Programs that help low-income families, people experiencing homelessness and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault could face funding cuts in the city of Austin’s next budget.
A first draft of what the budget could look like was released Thursday. The forecast considers what the state calls a no-new-revenue property tax rate, which means the city would set a tax rate that would generate no more than a 3.5% increase in tax revenue over the previous year.
In December, City Manager T.C. Broadnax said the city would have to cut nearly $17 million in social service contracts to balance the budget.
The forecast released Thursday morning mirrored that projection while specifically pointing to cuts for permanent supportive housing, workforce development programs and adult education programs.
There is still money to cover a $30 million increase in personnel costs laid out in the three public safety contracts, $3 million to keep the Marshalling Yard emergency shelter open and $2.8 million to hire new firefighters.
The cuts come as the city of Austin looks to address affordability concerns, especially after voters rejected Prop Q last November. The property tax rate increase would have generated $110 million to pay for park improvements and to help people experiencing homelessness get off the street. People are also grappling with inflation at gas pumps and grocery stores.
Mayor Kirk Watson says releasing a draft of the plan that includes what cuts could be made adds a level of transparency for the public and helps city leaders better decide what is a need versus a want.
“What we look at in our day-to-day lives — everything from gas to food to just inflation generally is making it less affordable,” he said. “So I think it’s appropriate for us to look at what would happen if we didn’t raise people’s maintenance and operations property taxes. Now what that also shows is, in order to do that, do we have to make cuts.”
The tax rate is made up of two parts: maintenance and operations, and the debt service. The maintenance and operations part pays for the city’s general fund.
City staff said the general fund, which pays for city services like public safety, parks and roads, would get some additional property tax revenue as new properties are added to the tax roll.
The Austin City Council is also still considering going to voters with a new bond package that could pay for improvements at libraries and city parks, along with improving safety for pedestrians along busy roads like Sixth Street downtown.
It will be a few months before the City Council finalizes its budget. Budget work sessions are set to begin in July with adoption expected in August. People will have several opportunities over the next several months to voice their opinions on how the city should spend its money.