Dear Neighbors,

I would like to thank everyone who communicated their views and connected with my office throughout the budget process. I heard loud and clear that you want your city to deliver core services effectively, steward your tax dollars wisely, and invest in our community.

Over the last few months, I worked with my distinguished Council colleagues to identify key funding priorities. Together we reallocated millions of dollars of taxes from hotel guests to help us preserve, enhance, and run the historic parks and other spaces that make Austin special. I proudly voted to invest in our children by supporting cost-efficient afterschool programs and partnerships with our local school districts. We secured additional funding to train future nurses and high tech professionals and increased support for small businesses. I also created a mobility officer pilot program funded through parking fees and strengthened the wildfire division.

We sought to provide balance with some tax-relief and cost savings. I led the charge successfully to increase the senior homestead exemption and voted to keep the tax-rate below the roll-back rate.

Although we adopted a budget last week, it is important for you to understand that we already anticipate the need for one or more budget amendments in the coming months. The City is negotiating contracts with all three public safety unions—Fire, Police, and EMS. We will return to consider each of those departments once contract negotiations end and we resolve any remaining fiscal uncertainty. We also chose to postpone a decision on adding 50+ positions to Development Services so we could better understand the implications of related building fee increases on affordability. I ask you to stay engaged and continue to communicate with me and my colleagues as the budget amendment process unfolds.

In future newsletters, I will share additional details about the key investments we made during this budget cycle, update you on the public safety contract negotiations and the budget amendment process, and provide opportunities for you to shape how we structure a potential 2018 bond.

Sincerely,

Alison Alter
City Council Member, District 10

Last week, the City’s CodeNEXT team released the second draft code and map for public review. CodeNEXT is the City of Austin initiative to revise the Land Development Code, which determines how land can be used throughout the city—including what, where, and how much can be built. Below you will find links to the draft code and the CodeNEXT comparison map, which allows you to compare existing zoning with the proposed zoning.

CodeNEXT code text
CodeNEXT comparison map

The City of Austin Planning and Zoning staff have organized open houses to discuss CodeNEXT and to answer questions. These meetings are not organized by the District 10 office, though District 10 staff will be in attendance for the meeting at Anderson High School on Monday, October 23rd from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

Another open house close to District 10 will take place on October 16 at Austin High School, 1715 Cesar Chavez St. A full list of CodeNEXT open houses can be found here. Please note that some of these citywide open house meeting dates have changed since they were first released.

District 10 CodeNEXT Office Hours
District 10 staff will be holding office hours over the next few weeks throughout the district so that we can answer questions and hear you concerns. If you would like to attend office hours, please RSVP to kurt.cadena-mitchell@austintexas.gov. Be sure to include your neighborhood when you RSVP.

Friday, September 29th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Russell’s Bistro — 1601 W 38th St Ste. 1, Austin, TX 78731

Friday, September 29th from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Starbucks — 3637 Far West Blvd, Austin, TX 78731

Wednesday, October 4th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Russell’s Bakery — 3339 Hancock Dr, Austin, TX 78731

Friday, October 13th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Waterloo Ice House — 6203 N Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin, TX 78731

We will announce additional meetings in coming weeks.

Major improvements to Spicewood Springs Road are on the way. The 2016 Mobility Bond provides $17 million for preliminary engineering, design and construction of safety and mobility improvements on Spicewood Springs between Loop 360 and Mesa Drive. To hear from Austin Transportation Department about the project timeline, scope, and process, attend their upcoming public meeting:

If you can’t attend the meeting, the City is providing additional opportunities to participate and learn about the project, including on-demand small-group presentations, online feedback tools, online presentations, and more. Read about all your options here.

In June of 2018, Capital Metro may make major changes to certain bus routes and other services in Austin. The Cap Metro board of directors will vote this November whether to accept the proposed changes. Please visit Cap Metro's June 2018 page to review the services you currently use and see how they may be affected. Capital Metro will be holding several open houses, including two webinars, to allow you to learn more and share your thoughts.
Additional open house/webinar dates and times are available. 

Learn more about the event and RSVP on the Facebook event page.

It’s My Park Day is a city-wide volunteer event in which thousands of people work on close to 100 different projects to clean up parks, make improvements, restore habitats, and more. Visit the Austin Parks Foundation page to learn more and sign up to volunteer. 

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