Budget and Fiscal Health Discussions

[Alison Alter]

Dear Colleagues,

As Chair of the Audit & Finance Committee, I’ve been working with the City’s Budget & Finance offices on the state of city finances and how they may be affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is, Austin’s financial policies and fiscal health mean we are in a strong position to navigate the economic consequences of the pandemic.

Tomorrow, during work session staff will brief council members on the following:

Jon Hockenyos (COA Economic Advisor):

*Projections of local job losses and impact on sales tax collections
*Preliminary look at lodging industry impacts
*High level look at impact of Federal stimulus

Budget:
*Current financial status
*Updated projections for General Fund revenues
*“Order of magnitude” revenue implications for enterprise departments
*Expenditure increases from response efforts known to date
*Broad language governing use of relief funds
*Budget actions underway and other options to consider for addressing revenue shortfall
*Policy on use of General Fund reserves and reserve projections

This discussion will serve as a launching point for future conversations. I’m creating this thread so we can raise issues we’d like to see addressed at future briefings. (If the issues can be addressed tomorrow, staff will do their best to do so.) CMs can also reach out to Ed Van Eenoo (City Budget Officer) directly with ideas or questions.

On an ongoing basis we will need to explore questions like:

*What impacts is COVID-19 having on city operations and finances? In other words, what are we trying to solve for?
*What are the right fiscal and policy tools for the things we are trying to solve for?
*How are we thinking about different revenue streams?
*To what extent will the CARES Act help with the things we are trying to solve for?

I hope everyone is healthy and safe.

Regards,
Alison Alter