The Austin City Council approved a $5.9 billion budget on Aug. 14. Proposed in June, the fiscal year 2024-25 budget is the largest in the city’s history.
The $5.9 billion budget includes investments toward reducing homelessness through rehousing initiatives and an allotment to support Austin residents who travel out-of-state for abortion care.
In an amendment presented during one of the city’s budget workshops, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes proposed the $400,000 allotment for those seeking abortion care. The amendment received wide support from the community with 42 organizations signing on.
“Texas has one of the most severe abortion bans in the country,” Fuentes said. “This item seeks to re-establish a logistical support fund for Austinites seeking abortion care which we know is both legal and necessary.”
Former City Council Member Don Zimmerman is suing the City Council, seeking a temporary injunction against the policy.
One of the Council’s main focuses was addressing homelessness. The city approved $3.6 million for the ‘I Belong in Austin’ program designed to assist residents evicted from their residences and allocated $121.2 million for design and construction of affordable housing.
“A specific need within the homeless response system (is) for our families who are experiencing homelessness,” said Council Member Ryan Alter. “We have a rapidly growing number of families that are either entering our homeless system or just being unserved because there are not many family shelters or family specific beds or facilities available.”
A few people expressed concerns with the rate at which the council is funding programs.
“I am disappointed that we are plowing forward with amendments that tell the community that they are going to see certain things,” said Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool. “But we may in fact, a year from now, find that we haven’t been able to provide for them because they have overestimated our ability financially to meet them.”
Since 2019, Senate Bill 2 limits the city’s ability to raise property taxes by more than 3.5%, requiring any cities that do so to hold an election. Throughout the budget process council members urged restraint when it comes to funding, citing the limited revenue following SB 2.
The budget passed with minimal changes after several open and closed work sessions over the last month. Alter proposed the sole amendment during the approval meeting.
The amendment would distribute $4.3 million in one-time allotments from the city’s reserves amongst seven programs. The programs include $1.2 million to homelessness prevention, $1.4 million to expand the Mobile Crisis Outreach Team and $300,000 to fund services for families experiencing homelessness.
The amendment passed 7-4 with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor Pro Tem Pool and Council Members Paige Ellis and Alison Alter voting against the amendment. The proposed budget passed 10-1 with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly being the sole dissenting vote.
“In a tight budget cycle and with our residents experiencing large increases in the cost of living over the last few years, I would think it is prudent to look at these ideas,” Kelly said on the City Council message board. “I welcome your ideas about how we can not increase costs for the residents of Austin with this budget.”
