The Austin City Council cut $95 million from its new budget approved on Thursday after amending it to reflect Austin voters’ rejection of a tax rate increase, according to the amended budget and a city news release.
The new budget includes additional funding for the Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team, Austin EMS and the city’s Homeless Strategies and Operations, according to the news release. Proposition Q, the tax rate increase, would have raised property taxes by around $300 per year. Austin voters rejected this tax rate increase during the Nov. 4 election.
“This amended budget reflects difficult but thoughtful decisions,” City Manager T.C. Broadnax wrote in the press release. “Even with limited resources, we’ve stayed focused on our commitment to providing essential services, supporting public safety, addressing homelessness, and investing in the health and well-being of our community.”
Prop Q would have raised around $110 million to fund city programs such as EMS, housing and public safety services, according to the city. While this tax rate increase did not pass, the city council did approve a new property tax rate increase that did not require another election, according to the news release. The new property tax rate is 52.4 cents per $100 of property values, according to the city. This new rate means the annual property tax bill of an average homeowner will increase by $104.76, compared to Prop Q’s about $300 increase.
Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, city council member representing district 9, said he appreciates Austin voters voicing their opinions on Prop Q. Qadri said its rejection will give the city council an opportunity to revisit the budget to make sure it covers what is most essential to the city, like EMS and mental health services.
“I want to make sure that Austin’s public safety and mental health networks are running as efficient as possible, because our residents deserve that,” Qadri said.
Qadri said he wants to make sure the budget process is transparent and guided by the community’s priorities.
The new budget includes an additional $2.1 million in funding for the Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team, according to the city news release. The crisis team is a partnership between Austin and Travis County EMS, the Austin Police Department and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, said Dawn Handley, chief operations officer for Integral Care, a mental health provider that works with the team in Travis County. It provides mental health services through the 911 and 988 call centers and dispatches field response teams, Handley said.
Currently, the crisis team has a 24/7 call center, and the money from the city will go toward funding a 24/7 field response team, Handley said. She said this additional funding will help the program expand the field response team so the team can send licensed and trained mental health clinicians to the call site.
Handley said she hopes the team and Integral Care will continue working with the city to grow into a first responder group like EMS and APD.
“I think that’s really going to be key to building a robust mental health crisis response system where you have the right responder responding to a mental health need,” Handley said.
