Austin Metric

The pros & cons of the proposed Civil & Family Courthouse.

This November, Travis County voters will be choosing whether to allow sale of $287 million in bonds to build a new Civil & Family Courthouse. Here are the main five topics discussed by proponents and opponents.

Is there a need for additional …

The City's Deputy CFO responds to my suggestions for improving budget presentations.

This response was a result of my earlier correspondence with the Deputy CFO on budget presentations.  You can read my letter to him here.  I've made several comments inline - you'll find them between square brackets with red text …

My letter to the City's Deputy Chief Financial Officer requesting changes to budget presentations.

An example: this much-reported chart from the City budget office doesn't include sales tax impacts.

__ Dear Mr. Van Eenoo,

Congratulations on completing this year's budget adoption cycle in a smooth and expeditious fashion. There was …

The most important policy themes going into the adoption of the new City budget.

The City’s general fund spending has increased faster than resident income.

1. Growth Dividend? The City's revenue generation approach is about to start a multi-year march towards a more regressive state as a result of …

The proposed 2015-2016 City of Austin budget increases the number of sworn police officers per capita.

I previously discussed some of the problems with the PERF police staffing study that recommended a significant increase in sworn personnel (PDF.html). Some readers were surprised that the study actually recommended a further …