City wants extra $565K for staffing, service demands

The Austin City Council is looking for money.

Faced with an increasing demand for services, inflation costs and upcoming projects, the council looks to increase the city’s levy by $565,000 — or about 13 percent — to about $4.9 million next year.

That increase looks a lot bigger than it actually is, according to city staff. Finance Director Tom Dankert said the city will receive about $140,000 in new taxes from the Holiday Inn area, which has a tax increment finance district set to expire at the end of this year. That will cover about 3 percent of the increased levy.

In addition, about 2 to 3 percent of taxes usually comes from new commercial and residential properties, which means a 7 to 8 percent increase is what will actually show up on tax bills next year.

The increases come as the council faces mounting pressure to keep up with the city’s growth. Several departments have stretched their staff over the years, including the Austin Police Department, which routinely faces increasing arrests and incident reports.

“We’re growing, folks,” Dankert told the council.

The levy proposal as is would fund three new city positions for about $225,000 and put another $200,000 toward agreed-upon wage and benefit increases for employees next year. The city would set aside the additional $140,000 from the TIF district for capital projects and potential Vision 2020 requests.

Despite the oncoming increases, some council members hope to keep the levy as close to its current $4,325,000 as possible. Council Member Jeff Austin recommended department heads submit staffing requests that justify why they could need more employees before the council makes any decisions.

“If we want to fund all these wishes, then we have to tax the taxpayers,” he said.

Yet several council members said they hoped the city would take action to meet needs moving forward, rather than cut services to save cost.

“If we as a city aren’t willing to invest in ourselves then why should Target or any other stores that have left invest in us?” Council member Steve King said.

What’s the true cost behind the 2016 tax levy proposal?

Austin’s current levy is $4,325,000. The city council looks to increase the levy by $565,000, or about 13 percent. Yet the city expects an extra $140,000 in property taxes from the Holiday Inn district next year, after a tax increment finance (TIF) district from work done in 2005 expires.

That leaves about $425,000, which the city will use to pay its current labor agreements as well as hire three new staff members.

Finance Director Tom Stiehm said the city also gets about 2 to 3 percent of its levy each year from new homes and businesses added onto the tax rolls, which would put Austin’s levy increase at about 7 to 8 percent. The city increased its levy by 5 percent last year.

By the numbers

2015 tax levy: $4,325,000

2016 proposed levy: $4,890,000

TIF expiration taxes: $140,000

Three new employees: $225,000

Current staff wage/benefit increases: $200,000