Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 9 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
This was a budget work session of the Austin City Council focused on the City Manager's proposed Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget. The meeting opened with public communication, in which roughly two dozen speakers addressed homelessness services, the equity office, trauma recovery and family stabilization funding, development fees, police budget items, and a potential tax rate election (TRE). The Council then met in executive session on legal issues before receiving a presentation from budget staff on general fund balancing, social service contracts, federal grant reductions, and department budgets. Council members asked extended questions of staff on topics including police and fire overtime, housing trust fund and RHODA revenues, homeless services contracts, parks maintenance levels, EMCOT crisis response, wildfire mitigation, and the structure of TRE scenarios. The Mayor also laid out the budget adoption calendar, including setting the maximum tax rate on July 31 and budget votes August 13-15.
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