An in-person option required for Austin’s tax, budget meeting
Consistent with other city meetings held during the pandemic, Austin residents wanting to address City Council members this week will be able to do so from a safe distance and phone in.
But they also have an alternative option that reverts back to the good old days before the coronavirus arrived to town: show up in person.
The City Council will convene over multiple days this week for some of its most important work of the year. Council members will finalize and approve the city’s annual budget — highlighted by cuts to the police department’s spending and a redistribution of services — and also set the property tax rate.
Tax rate hearings, which are required by state law, must be held in a “publicly owned building,” meaning even during a global health crisis that has killed more than 160,000 Americans, the city must open doors to anyone wanting to share their viewpoint.
The hearing will be held Wednesday — and a second one on Friday, if needed — at the Palmer Events Center, a city-owned property at 900 Barton Springs Road that has more space for safe distancing than City Hall, where the hearing would have taken place in a normal year. Council members won’t be there, opting instead to continue gathering virtually. The last time they were together in-person for a meeting was in March, before Gov. Greg Abbott suspended a portion of the open meetings laws that enabled governmental bodies to conduct meetings by telephone or video conference.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler asked the state for a waiver of the law that requires tax rate meetings to be held in-person, but has not received one.
Of the 277 people registered to give comments on Wednesday, 28 plan to be at the events center to speak in person. Face coverings will be required and temperature checks will be conducted. City staff will be on site to address any technical problems.
The hearing is scheduled to address both the budget and the tax rate. As part of the tax rate discussion, the city is considering a proposal on the November ballot for a tax increase up to 8.75 cents per $100 of taxable value to fund the multibillion dollar Project Connect transportation plan. That would be in addition to the 44.6-cent tax rate for city operations.
Speakers will be given one minute each and cannot yield their time to other speakers. Once the final speaker is finished, the council members will get to work on establishing a budget, which is expected to come in at about $4.2 billion. Their work will continue Thursday, if needed. Friday likewise has been marked off on the calendar for budget adoption.
Most of the 28 people registered to speak in-person at the Palmer Events Center are representing Austin Justice Coalition, a criminal justice reform advocacy group that is throwing a block party beginning at 10 a.m. Food and refreshments will be served. The group’s founder, Chas Moore, said gloves and masks will be provided for attendees.
Moore’s group has for months been calling for a reduction of $100 million to the police department’s budget to include a redistribution of operations to other departments. Council members are receptive and are expected to explore options for rolling out those change, perhaps over the course of the entire fiscal year, which begins in October.
Moore said he’s looking forward to the return to gathering in-person.
“Our presence brings a different element than just talking on the phone,” he said. “It’s going to be different, but I think a good type of different.”