The ever-important negotiations over the City of Austin’s budget are now starting to heat up. Late last month, the city’s Budget Office released a draft proposal for the city’s $3.7 billion budget for the new fiscal year, which begins on October 1st. For a refresher on what exactly was included in that budget proposal, be sure to read our earlier blog, “Budgets Matter. Here’s What Austin’s is Starting to Look Like.”
Since the draft budget was published, City Council, advocacy groups, and the general public have all had a chance to look at it and are now starting to make comments and recommend changes.
Here’s what we’ve been hearing about.
What does the budget say about parks and recreation?
This year’s proposed budget allocates just under $95 million for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. That’s about 8 percent of the city’s general fund budget. By far, the largest chunk (70 percent) of the general fund goes to police, fire, and EMS. This year’s budget does include an 8.8 percent increase for the Parks and Recreation Department, but that is mostly to cover the rising costs of employee wages and insurance.
As with many other city departments, Austin’s rapidly growing population makes it harder to maintain a high quality of service as the parks are used by more and more people each day.
Great Austin Parks, an alliance of local park advocates and organizations (including Austin Parks Foundation and TreeFolks) is asking City Council to consider a $4.4 million budget increase for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. They point to the city’s “chronically underfunded” parks system, which they say has accumulated $100 million in deferred maintenance costs and has $15 million in unmet service needs this year alone.
Included in the $4.4 million request from Great Austin Parks are safety and planning priorities. A full list of exactly what the $4.4 million would cover is available here>>
What does the budget say about composting?
After a lot of effort and advocacy, a full citywide rollout of curbside composting is currently included in the 2017 budget draft proposal. The program is designed to roll out over the next four years, with all Austin Resource Recovery customers receiving service by 2020. This citywide composting program is a major component of the city’s plan to divert 90 percent of its waste from the landfill by 2040. Currently, about 37 percent of what we throw away is compostable. The hope is that a citywide residential composting program could really help to reduce that number.
But, just because curbside composting is included in the draft budget proposal, does not mean that it’s a done deal. The local nonprofit organization Texas Campaign for the Environment is working hard this month to ensure that composting remains in the budget throughout negotiations and into the final document. (They’re also pushing for a slightly quicker composting rollout schedule).
They are holding a press conference at City Hall in the media room on Thursday, August 18th at 3:45pm and are encouraging compost-loving members of the public to attend as well. The press conference will be followed by an opportunity for public testimony with City Council at 4pm. More info>>
Still looking for additional ways to get involved?
The city is holding its first public hearing on the 2017 budget on Thursday, August 18th. Another public hearing will be held on September 1st. And of course, as always you can always contact your City Council member if you have any thoughts or concerns. Their contact information is available here>>
