Hidden Costs
Dear Editor,
Austinites pay a lot more taxes toward debt than reported in your article “A New Bond Election Is Now an ‘If,’ Not a ‘When,’” [News, Feb. 13]. The city of Austin is ranked sixth in the country in per-capita debt for pensions and retirees’ medical insurance. And that borrowing is at a high, variable rate. If you search for “interest” in the 2024 reports from the city’s pensions, you will find it totals over $300 million annually. The interest for retirees’ medical insurance (“OPEB”) is found in the city’s FY 2024 ACFR and is $128 million.
In total, the interest on that debt is roughly $800 per household. That is in addition to the $450 paid in bond interest by the average property owner, as stated by Austin Financial Services Dept. Director Kim Olivares in your article.
The city was required by the state to come up with a plan to pay off that debt to pensions within 30 years. The city’s plan includes more borrowing over the next five years.
For the curious, more information is in the report I wrote for the city of Austin’s Economic Prosperity Commission. I am a member of the commission, but I am not writing on behalf of the commission. The commission’s official statement is in its Recommendation 20251119-010 to City Council.
Michael Nahas
A Simple Favor
Dear Editor,
I don’t understand why The Austin Chronicle’s online film listings changed to the current click-heavy format. Please go back to the simple list of titles with star ratings. I loved that tool and used it constantly. I prefer see one quick, scrollable list with a few showtimes. I liked being able to read more deep reviews if interested. The current format is really unhelpful. I have relied on AC Film listings for 26+ years but won’t anymore. That is really sad.
Anna Wydeven
Editor Kim Jones responds: We were happy with our previous online film listings as well. However, when our web host was acquired last summer, we were forced to move to a new system that no longer seamlessly integrates our film reviews and movie times. Ultimately, we’re at the mercy of our new CMS provider – but it’s still a work in progress, and I’m hoping we’ll keep improving on the current presentation.
Cancer Does Not Wait
Dear Editor,
Thanks for Valeria Cruz Butrón’s detailed article on the H-1B visa freeze [“Abbott’s Freeze on H-1B Visas Raises Concerns for Public Universities,” News, Feb. 13]. Please keep reporting on updates. I sent [this] message to the Governor’s Office:
“I’m alive today thanks to MD Anderson’s advanced research and cancer treatment. The freeze on H-1B visas will have a negative impact on education and health care in Texas. It will also impact our economy because the best and the brightest will go elsewhere. People travel from many nations to receive world-class medical care at Texas institutions like MD Anderson. Doctors and researchers trained at UT’s MD Anderson promote Texas as a leader in medical education.
The sudden freeze on H-1B visas negatively impacts planning for the current school year. The additional paperwork caused by the sudden freeze creates delays and uncertainties.”
Cancer does not wait. Breakthrough research and new treatments are needed now. I urge Governor Abbott to save lives by lifting the freeze on H-1B visas in education and specialized health care.”
Ginger Hansel
A 21st Century Texas
Dear Editor,
Working-class Texans will have the opportunity, in the 2026 gubernatorial election, to vote Greg Abbott out of office.
Unless you’re a multimillionaire or billionaire, a MAGA-leaning Republican, a xenophobic influencer, a Christian Nationalist, or otherwise champion a 17th-century worldview, you will have virtually no impact on future socioeconomic policy in this state. What the governor will do, however, is continue to administer doses of misinformation and fear to those voters who see him as their protection against “The Other” … “Them,” who come in the night and then lurk in every dark corner, their claws and fangs on edge.
Please help Gina Hinojosa make the Texas Governor’s Office her own in November; vote to help Texas to shake hands with the 21st century.
Steve Suvia
Viva La Raza
Dear Editor,
MAGA world’s manufactured histrionics over Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show destroy any notion that conservatives “do not see color.” Their twisted belief that a triumphant performance by an American artist is somehow “Anti-American” makes it clear that they vividly see only one color – white.
I’m a white man of non-Hispanic descent. Here’s my simple but firm repudiation of all haters who would privilege my heritage over that of Mr. Martínez Ocasio’s:
VIVA LA RAZA
Liam Mathison Farmer
This article appears in February 20 • 2026.
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