Austin City Council disscusses tax levy portion of budget during Monday work session

The Austin City Council discussed the tax levy portion of the city’s budget for 2021 with Administrator Craig Clark and Finance Director Tom Dankert in a work session following their regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening.  Clark spoke with KAUS News and stated that some tough budget decisions need to be made in the near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on the city’s economy, and also due to a Comp and Class study previously approved by the council which would add an estimated $6 million in cumulative costs over the period of July 2019 through 2022…

Clark went on to state that the council was presented with five different scenarios that included levying the full cost of the Compensation and Classification Study, which would require a 16% tax levy increase, assuming no reduction in local government aid, and would require the rest of the city’s budgets to be revenue neutral, all the way down to a 4% levy increase that would require $286,000 in new tax revenue and $864,000 in staffing reductions for a total of $1,150,000…

Clark stated that a working group will be formed with council members to determine the best path forward for the city concerning the tax levy…

Clark went on to state that the plan presented to the council did not take into account any reductions in local government aid, which he and Dankert indicated to the council in a memo would compound the problem of implementing the Comp and Class study and keeping the tax levy down.  The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Austin City Council will be held on Monday, June 1st at 5:30 p.m.