Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 9 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
0:03 You are watching a meeting of the Austin City Council with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor pro, tim Vanessa
0:12 Fuentes, council members Natasha Harper Madison, José velazquez, che Vela, Ryan Alter, crystal lane, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis, zoe
0:35 cadre, mark uchin, city attorney deborah thomas, city clerk erica brady, and city manager tc broad kn
0:54 everybody. It's nine o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025, and I will call to order the Austin
1:01 City Council budget work session for this date.
1:04 Uh, we have a, a major majority, a quorum of the Austin City Council present.
1:09 We are meeting in the City Council chambers located in Austin City Hall at 3 0 1 west second street
1:15 in Austin, texas. Uh, members and members of the community.
1:18 Uh, the outline that I would follow today as we go through this work session is we have
1:25 a number of people that have signed up to speak.
1:27 So what I would suggest we do is we first take the speakers, uh, and let them, uh,
1:33 make their presentations to the council.
1:36 Then we will have, there's been a request for an executive session.
1:40 We will then, uh, go into an executive session following all of the speakers, and then we will
1:45 come back out for the presentation and council discussion and questions related to the budget presentation.
1:51 Uh, unless there's a yes Council Member, just before we begin, I was hoping we could, uh, recognize
1:58 a special day. We have right here to my right.
2:00 Someone's birthday today. That's, um, honestly, mr.
2:06 Anos, man. Thank you, sir.
2:07 The, the only reason that I showed up today is 'cause I was told that the Mayor was
2:10 actually gonna sing less mantas, and there was gonna be a mariachi here, but very nice.
2:14 That didn't happen, so I'm gonna head out.
2:15 Well, fair enough. I, I was gonna do that at the end, but, okay, perfect.
2:19 But now that you've spoiled the surprise, I'm not going to, uh, so, uh, everybody was wish, wishing
2:25 a very happy birthday, at least anos.
2:30 We appreciate you, man.
2:32 Okay. Anything else? I was just gonna say, anytime it's my birthday, I turn 22.
2:36 José is what? 2021?
2:38 21. 2121. He have a beer.
2:41 Yeah, you can now have a beer, man.
2:43 Apparently I have all kinds of seniority.
2:45 I didn't know I had <laugh>.
2:47 All right. With that, uh, we will go to public communication unless there's objection.
2:52 Very good. And I'll turn to the city clerk and ask you to steer us through this.
2:56 Thank you. Well, lemme say we have a new set for those that, uh, this is seeing this
3:02 for the first time.
3:03 So when she calls your name, uh, she's gonna call a number of names at one time.
3:07 Please come forward and take it.
3:09 If there's an empty chair, go ahead and take the empty chair so that you'll be ready to,
3:13 um, uh, give your testimony and we'll know you're here.
3:16 Uh, so just please come forward at, at the time.
3:19 Your name is called.
3:21 Thank you, Mayor. I have two in-person, speaker, I mean, remote speakers for item one.
3:25 We'll start there. Michael lofton.
3:31 Uh, good morning. Uh, Mayor Kirk Watson.
3:33 Uh, michael lofton with the african american youth congress foundation.
3:37 I also want to say hello to Austin City Council and tc, uh, brought next to the city
3:42 manager. Um, first and foremost, I'm in dallas, so sorry, I could not be the other day, but
3:47 I just really wanted to reach out, uh, to ask the City Council to definitely consider adding, uh,
3:55 the harvest trauma recovery center as a inline budget, uh, with the city of Austin.
4:01 I know right now you all are going through the, uh, tax rate election, so we are asking
4:06 that, you know, funds be allocated, uh, to support, uh, the harvest trauma recovery center.
4:12 As you all know, Austin, texas has the only, uh, trauma recovery center in the state of texas
4:18 and year to date, uh, and we take a look at our contract goals.
4:23 We're seven months into the contract, and we already a hundred percent above our goal last year.
4:30 We're 300% above our contract goal.
