Look Who's Talking About the Budget

The budget talks come to an end at council this week, with a look at the biggest slices of the pie: utilities like Austin Energy and the Water Utility and infrastructural slices of the General Fund pie like Public Works, Watershed Protection Development Review, Neighborhood Planning and Zoning, and Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services. With next week's meeting canceled, this is the last meeting before they convene Sept. 10 (and possibly Sept. 11 and 12, depending on the amount of debate) to vote the entire budget out. (The conversation continues on the city's website, where council submits questions to staff. It's pretty illuminating; if you haven't yet, visit www.ci.austin.tx.us/budget/cbq. Hopefully, Futrell can answer Mike Martinez's request to itemize all her spending under $49,000 before she leaves. We've got our fingers crossed!)

Today's Budget Talks: Infrastructure

Water Utility: Proposed 9.8% rate hike. Among many, many other things, the new dollars would continue feeding operations and maintenance and fund new water-conservation initiatives.

Watershed Protection Development Review: Proposed $15.8 million (up from $14.5 million in the amended 2006-07 budget) would help cover the costs of nonstop growth, what with all the demand for building inspections, site and subdivision reviews, and right-of-way management issues, particularly in the burgeoning Downtown area.

Neighborhood Planning/Zoning: Proposed $5.3 million (a $500,000 bump over last year) would help pay for all those new urban-design initiatives coming out of council – a Downtown Master Plan and transit-oriented district stations, to name just a couple. Dollars also could help the city facilitate "neighborhood planning capabilities" by beefing up the city's ombudsmanship role in these matters.