Austin City Council voted unanimously Thursday to hire Public Works LLC to conduct an independent efficiency review of all city departments, advancing an audit that has become entangled with a competing ballot proposal and questions about the firm’s standing in Texas.
Mayor Kirk Watson said the vote completed months of work to establish the council-initiated review, which will be conducted by the outside firm in coordination with the city auditor.
“It insists on something that I believe was essential from the very beginning and this council has endorsed and pushed forward: independent judgment,” Watson said. “We’re bringing in professionals because we want professional analysis, not political analysis.”
City staff said Public Works was selected from 25 competing bids for the firm’s understanding of the assessment’s needs and Austin’s unique challenges. The firm has also conducted efficiency assessments for local governments across the country, including the city of Chicago, Baltimore County, Broward County, Travis County, six state governments and two U.S. territories.
Save Austin Now, a political action committee led by former Travis County Republican Party Chair Matt Mackowiak, has criticized the selection of Public Works while promoting its own proposed charter amendment requiring regular audits of city government. The measure is expected to go before Austin voters in November.
The PAC said earlier this month that Public Works’ right to do business in Texas was revoked in 2024 after the company failed to pay state taxes. City spokesperson Jenny LaCoste-Caputo said at the time that the company had previously been registered in the Texas but intentionally allowed its registration to lapse because it had no active projects in the state and owed no Texas taxes
Public Works had begun taking steps to reinstate its registration before the council voted on the contract, LaCoste-Caputo said. She added that the city would ensure the firm complied with all state requirements.
Watson questioned Public Works President Eric Schnurer during Thursday’s meeting about whether the company had been delinquent on its taxes. Scherner said it had never failed to pay taxes owed to the state.