I attended the Austin CRS meeting October 18th to listen to Mayor Will Wynn discuss Austin’s economy and how the bonds will fit in. He was a nice, well-spoken guy and I liked what he had to say. Austin is the 16th largest city in the U.S. and we’re considered on many lists to be one of the the safest, healthiest, cleanest, best places to live. Mayor Wynn said the purpose of the bond package is to keep our current quality of life. With our huge population boom and continued growth, the city will be in trouble if we don’t save now and get these packages for the future.

Mayor Wynn also pointed out that the bonds will be paid out over the next 6 or 7 years, so not all of the spending will be up front. The mayor created a Political Action Committee to get the bonds approved. They  are outlined on the PAC’s website.

The 7-part, $567.4 million bond package proposal is the product of nearly
  two years of work.  Recommendations from city staff were reviewed and
  refined by an appointed citizen committee, with thousands of hours of community
  input…The package was crafted to meet Austin’s current critical needs while
  preparing for future growth at a price Austinites could afford. Approval of
  the total bond package would increase property taxes by about $4 a month for
  the typical Austin homeowner.  The new rates would be phased in between
  2008 and 2010.

The $4 property tax increase was based on the fact that property taxes account for about 1/3 of the
revenue sources for the city. Other sources include fees and fines, previous funds, sales tax, etc. Outlined are the 7 bonds. Voters are urged not just to vote for the bond that meets their needs, but to approve all 7 to help keep Austin high in national rankings in all of these areas.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 at 7:08 am and is filed under Hot Issues and Alerts. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.