Colleagues,
Thank you for this opportunity to submit the District 4 budget amendments for public review. I have developed 14 changes which reflect my priorities for the City and my district. My primary areas of focus for the FY24 budget are safety, accessibility, and quality-of-life.
Vela 1: Tenant Stabilization Funds - $7,800,000
This amendment will maintain the $7.8 mill in tenant stabilization funding, including emergency rental assistance, eviction legal assistance, and relocation assistance for tenants facing displacement. As we continue to deal with a housing and homelessness crisis, maintaining our funding levels for tenant stabilization is critical to help prevent tenants from becoming homeless.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175615.pdf
Vela 2: Parks Shading Infrastructure - $2,000,000
After my budget rider last year, PARD completed a preliminary study highlighting a great need for shading infrastructure in our city parks. The current budget proposal allocates $210k to shade structures, which is only enough to serve two locations. This budget amendment will significantly increase funding for shade structures needed that provide heat protection for playgrounds, benches, athletic courts, and other recreational structures.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175648.pdf
Vela 3: ARR Transfer Center Study - $1,000,000
Austin is one of the largest cities in the nation without a waste transfer center. These centers improve efficiency, allow residents a place to take their bulk items, and reduce the climate impact of our resource recovery programs. This amendment will provide funding to start the facility study and planning efforts for a new center. *This item may already be funded by the department and may be amended or withdrawn.*
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175717.pdf
Vela 4: 911 Staffing - $0/TBD
My office has been working with city staff on a 911 staffing plan. I support several specific changes to improve the vacancy rate and make sure the public is not waiting on hold. These changes include more frequent step raises, a new salary tier for call-takers with a tenure of 15-20 years, and authorization of part-time work. *This item may already be funded by the department and may be amended or withdrawn.*
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175748.pdf
Vela 5: Sobering Center operating funds - $149,000
The Sobering Center provides important support services to both EMS and APD by diverting potential intoxication crimes from our jail and hospitals. The center is looking at offering more robust substance abuse treatments to its patients and these funds would help build the capacity to expand services. A recently awarded federal grant obtained by Rep. Lloyd Doggett may be a potential source of funds.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175829.pdf
Vela 6: Mayor and Council Funded Positions - $1,000,000
Last year’s market study of City Council office compensation, staffing, and budgeting surveyed various cities and found that the overall average size of an elected official’s office consisted of five employees. A budget rider last year added a fifth position to council offices and a ninth position to the Mayor’s office, but it did not allocate any funding to these positions. This amendment adds the necessary funding to these positions as well as a new funded position to add capacity to the Mayor’s office.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175856.pdf
Vela 7: Immigrant Legal Services - $1,000,000
In previous years, Council has included funding for contracts with legal service providers for affordable immigration legal services. Legal support empowers immigrants to obtain lawful employment, access essential services such as banking and insurance, start businesses, attend schools and job training, and establish relationships with public safety. *This item may already be funded and may be amended or withdrawn.*
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180313.pdf
Vela 8: Expand Spay & Neuter Access - $1,200,000
Before the pandemic, we fixed over 10,000 pets a year. Now, we barely achieve half that number. With increased spay/neuter, we can minimize shelter overcrowding on a long-term basis. This increased funding will reduce the free spay/neuter backlog and permit our nonprofit partner to expand frequency of services.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180124.pdf
Vela 9: Language Access at Council Meetings - $100,000
Funding in-person interpretation for all Austin City Council meetings would be more equitable, inclusive, and efficient during meetings. Not every resident may be comfortable testifying in English on complex topics, and remote interpretation can be unreliable and cumbersome.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180611.pdf
Vela 10: Language Access during Emergency Response - $50,000
Continued funding for staff is required to ensure the City Emergency Operations Plan's language access provisions are developed and implemented as recommended by the City Auditor’s 2016 language access audit, 2021 emergency response audit, and 2023 language access audit followup. Given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, updating and implementing an emergency language access policy is urgent.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180218.pdf
Vela 11: Data Employees for Office of Police Oversight - $273,108
Other cities have established excellent police data portals that help guide our public safety dates and ground them in data, not anecdotes. I propose shifting the new positions assigned to handle policing- and crime-related data from the Austin Police Department to the Office of Police Oversight. This approach will help ensure public confidence in our data reporting.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180252.pdf
Vela 12: Restoring Human Resources, Building Services, and CPIO Positions - $0
The proposed budget reassigns a total of 37 civilian employees from their home departments to the Austin Police Department. Community groups have expressed concerns about the record-keeping and transparency impact of this move. Given the 79% of Austin voters who supported expanded transparency in the recent election, I want to understand any potential impacts on transparency before we move more records into APD custody.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180359.pdf
Vela 13: Full-Time Lifeguards - $350,000
To address lifeguard recruiting and retention challenges, my office successfully advocated to add 13 full-time lifeguards in FY23. As an incremental step towards the goal of 25-30, we propose adding seven positions in this year's budget. Full-time status benefits the city in providing a more predictable, regular workforce and reduces reliance on unpredictable seasonal recruiting, while treating employees working full-time hours fairly.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180318.pdf
Vela 14: Mental Health Diversion Partnership - $2,000,000
Travis County has recently proposed a mental health diversion program for the jail and has asked for city support in establishing the diversion program. The proposed services can better address public safety, reducing the burden on our Austin police officers and EMS workers. The City of Austin should engage with Travis County’s efforts and provide planning and pilot funding.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180845.pdf
I’d like to extend my gratitude to my colleagues, community leaders, City of Austin staff, and my own staff for the diligent work addressing my office’s many inquiries over the last several months. Developing the budget is a long and challenging process, and I hope we can see it through to a positive conclusion over the next two weeks.
Saludos,
Chito