After months of discussion, the city’s $2.8 billion budget for next year was unanimously approved by the Austin City Council in under an hour Monday morning.
The council approved the 2010 fiscal budget during the deepest economic recession in 50 years, said City Manager Marc Ott.
The fiscal plan will take effect Oct. 1.
“The budget has attempted to provide structural solutions to this economic reality,” Ott said.
To fund improvements to the infrastructure of the Austin Water Utility, homeowners will see an average increase of $3.78 to $67.35 in their monthly water and wastewater bills.
Customers using a 90-gallon garbage container will see an increased charge from $16.50 to $18.20 per month.
About $75 million has been cut from the budget since the recession began in the past two years, said Mayor Lee Leffingwell.
“We’ve cut the fat, and we’re working on the bone,” Leffingwell said. “The fact that we’re doing all this and balancing the budget in these unprecedented times without letting any employees go is to be commended.”
A revenue deficit of about $30 million was partially filled by eliminating 105 vacant city positions and not including pay increases for city employees. The Austin Police Association and paramedics chose to amend their contractually guaranteed pay raises to adjust to the budget, Leffingwell said.
“The work force is stepping up and going to have to provide more sources with the same amount of resources,” said Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez. “When you take into account everything that has been proposed, amended and discussed, everyone is sharing in this burden.”
The budget maintains court services and makes no cuts to the police force, the fire department or to library and recreation center hours. It also outlines investments in city infrastructure and maintains the scheduled police cadet class.
“Having accomplished all of that without reducing employee benefits and without laying off employees is unheard of in this economy,” Ott said. “I’m not aware of any other major city that has been able to do that.”
Although the budget proposal increases the city’s tax rate and utility charges, Austinites currently have the lowest tax bill of any major city in Texas, Ott said.
Council member Bill Spelman said that though he is happy with many of the budget amendments, he is less happy that the property tax rate is where it was when the process began. The Council will hold a hearing on a proposed tax rate of 42.09 cents per $100 of assessed property value Thursday. If it were to pass, the median increase in property taxes for single-family homeowners is estimated to be $85 a year.
“This is not quite the budget I wanted, but you don’t always get what you want, you get what you need, and I will vote for the budget as it is because we’re not going to get any closer to agreement than where we are,” Spelman said.
Ott and Council members noted unprecedented community and citizen input that went into balancing the budget.
“We explained to the community early on what we were facing, received unprecedented input and with the Council, worked toward meeting those concerns,” Ott said.
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