Alternative Budget Addition 1

[Ryan Alter]

Colleagues,
As we work through the budget amendment process, we would like to propose an alternative that is simpler, cleaner, and more transparent. Below you can find a substitute motion for the staff reconciliation document that has been labeled “Budget Addition 1.” This document is based on the proposed 5 cent TRE offered by Districts 6, 7, 8, and 9 (“5 Cent TRE”), with some minor modifications and additions of items from our proposals.
A few key points about this proposal:

- Fully funds the HSO plan.
- Includes 96% of the items in the Aug. 11 5 cent proposal for the 5 Cent TRE.
- Adds an additional $8.1 million in FY 26 to the cost of the 5 cent TRE.
- Contains a reserve balance of 17.46% in FY 26 and 16.99% in FY 27.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 130319.pdf

We believe using this as the Budget Addition 1 is important for a few reasons. First, it will significantly cut down on the number of amendments we all need to bring. We incorporated a number of individual office amendments, and anticipate if this proposal is the primary motion, we will only likely need to consider a handful of amendments, compared to at least 30 or 40 amendments if we use the staff proposal.
Additionally, we are worried about the process of considering such a large number of amendments because it will be difficult to look at the budget comprehensively. Individuals’ support for a given amendment might depend on the adoption or failure of a subsequent amendment. By using a more comprehensive proposal as the starting point, we can all get a better idea of what the final product will look like and the interplay of how all the amendments fit together and impact other funding decisions.

We do not anticipate or even suggest that this document is fully comprehensive or would not be subsequently amended, but strongly feel it is a more appropriate starting point than the staff proposal. We realize this will only happen with a majority of Council support and invite you to weigh in and hopefully support this approach.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
MPT Fuentes
CM Velasquez
CM Vela
CM Alter