first year of a new process for selecting the Board of Directors of Appraisal Review Boards in Texas under the new process, some of the board positions are elected by voters. For Williamson and Travis Counties, there are five members that are appointed by various local tax...

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 10am and then hear public comment on consent items. Speakers will have 2 minutes per item. Speakers will be able to donate time. Speakers wishing to donate time must coordinate with the City Clerk prior to being cal...

Council Members: Before tomorrow’s work session, I wanted to share a schedule outlining the plan for the meeting. I’m unavailable tomorrow. Mayor Pro Tem Fuentes will preside over the meeting. I will be in Washington, D.C., on city business related to transit and likely also participate in some meet...

Council Members, I intended to send this to you yesterday, but the Message Board was down. So, here we go with a Saturday morning post The Pension Review Board (PRB) has officially determined the Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund’s 2025 Funding Soundness Restoration Plan (FSRP) is in full complian...

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 10am and then hear public comment on consent items. Speakers will have 2 minutes per item. Speakers will be able to donate time. Speakers wishing to donate time must coordinate with the City Clerk prior to being cal...

This is to outline how I think we’ll proceed tomorrow. So let me start by saying that tomorrow will be complicated with lots of moving parts. I will do my best to keep things orderly and consistent with rules and procedure. I may ask for some flexibility in specific circumstances that we might not a...

Council: I want to be clear about my last post. I indicated an openness to using that proposal as part of the primary motion tomorrow. However, there needs to be a true up from financial staff to assure the numbers work. The true up would need to be what we use, otherwise, we might start with someth...

Council Member Vela: Thanks for this post. I’m open to using this as part of the primary motion for the budget tomorrow, even though there are aspects of it that don’t correspond with some of my thinking on the final budget. If this is what we use, it would only be as a starting point. It would not ...

Council: Thanks to all of you for your detailed efforts on this difficult budget. I've said consistently that Austin needs additional revenue to meet the quality of life needs of our city. I've also said that we need to make our city's affordability the top priority of city government. Of course, I'...

I agree there is no need for a staff presentation. For clarity purposes, we will have public comment. And if Council Members have questions of staff, including department directors, there will be an opportunity for that.

Thanks, all. See you tomorrow.

Kirk

On behalf of Mayor Watson

Council: I am including an update of my proposed TRE scenario that I posted last Friday morning. The only difference is the Marshalling Yard Emergency Shelter line item has been reduced to $2,750,000. This is due to the $5,250,000 from the updated tax roll that is dedicated in the base budget to the...

Council: Tomorrow, we have a work session. The original request was that the finance staff walk through each of the eight "alternative budget scenarios" from the 1 cent up to the 8 cent alternatives to the manager's proposed base budget. As everyone knows, the alternatives, together with t...

Council: Please remember that our goal is to have all proposed budget amendments and IFCs in by 6:00 PM today. A budget amendment is something that changes numbers in the budget--adds to things we need to spend money for or takes out things that cost money. IFCs are policy guidance related to financ...

Colleagues— I appreciate the thoughtful, methodical effort and dialogue we’ve had around the budget so far. We’ve heard from the community about the pressing needs that the city faces during this budget process. We’ve also heard during this process the continued concern in our city about affordabili...

Council: This post is to provide clarity about the July 31st Budget Work Session, which includes a couple of agenda items including passage of a maximum tax rate and a public hearing on the budget. I’m posting this (and we will reiterate it) to avoid confusion. On July 31st, we will begin at 9am. We...

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 10am and then hear public comment on consent items. Speakers will have 2 minutes per item. Speakers will be able to donate time. Speakers wishing to donate time must coordinate with the City Clerk prior to being cal...

Council: Per the conversation at today’s Special Called Audit and Finance Committee Meeting, I am posting the Tax Rate Election Decision Tree that was passed by the full City Council at the recommendation of the Audit and Finance Committee. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/08-2025072...

Council Members – As I’m sure you know, the First Called Special Session is set to convene this next Monday, July 21. I wanted to share with you a few thoughts as we are concurrently moving through our own budget process. Included in the Governor’s call are items that could directly impact the decis...

Council Members: I want to thank Council Member Qadri for his leadership in bringing forward this critical request to reinstate the City’s $50 million FEMA BRIC flood mitigation grant, canceled earlier this year. After touching base with Council Member Qadri and our Office of Government Relations re...

Colleagues— Before I get into budget stuff, I want to recognize that the past week has been difficult for our community and the surrounding areas in the Hill Country. It’s impossible to express fully the grief and sadness we are all experiencing. The destruction and pain seen across our region last ...

Council Members: I wanted to let you know that the Governor signed the Firefighter Pension Bill. This is a big win for the City of Austin generally and our retired firefighters and those who will retire. It restores financial soundness, which was our main goal. Thanks go to Ed Van Eenoo for his good...

Thank you for your feedback, Mayor Pro Tem Fuentes.

I have included a version 2 incorporating your amendment, and will keep the item on the consent agenda.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 191225.pdf

Thanks

Kirk
On Behalf of Mayor Watson