New city budget funds safety, zoning in Northwest

New city budget funds safety, zoning in Northwest

Written by Rachel Youens Wednesday, 07 November 2007

At the end of the day, the City of Austin is just another business. It may have a few thousand more customers than most small companies, but it still has to balance the budget - all $2.5 billion of it.

The 2006 bond election saw a large investment made in north Austin recreation and safety, so the Northwest area is somewhat absent from the budgets of these departments. However, this region drew funding for both planning and transportation when the new budget was ushered in this month.

How the budget works

Every year, the city creates a financial forecast to take what it has into account before it can decide what to give. Beyond its income from property and sales tax, the city also draws from enterprise funds, city-owned utilities that basically function as independent companies such as Austin Energy, the airport and the convention center.

The financial forecast is the first real step to writing out the budget and is mandated by the city charter. The charter sets the rules for most of the budget process and provides that citizens, city council and city staff are all in on the process. The fiscal year runs through the end of September, and the new budget must be approved and implemented by Oct. 1, so the budget department must get all of the departments’ numbers to city council by the beginning of August for review.

“Our busiest time is July,” city budget officer Greg Canally said. “We work 30 or 40 straight days including weekends to get the budget document ready for council by the end of July. We work here long hours, sometimes 12-hour days, to get it done.”

The city was able to drop property tax rates this year from 41.26 cents to 39.54 cents per $100 valuation, and the forecast predicts the rate should only rise 1 cent from 2008 to 2009 and 1.5 cents from 2009 to 2010. Austin has the lowest property tax of major Texas cities, according to the city’s calculations.

Northwest Austin

Using the forecast, the council sets priorities for the coming year. Although none of the priorities set out by the council specifically mention the Northwest Austin area, parts of the priorities can be found in projects planned for Northwest Austin.

Transportation - Two of the council’s goals are boosting transportation financing and performing preventative street maintenance. These goals are in four north Austin public works projects for the upcoming year, the first of which is the extension of Rundberg Lane from Metric Boulevard to Burnet Road. Other extensions the city has planned include Parmer Lane from Hwy. 290 to Braker Lane and Wells Branch Parkway from IH 35 to Heatherwilde Boulevard. Public Works will also make improvements along Duval Road at Amherst Road.

Development - The city invested in the future development of Northwest Austin via the planning and zoning department. Staff from the city’s urban design department, part of planning and zoning, serve as the project managers for the North Burnet/Gateway neighborhood plan. In November, the city council approved the department to move forward with Phase 2 of the neighborhood plan and begin implementing urban design standards. Urban design is also responsible for the implementation of the Vertical Mixed Use opt in/opt out process, a type of high-density development planned for Jollyville Road and Spicewood Springs Road. To accommodate this upcoming work, two full-time staff members will be added to the urban design staff at an annual cost of $120,956.

To communicate with neighborhoods, four full-time neighborhood ombudsman positions will be added. The ombudsmen, go betweens for neighborhoods and planners, have not yet been hired and the city will hold a town-hall meeting at a yet-to-be determined date to decide criteria for this new position, according to planning and zoning director Greg Guernsey.

Bonds - The $93.7 million of 2006’s bond election is also lumped into the Capital budget of this year’s total. The parks facilities and parklands bond featured an 18,000 sq. ft. recreation center to be built in north Austin. The public safety facilities bond provided nearly $2 million for a new police substation in Northeast Austin.

“There are several areas we’re proud of in the budget, but I’m proud of what we’ve done to continue our public safety,” Canally said. “It is one of the best systems in the country, and we’ve kept funding in place to continue good service. It’s one of the first things citizens look for.”

Annexation - Northwest Austin will also be growing in the coming year, and the city must provide full services for each area it annexes. Anderson Mill, North Acres and the Anderson Mill Municipal Utility District will all be full-purpose annexed, and the City of Austin will use $1.6 million in the police budget to add 34 officers and equipment to cover the area.

Other major changes

Some answers to the past fiscal year’s controversial issues emerged in the budget. Funding was discontinued for the city store, which operated on a $396,000 budget and opened in December 2006. The spot once occupied by the store, on the bottom floor of Austin City Hall, is vacant and the city council must approve a new tenant for the spot. The Austin Convention Center, run through the same budget as the store, came under criticism for misuse of funds, and will now have a budget divided into sections for repair, replacement, marketing and promotion.

Although the nearly $2.5 billion city budget is made at large, and not regionally, there are several items included in the 2008 fiscal year budget that specifically apply to Northwest Austin.

Transportation — Public Works plans to improve Northwest Austin roads including Parmer Lane, Wells Branch Parkway and Rundberg Lane.

Development — As the North Burnet/Gateway neighborhood plan progresses, more planning and zoning staff are being added to work out the specifics of putting higher density and vertical mixed-use buildings into Northwest Austin.

Safety — Safety is a major cost for the entire city budget, but in Northwest Austin 34 new police officers are being added to newly annexed areas and a northeast police substation is being constructed.

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