A. Alter FY25 Budget Amendments

[Alison Alter]

Dear Colleagues,

The budget amendments I have submitted for consideration include:

1. PARD MAINTENANCE: Co-leading on a budget amendment with Council Member Ellis to add staff to the Parks Department for ongoing maintenance needs so our beloved parks and bond investments have a standard of service and quality that our community deserves. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 132516.pdf

2. CLIMATE CO-LAB: An amendment to continue the City’s participation in the UT-City Climate Co-Lab. The Climate Co-Lab is a partnership with UT to develop Austin-specific climate information, data products, tools, and assessments to inform municipal decision making on issues such as urban heat trends and securing our water supply. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 132546.pdf

3. ANTI-HATE Education and Outreach: An amendment to continue our anti-hate efforts. This would include one-time funding for bystander training, We All Belong Campaign, Party at the People’s House, and other community events. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 132618.pdf

4. FIREFIGHTER PAID MATERNITY LEAVE: An amendment to secure an additional 10 weeks of paid maternity leave for sworn firefighters as they physically recover from childbirth so they can more confidently return to serving our community in good health. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 132657.pdf

5. HOMELAND SECURITY & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE: An amendment to purchase software and a subscription to a virtual emergency operations center to assist in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and crises. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 132748.pdf

6. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNIT: An amendment to provide ongoing funding for temp positions to hire retired detectives for the Domestic Violence Unit (DVU). It also includes one-time and ongoing funding for mobile data equipment that supports more effective and safer operations so DVU personnel can access CAD while working in the field. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 154802.pdf

The budget riders I have submitted include:

1. TECHNOLOGY COST SAVINGS: Budget direction to identify cost savings in our technology contracts to further bolster our cybersecurity efforts.

2. PARAMEDIC PRACTITIONERS and EMS COMMUNICATIONS: Budget direction to pursue additional revenue from further EMS billing and revenue improvements and utilize that revenue to enable the Paramedic Practitioner Program to operate 24/7 so we can appropriately respond to low-acuity calls and free up our ambulances to respond more quickly to critical incidents. Additional revenue could further improve our response by expanding our EMS Communications personnel.

3. AVIATION & AUSTIN WATER UTILITY RETENTION PAY: Budget direction to the City Manager to ensure that Aviation & Austin Water Utility employees currently receiving a retention bonus are not financially harmed as the market study results are implemented.

4. AFD MATERNITY LEAVE: Budget direction to the City Manager that the AFD Maternity Leave benefit offered on a one-time basis in A. Alter Amendment 4 be maintained in the upcoming labor negotiation next year.

5. AFD OVERTIME: Budget direction to explore whether adding additional firefighter positions could help decrease AFD’s overtime costs, as well as the development of a plan to begin training new firefighters in a timely manner so as to minimize reliance on overtime.

These budget riders / IFCs have been submitted and will be posted to backup once Legal has finalized their review.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to City Manager Broadnax for responding to our local advocates and survivors and funding the Collective Sex Crimes Response Model’s unmet needs in his amended proposed budget. The steps we are taking with this work are important and meaningful for our community and will put us on the path to be leaders in sexual assault response nationally.

I look forward to our budget deliberations this week and next. Thank you to my colleagues who already have signed on to the above as co-sponsors. I invite my colleagues to join me in co-sponsoring any and all of these items of interest.

Regards,
Alison Alter