Dissecting Austin's Proposed $3.7 Billion Budget

The Austin City Council will discuss the city's proposed $3.7 billion budget over the coming weeks. The proposed budget for the fiscal year 2016-2017 was presented by City Manager Mark Ott and city staff last July 27 as the council convened for the first budget work sessions of the month. They aim to finalize and adopt the financial document by September.

Nine-hundred sixty-nine million dollars out of the $3.7 billion is proposed to come from the city's general fund. The proposed amount for the general fund increased by $58.05 million-- around 6.37% higher from last year's general fund. Here are some highlights of the proposed budget:

• Additional tax exemptions (such as the recently increased homestead exemption)
• City's contribution increase to offset employee health insurance costs
• $40 Million capital improvement spending plan for public works
• 12 additional positions for the Austin Police Department
• 3 additional firefighting positions for the airport fire station
• $762,000 budget for smart and wireless phone service for APD body camera support
• 2% performance-based salary increase for civilian employees
• $3.4 million budget for the New Central Library

To learn more about this developing news and the latest updates on Austin's budget, you can access the original article from which this post was based here or you can subscribe to our blog.