4:33 And so, and as you all know, the, uh, african american harvest foundation has been in existence here
4:39 in Austin for 20 years.
4:42 Uh, we really, really appreciate, um, the support coming from Austin City Council.
4:47 So we ask that you continue to support us.
4:50 You know, one thing that I would say that, uh, makes me feel real good, but then at
4:55 the end of the day, uh, also there's a sad side to it, is that, you know, when
5:00 we took on the trauma recovery center, uh, we're happy to see that so many individuals are coming
5:06 to us, uh, for systems.
5:09 But the sad reality is, is that we have so many young folks contemplating suicide.
5:17 You know, we are seeing so many folks, uh, affected by gun violence, and so we really need
5:22 to help to be able to sustain.
5:24 We, as you all know, to take a look at our history.
5:28 We don't have a history of turning folks away and we don't want to, but when you take
5:33 a look at, uh, the individuals coming to us, uh, thank you.
5:38 I know my time is up.
5:40 Thank you. Tannic. What brewster?
5:51 Ms. Brewster, are you here?
5:52 Can you please unmute?
5:53 Hello? Yes, we can hear you.
5:57 Hi, my name is tanika brewster.
5:59 Um, and I, I'm here to speak about the, uh, Austin family stabilization fund.
6:05 I noticed that it's not on the budget, um, for this year, and we would just like to
6:11 ask that the City Council, um, and Mayor, um, consider putting this back on the budget for so
6:17 many reasons. The family stabilization, Austin family stabilization fund really helped me.
6:23 My lots of families in Austin, over 200, including my family.
6:27 Um, I'm a big advocate, advocate for the fund, um, just because of the changes that I made.
6:32 And there are other programs out there, but there's none like the Austin stabilization fund, and that does
6:39 the things that the Austin stabilization fund has done for our community, for our city.
6:45 Um, other cities have tried, um, they've lost, we've seen harris county be sued by the state and
6:52 they were unable to use the funds, so they were never able to see the effects, the, the
6:57 good effects of the program.
6:59 But I think that it's very, very important that we as a, a city, be sure to add
7:05 this back to the budget, um, so that we can have, we can help families that are underserved
7:10 in so many ways.
7:12 Again, there are other programs, but there has been none that has helped our city in further strengthens
7:18 families like the Austin family stabilization fund.
7:24 Thank you. I'm gonna move now to in-person speakers, and as the Mayor mentioned, I'm gonna call a
7:31 few at once. Please just come down to our new podium and state your name.
7:36 William cornelius. Jay ham, aaron akron, and alicia castillo.
7:49 If your name's been called, please come forward.
7:54 All right. Doesn't look like they're here.
7:55 Okay. Continuing on. Robin schneider, bill bunch, scott turner, linda zamora.
8:05 This is for item one.
8:07 If your name's been called, please come forward and pick a chair and be prepared.
8:11 Um, when the previous speaker finishes, ms. Schneider, you'll be first.
8:18 Good morning Mayor, counsel.
8:23 Okay, good morning, Mayor and counsel.
8:25 My name is robin schneider.
8:26 I live in district three.
8:28 Um, I wanted to, I spoke last week about the, uh, equity office and the, um, larger, uh,
8:37 equity and inclusion budget.
8:39 Um, wanted to let you folks know that, uh, we did find out that not all of the
8:44 140,000 in conta contractual cuts are cuts to the trainings that the equity office does, but some of
8:52 it is, uh, my larger point is that we need more transparency in terms of what the line
8:59 items in the budget are, are, especially in an office like equity and inclusion, that's going to be
9:04 added on with human rights.
9:06 Uh, what, is there anything to prevent staff from moving funds within these various divisions?
9:14 Um, and cutting where you as a council and we as a community don't wanna see those cuts.
9:20 I would think that the city manager's office and the, the budget office has the detail, um, it's
9:26 time they provided to you and to all of us.
