Council unanimously approves Fiscal 2009 City Budget

For immediate release
Sept. 8, 2008

The Austin City Council today approved a balanced Fiscal Year 2009 budget that responds to community needs and priorities. The $2.8 billion dollar budget will take effect on Oct. 1, 2008.

The City Council set the property tax rate at 40.12 cents per $100 assessed valuation, which is lower than the current tax rate of 40.34 cents. This means that for an individual with a median-priced home of $189,547, the City of Austin portion of the property tax bill would be $760 annually or 20 percent of the total overlapping tax bill. Austin continues to have the lowest tax rate of any major city in Texas.

"While expense reductions are a big focus of this budget, we placed particular emphasis on minimizing the impact on the services we deliver to Austin residents," City Manager Marc Ott said. "We have balanced the rising costs for services with moderate economic growth."

Budget highlights include:

• Additional 24 police officers for community policing.
• New and replacement police cars, fire apparatus and ambulances.
• Resources for libraries to improve safety, cleanliness and quality.
• Funding for Zilker Park improvements, including irrigation and turf additions.
• Additional funding for affordable housing initiatives.
• Funding to complete a new comprehensive plan.
• New resources for Americans with Disabilities Act sidewalk improvements.
• Increased levels of street preventative maintenance.

To fund improvements to the aging infrastructure of the Austin Water Utility, customers will see an average increase of $4.25 in their monthly bills. Garbage fees will increase for the first time in more than a decade and will be based on the size of a customer’s garbage cart. The rate schedule was restructured from the proposed budget at the request of the City Council to further encourage recycling.

Additionally, most City employees will receive a 2.5 percent pay increase.

For more information on the budget, check www.cityofaustin.org/budget.