park lighting proposal clarification

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Shannon Halley
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:27 am

park lighting proposal clarification

Post by Shannon Halley »

As a follow up to the discussion of including lighting in parks under the Service Area Lighting component of the Community Benefit Charge. The information we received from PARD staff ( $1.9 million) was for the entire budget for electric service of all PARD facilities.

The lighting costs of parks under the City of Austin Owned Outdoor Lighting tariff is $50,000.
Senior Policy Advisor
Office of Kathie Tovo, District 9
Leslie Pool
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: park lighting proposal clarification

Post by Leslie Pool »

MPT Tovo, thanks for your leadership on the parks lighting issue. I support this initiative and will be looking closely at vacancies in Austin Energy where I hope to identify revenue that we can free up to be added to AE's Community Benefit Charge. Instead of assigning this cost to the General Fund, I propose using the Community Benefit Charge to the greatest possible extent to pay for city-wide park utilities. We can begin with lighting as your proposal outlines ($50,000) in FY17, and analyze our ability to expand to include all electric utility costs for our parks ($1.9 million) in FY18 and beyond. This is primarily a shifting of dollars; this revenue-neutral approach will indicate Council's priorities and assign the payment for the cost to the department that provides the service.
Leslie Pool
Mayor Pro Tem
Council Member, District 7
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