9:29 Um, I also wanna just echo what ms.
9:32 Brewster just had to say about the family stabilization fund.
9:36 Um, as I, I wanna thank, uh, Mayor Pro Tem Fuentes for your leadership on this and the
9:41 council for funding this through the budget stabilization fund.
9:44 In the past, however, it has been repeatedly requested that this p part of the regular budget.
9:51 Unfortunately, when I looked through the various scenarios, the family stabilization fund does not come up until a
9:59 6 cent, um, increase, uh, in a tax rate election.
10:04 As ms. Brewster says, this has a transformative effect on people's lives and in a city with the
10:10 housing expenses that we have, it's really important that we use funds to stabilize families in, in homes.
10:19 Otherwise, we, our con population shift is gonna continue to shift.
10:23 We're working class people do not have a place to live in our city.
10:28 Thank you. Thank you.
10:34 Good morning, Mayor and council.
10:35 Uh, I'm here to talk about the huge fee increases in the dsd budget.
10:39 Um, the dsd enterprise model requires them to pass on their costs, and those costs are literally out
10:44 of control, resulting in massive fee increases, not this, not just this year, but on into the future
10:50 to cover their losses with little or no improvement to services.
10:53 It takes weeks to do what used to take days, and it's not just dsd, uh, it's most
10:59 departments are adding fees and processes and policies that drive up the cost of housing.
11:03 Since home has passed, um, Austin water has instituted a universal metering requirement.
11:09 So those tiny homes that are now legal require a $15,000 water meter.
11:13 Um, they've also changed some decades of policy to require new service upgrades for every home, uh, new
11:19 irrigation inspections have been added.
11:21 Um, Austin energy disproportionately requires five to 20,000 plus in system upgrades for every third unit that take
11:29 months to approve, years to complete, and then it takes them another four to six weeks to set
11:34 the electric meter transit and public works reviews will be reviewing every sidewalk and curb cut for every
11:40 building permit for a fee from now on, the wildland urban interface has added three to $5,000 of
11:46 cost to every home, plus the cost and time involved in the new fire inspections.
11:51 The new technical codes, none of which are major life safety issues, have added three to $5,000 per
11:57 home. And last but not least, license agreement, and I'm not kidding you, license agreements will now be
12:03 required for any activity in the right of way or any city easement, including the planting of flowers.
12:09 So at a time when prices are falling and costs are rising, these cost increases really couldn't happen
12:15 at a worse time.
12:16 Um, we need a mandate to reduce cost and improve services, um, because all the work that you've
12:24 done to make housing more attainable and more affordable is being washed away by a tide of fees
12:28 and red tape. Thank you.
12:31 Thank you, sir, could you please just state your name?
12:33 Scott turner. Thank you.
12:41 Good morning, Mayor and council members.
12:43 My name is linda zamora, and I serve as the vice president of housing and homelessness services at family
12:49 elder care. Family elder care has supported older adults and individuals with disabilities across Austin for over 42
12:57 years. First, I want to sincerely thank the city of Austin for your continued partnership and especially thank,
13:03 um, Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes for her leadership and sponsoring the recent resolution focused on older adults.
13:11 And the most recent point in time count revealed a 70% increase in homelessness among adults, age 55
13:18 and older from 376 in 2023 to 538 and 2025.
13:25 That number is staggering and deeply concerning, but we believe it is a challenge we can and must
13:30 meet. Family elder care is committed to eradicating homelessness in older adults by providing the supports they need.
13:37 We help older adults and individuals with disabilities transition from homelessness, disability, and ultimately age in place with
13:45 dignity. Our approach is person centered, trauma informed and grounded in the belief that no one is too
13:51 old or too vulnerable to start again, but we must also focus upstream.
13:56 Preventing homelessness is just as vital as resolving it.
13:59 Too often interventions come only after someone is already in crisis.
14:05 We must invest in early emergency rental assistance, prevention, utility aid, and proactive case management before long-term displacement