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hello, I'm austin city manager marc ott
welcome to our budget basics video
the city of austin is committed to open and transparent budget process and we
take pride in our community engagement efforts
in this short video
you will learn about the broad variety of services provided by the city
how we pay for those services
and the basics of the budget process here in austin
at the end of the video we will tell you how you can learn more
about the city's budget and how you can get involved
so, let's get started
with a three billion dollar budget and
more than twelve
thousand dedicated employees
the city of austin does a lot to make our community the best managed and most
livable city in the world
but how does it all work
we'll show you
we help you get around town
last year the city maintained more than four hundred bridges and eight thousand
miles of streets that's farther than from here to china the city also
constructed twenty seven thousand feet sidewalks
thirty nine miles of bike lanes
providing our residents and visitors with a multimodal transportation system
our planning economic development and convention center activities helped to
bring new residences businesses events and tourism to the city
resulting in new job opportunities for our residents
and increased tax revenues
to pay for municipal services
in two thousand twelve the city's economic development efforts helped
bring new business expansions Apple, Visa,
and HID Global
to austin
in the years ahead
these companies will invest
three hundred forty six million dollars in the local economy and create
more than four thousand seven hundred new jobs
the city also contracted over three hundred revenue generating events for
the Austin convention center
resulting in
$51 million dollars in hotel occupancy tax
we monitor those events and buildings through our code compliance department
our code compliance inspectors averaged two hundred and sixty cases per
inspector last year amounting to
nearly twenty thousand
cases investigated department wide
the city also owns and operates its own electric and water utilities these
enterprise operations get high marks
for reliability and
quality with less than one electricity outage per
customer per year
and drinking water rated thirty percent better than texas state health standards
not only do these assets provide safe and reliable electricity and water to our residents and businesses
but the profits from these utilities are invested in the city
helping keep our tax rate low
to keep our streets clean we turn to austin resource recovery which also
recycled paper glass aluminum plastic containers
and picks up our trash
last year, the city's zero waste initiative
collected over fifty four thousand
tons of recyclable materials enough to fill an eight story building the size of a
football field
we also diverted nearly thirty eight percent of the waste stream
from the landfill
to recycling centers
our parks pools recreation centers
libraries
cultural centers provide our residents with multiple recreational educational and
entertainment opportunities
the city of austin maintains over twenty three branch libraries
53 community pools
and 10 museums cultural centers
gardens
last year we served over six hundred sixty thousand participants in the
city's recreation programs including fitness arts literacy and storytelling
programs
our health clinics animal shelter keep us and our animals healthy and safe
nearly three thousand school-age children receive immunizations at city
run clinics in two thousand twelve
and the health department conducted over eight thousand food establishment inspections
city also maintained it's no-kill
policy at the animal shelter successfully adopting, returning to owner,
or transferring to rescue groups ninety percent of the companion animals that
entered the shelter in 2012
our neighborhood housing and community development department helps people find
or stay in safe,
affordable homes
last year we assisted over six thousand four hundred households for services
provided by the neighborhood housing and community development department
and we created or retained over 500
low-income housing units
through the department's
rental housing development assistance program
we provide a safe and secure environment for our citizens and visitors
this is vitally important
to maintaining our quality of life
our more than three thousand police officers firefighters and paramedics
insure that austin remains one of the safest large cities
in which to live, work,
play, visit and conduct business
in twenty twelve austin ranked number three on the list of safest US cities
in regards to violent crime
our services are a return on the investment you make
through property taxes sales taxes
and other fees
because it's your money we feel it's important to share exactly how those
funds get allocated in the annual budget process
the city of austin divides its
funds into different pots of money to fund different city services
the city's largest pot of money
nearly one point three billion dollars it used to fund austin energy we get
most of that money from the rates you pay for energy
services
on your monthly utility bill
the city's other major utility, the Austin water utility
has an annual budget of five hundred eighteen million dollars
similar to austin energy the water utility gets funding primarily from
monthly water bills
paid by customers
the next pot of money we'll talk about is called the general fund
worth around seven hundred forty three million dollars
to get our funding for the pot mostly from property tax and sales tax
collections
within the general fund nearly two thirds of this pot
goes to pay for police, fire, and emergency medical response
the other third of this pot pays for the day to day operation of the city's
parks
libraries
health services animal shelter and planning activities
keep in mind that only about twenty percent of your property taxes goes to
the city. The rest goes to the county
the school district and other agencies
likewise only around twelve percent of the sales tax goes to the city. the majority
of your sales tax dollars go to fund the state of texas and capital metro transportation
the general fund pot also receives funding in from austin energy and
austin water since the city owns these utilities
the return on investment that would otherwise accrue to corporate shareholders
reinvested
back into the city
other funds in the city budget includes aviation
resource recovery, drainage,
public works and transportation
the final pot of money will talk about is the one who used to account for the
proceeds from voter approved
bond programs
in twenty ten and twenty twelve
voters approved just under four hundred million dollars for capital projects to
help meet the city's growing infrastructure needs
these funds will enhance our streets, bike lanes, and sidewalks
improve our parks and recreation centers and begin to address critical
infrastructure needs
at our three city owned and operated cemeteries
in total
the city has an annual operating budget of three point one
billion dollars
I hope you have found this video informative
the city of austin strives to be the best managed,
most livable city in the country
and your participation in our budget discussion
is a vital part of meeting that goal
we want to hear what you have to say about city services
and what you think are top priorities for the upcoming budget year should be
you can find out more about the city's budget
and how to get involved at austin texas.gov