In our first year under the new 10-1 form of government, your Austin City Council set high goals for what we could accomplish in the first year. We are proud to have made real progress toward improving Austin for everyone. We’re looking forward to an even more productive 2016.

See the full list here.

AFFORDABILITY 

• Created a homestead property tax exemption, saving homeowners a total of $3.5 million, with an intent to increase the exemption to 20 percent over the next few years
• Cut the city property tax rate from 48.09 cents per $100 to 45.89 cents, saving the average homeowner roughly $14 a year
• While reducing the tax burden on homeowners, added 50 new police officers, secured $3 million for body cameras for 500 officers, and increased spending for health and human services by $7 million and parks by more than $3 million
• Increased senior and disabled property tax exemption from $70,000 to $80,000, a total tax cut of $1.6 million
• Cut utility bills for Austin Energy residential customers by an average of $3.33 a month
• Increased living wage for city employees from $11.39 an hour to $13.03 an hour
• Worked with Council Member Garza to negotiate an agreement with the Pilot Knob Planned Unit Development developer that includes the addition of approximately 1,000 affordable housing units including 650 permanently affordable houses with no additional city spending, setting a new benchmark for the city’s SMART Housing program
• Established a TIF for Homestead Preservation District A, and, with Council Member Renteria’s Committee, created three additional Homestead Preservation Districts (B, C & D) with Public Hearings, creating the first homestead preservation districts in Texas that leverage growth to pay for affordable housing in those neighborhoods where growth threatens to displace residents
• Supported effort by Mayor Pro Tem Tovo to strengthen the affordable housing requirements for planned unit development
• Won a compromise that would make accessory dwellings (AKA granny flats) easier to build along transit corridors, increasing affordable housing opportunities while respecting neighborhood character
• Initiated legal action to ensure an appraisal process that is fair to homeowners and aligned with the Texas Constitution
• Initiated development of new rules to assist low-income tenants when developers plan to demolish apartment complexes where they live
• With Council Member Casar, passed resolution directing fair housing as part of CodeNext, which will increase the number of affordable housing options for Austinites
• Passed resolution calling on City Manager to implement permitting recommendations to expedite the review process and streamline approvals, which would make remodeling more affordable and feasible for homeowners and small business owners and decrease construction costs
• As part of the Spirit of East Austin, ordered a survey of surplus properties to make better use of public resources
• Recalibrated drainage fees so that utility bills did not unfairly burden renters
• Leveraged private sector and philanthropy to assist nonprofits in housing homeless veterans

MOBILITY

• Passed CAMPO 2040, a regional, long-range transportation plan that includes investments in new roads, traffic management, several MetroRapid bus routes and commuter rail to get people out of cars on congested roadways and into mass transit
• Won national competition for Rocky Mountain Institute mobility transformation and named lead implementation city for RMI’s global mobility transformation initiative to find innovative and holistic solutions to congestion
• Collaborated with Google to establish Austin as first test city for autonomous vehicles outside of their headquarters
• The City Manager implemented the Traffic Congestion Action Plan (T-CAP), resulting in the following achievements:
  • Among the intersections that were a part of the City’s Don’t Block the Box initiative, there were 5 intersections that experienced a blockage during at least 10% of the cycles with an average blockage of 32% of the time. While officers were station at these intersections, the blockage percentage was cut in half to 16% of the time. The two intersections for which we have after data shows that the blockages percentage increased to 22% after officers stopped enforcement.
  • Retimed a third of the signals, resulting in 15% reduction in travel times and 40% reduction in stops.
• Voted to approve $20 million to improve the intersection of the 51^st Street and IH-35 to increase safety and mobility and reduce congestion
• Voted for $54.5 million in traffic improvements at IH-35 & Oltorf to increase mobility
• City of Austin achieved ambitious milestone goal for employee peak-hour commute reduction and now working toward goal of 30% reduction underway. Movability Austin worked with multiple downtown employers to reduce their employees’ commute trips, or shift them to transit/bike/walk trips; new Transportation Demand Management program launched at ATD; new Smart Trips Program to encourage people to sue active transportation options, being piloted with people in the Rundberg/N. Lamar area.

