AUSTIN, Texas – First responders are not happy with Austin leaders after the release of a revised city budget. This comes after voters rejected Proposition Q earlier this month.
With the failure of Prop Q, the budget is still $300 million more than last year, but it’s being met with some opposition.
First responders respond to revised city budget
By the numbers:
Last year, the city approved a $5.9 billion budget. This year, city council adopted a budget about $400 million higher, hoping for voter approval of Prop Q.
Since voters rejected the higher taxes, the Austin EMS Association, along with fire and police leaders, say inadequate funding to their departments could slow emergency response times and create new challenges across the city.
“Our safety is not negotiable and the citizens’ safety is non-negotiable,” said Bob Nicks, President of the Austin Firefighters Association.
Last year’s approved fire department budget was $262 million. The newly proposed amended budget now sets it at $263 million. If Prop Q had passed, that would have risen to $264 million.
“It’s that simple. Don’t take away what we already have. We’re not asking for more. We’re saying, hey, there are a bunch of new firefighter programs we need to fund. We’re not saying that. Neither is our fire chief. You know? But we are very adamant that you should not take it away. What the citizens have already paid for and enjoy,” said Nicks.
In the updated plan, the city sets aside $5.7 million for wage adjustments and other costs tied to a tentative labor agreement with the fire association, if approved.
It also calls for an $8.3 million reduction in overtime ahead of a planned restructuring of the fire staffing model.
“We want to show up on scene and not gamble with the citizen’s life. We want to be able to do the things we’ve always done, which is aggressively go in, aggressively search for the structure, and aggressively put that fire out. Knowing that we’re doing it safely, as safe as we possibly can. That’s what we’re losing,” said Nicks.
EMS would increase by $5 million compared to last year, but it would have gone up even further to $154 million if Prop Q passed. The revised budget also includes a $3.7 million increase for the Homeless Strategy Office, and $38 million less than previously thought in social services contracts.
“This sector is already underfunded. So, to cut it even more, I mean, you’re going to see community members that are more desperate, don’t have access to resources, don’t have access to supportive services. It’s going to really create a lot of problems. I mean a lot of people that are desperate,” said Aloki Shah, President Of The United Workers Of Integral Care.
The United Workers of Integral Care, which represents mental health and social service workers in Travis County, says it’s unclear if they fall under that category but believe they’ll feel the impact.
“It would look like loss of job positions, it would like layoffs. Yeah, so you would have less caseworkers in the field, you would less crisis responders in the field. It’s people,” said Shah.
What’s next:
The city is hosting a budget work session on Thursday, Nov. 13.
FOX 7 reached out to multiple city council members and the mayor’s office and have not heard back.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Jenna King