The Local Advocacy Council advocates for Chamber positions, informs members of local community efforts and reacts quickly to proposed policies that could negatively impact Austin businesses.

At the June monthly meeting, Chamber Members received an update on the City of Austin’s budget and participated in a discussion on transportation from Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty. Members were also provided the 2016 City of Austin’s Development Services Department annual poll results.

The next meeting will be held Friday, August 25 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the boardroom of the Austin Chamber of Commerce. To join the committee or to attend the next meeting, contact Tina Cannon, Director of Local Government at 512-322-5686.

Below is a recap of the meeting.

City of Austin’s FY2016-2017 Budget
Tina Cannon provided members with an update on the City of Austin’s budget and discussed public safety. Last year, the City of Austin passed its $3.7 billion budget for FY2016-2017 which increased taxes by two percent compared to the prior year. Major expenditures in the budget include Austin Energy, which accounts for 34 percent of the city’s total budget and the general fund—which is primarily funded by property tax dollars—constitutes 22 percent of the budget. The general fund pays for public safety, community services, and development.

Approximately 69 percent or 69 cents of every dollar paid in taxes is spent on public safety, 22.3 percent is spent on community services, 4.7 percent is spent on development, and 3.1 percent is spent on transfers.

Austin City Council is scheduled to discuss the proposed FY 2018 budget from August 2 to August 30. City Council is expected to approve the budget in September. Residents can view questions that each City Council member proposed regarding the FY 2018 budget here. If approved, the annual budget will begin October 1, 2017.

Capital Metro and the Penny Tax
Daugherty spoke to council members on the importance of mass transit by providing a survey on Capital Metro.

“One of the problems that we have with mobility, transportation, and traffic is it’s a funding issue,” said Commissioner Daugherty. “None of us can own the businesses we own without doing a cost benefits analysis. We need to have the ability to go back and reauthorize the penny sales tax.”

For years, the penny sales tax was collected by Cap Metro for road projects including light rail transit. Although Cap Metro lost the vote for light rail in 2000, the company was at a crossroads of either losing its penny tax—rolling back the tax to half a cent to build highway construction instead of mass transit options—or the quarter tax for road projects. In 2000, Capital Metro entered an agreement with the City of Austin to pay the city a share of 25 percent of its one cent (penny sales tax) from 2001 to 2004. The agreement was amended April 2010.

Walking the tightrope on mass transit
The City’s new planning project, Code Next, is designed to make Austin one of the most livable cities in the country. The plan addresses transportation by using land use to create an affordable variety of housing options, rebuilding infrastructure, and utilizing improved transportation options to connect the city.

“You can’t have public transit turned to mass transit if you are not going to densify,” said Commissioner Daugherty. “And I don’t know a neighborhood in this community who is willing to stand up and say I am going to densify.”

At the end of the hour-long discussion, Daugherty offered Distinct 512 members his three recommendations to improve transportation in the Central Texas region. His answer was fairly simple, use transportation money to improve the roadway capacity, fix major intersections, and allow businesses or companies to stagger hours of their employees to reduce traffic.

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