REFORM 

• Led smooth transition from at-large seats to 10-1 system while increasing public engagement
• Made appointments to boards and commissioners and staff in the Mayor’s Office that reflect the city’s demographics
• Created the position of Education Outreach Coordinator in the Mayor’s Office to enhance collaboration between local schools and the city
• Created new City Council committees to allow for more meaningful public discussion
• Created Council Transition Workgroup to recommend improvements to the Council committee system
• Banned dark money in local campaigns to increase transparency in city elections
• Reformed regulations of lobbyists to close loopholes to increase accountability and transparency in city government
• Established Departmental Review Process modeled Texas Sunset Commission on the to identify improvements and efficiencies and to increase and deepen Council engagement on the budget
• Reduced fee waivers to SXSW, saving Austin taxpayers $230,000 over last year, while increasing police presence throughout Austin during the three-week-long festival in 2016
• Initiated regular meetings with regional mayors to discuss opportunities for collaboration
• To make city government more inclusive, printed Spirit of East Austin communications in Vietnamese in addition to Spanish and English

SUSTAINABILITY 

• In Paris, signed the Under MOU 2 agreement with local governments to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, providing leadership on climate change
• Authorized with the City Council the purchase of 400 to 450 megawatts of solar power and to solicit bids to purchase or build another 150 MW of solar by the end of 2019. Austin Energy signed purchase power agreements for an initial 288 MW of solar as part of the Council authorization to negotiate for 400 to 450 MW. The agreements position Austin Energy to be among the biggest users of solar power in Texas
• Passed an ordinance to increase reuse and recycling of materials from construction and demolition projects. Beginning Oct. 1, 2016, the Construction and Demolition Recycling Ordinance will require 50 percent diversion of materials from construction projects larger than 5,000 square feet. In 2019, the ordinance will expand to include commercial demolition projects. Construction and demolition projects generate at least 20 percent of all materials that go to Austin-area landfills. This ordinance takes a huge step toward achieving Austin’s Zero Waste goal by requiring more recycling and reuse of valuable materials
• Austin Energy surpassed 1,000 MW of wind power with two new wind farms coming online in 2015. Austin Energy’s 1,340 MW of wind power is about 10 percent of the wind power fleet in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, increasing the use of renewable energy in Austin Energy’s portfolio
• Launched partnership with national retailers such as The Home Depot and Lowe’s to offer point of sale discounts to customers to purchase energy efficient products. The initiative leverages the combined size of the utilities to reduce administration costs and pass savings on to customers
• Achieved slightly over 64 MW demand reductions, driven by strong performance in GB ratings and energy codes, small business lighting and residential demand response
• Installed 7.7 MW of residential and commercial solar, providing long-term savings and cutting greenhouse gas emissions
• Surpassed 1,000 MW of wind power with two new wind farms coming online in 2015, making Austin Energy’s 1,340 MW of wind power is about 10 percent of the wind power fleet in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas
• Joined the Downtown Austin Alliance, downtown businesses, and Austin Resource Recovery to unveil an expansion of public recycling in the downtown area, an initiative called Recycle on the Go. Starting with nearly 50 new recycling cans this year, recycling containers will be installed throughout the downtown area over the next three years
• Council approved one of the first energy storage systems tied to a community solar project in Texas. Part of the $3 million cost for the 1.5 MW battery storage system is offset with a $1 million grant received by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
• Austin Water repaired almost 7,800 water leaks, the third-highest recorded count for the department. Of those, almost 4,300 leaks were Priority 1 leaks and responded to within 3 hours almost 89% of the time
• Weatherized 520 low income homes; our multi-family program reached over 8,400 apartment units