The Austin City Council is moving to tighten its financial belt weeks after voters resoundingly rejected Proposition Q — and in the wake of a series of American-Statesman investigations that exposed questionable and lavish spending by city leaders.
The failed proposition, which lost by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, would have added $110 million to city coffers this fiscal year by raising property taxes more than 20%. Now, facing a need to balance the budget without the extra tax revenue, city officials are scrambling to find savings — and to repair public trust shaken by revelations of fiscal mismanagement.
On Thursday, the City Council unanimously approved a pair of resolutions with those goals in mind. One directs the city manager to charge each department or office every year with “identifying potential cost-saving measures” equivalent to 5% of their respective budgets and to regularly eliminate and post vacant positions.
The other declares that the mayor, council and city staff will work together to develop new expense and reimbursement policies for council members and other elected officeholders “that ensure financial accountability and transparency.”
“These policies will demonstrate a public benefit of spending by officeholders and will be informed by government best practices,” the resolution states, noting that the process will include a review of practices and policies from other local governments.
The resolution calls for a progress update by Dec. 11 and formal policy recommendations by Jan. 22.
Earlier this year, the American-Statesman revealed that Austin has one of the most lax spending policies among major cities in Texas with one ethics lawyer saying it was “about as minimal as you can get while still having a policy.”
The two men are now leading the charge on reforms alongside Mayor Kirk Watson, who called for sweeping reforms on election night as early vote returns made it clear Prop Q was doomed.
Alter — whose office spending habits have drawn scrutiny following American-Statesman reporting — moved on Wednesday to slash his office budget by 8.5%. He said the reduction would be proportional to cuts required by other city departments following Prop Q’s failure.
“If we’re asking the community to accept tough choices, we should hold ourselves to the same standard,” he wrote in a message board post.
The same day, Broadnax said city staff were working to find outside partners to conduct a wholesale audit of city financial performance, which he called an “efficiency and optimization process.”
One of his goals for next year, he said Wednesday, is for the city to have multiple online dashboards tracking progress on a wide range of initiatives including homelessness services, vendors and audits. The council on Thursday directed the city auditor to create a dashboard showing the results of the forthcoming audit.
It also directed Broadnax to create a new process for evaluating social service contracts and distributing grants.
While the resolution initiating an overhaul to expense policies passed unanimously with little fanfare, each council member signed on to cosponsor it. Before the vote, Council Member Krista Laine briefly emphasized the measure’s importance.
“I know that we all support strengthening financial accountability and transparency in our council offices,” she said. “It’s an important step toward rebuilding public trust.”
Staff writer Chaya Tong contributed to this report.