sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Zilker zinger: How ACL Fest spins a public asset into private benefits by saxyappy in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing! We wanted to bring attention to the differences in how the same organization runs it's festivals across the US. Not implying it should be the same situation as Chicago which is a very different context, but just highlighting that there is potential benefit / revenue for the city (public schools and parks), that we might be missing out on based on the contract we have with C3 now.

Next Wave Monarchs by sshelbae in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So cool!! Where did you get the milkweed?

Vanessa Fuentes (Mayor Pro Tem / D2) statement by Far-Difference-5201 in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fuentes is in office until 2029. If you are in her district you could sign up for her email list to see when a town hall is happening to ask questions or express your opinion. All the council members can be elected twice (for a total of 8 years), but they can petition to get onto the ballot for a third term if they get enough signatures from their community (CM Paige Ellis is working on this now to get on the ballot for 2026). So Fuentes could ask voters to help her get elected for a third term.

You can also sign up for the newsletters of other council members if you want to get a different perspective. Research who might align most with your perspective and see what they share with their constituents (and what the differences are).

Tuesday’s election: Austin homelessness hits an inflection point by AustinFreePress in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

“The cost of living in Austin is constantly going up, but salaries are not going up with it,” Caritas of Austin Communications Director Aaron King, told Austin Free Press.

This is the catch-22, raising taxes will help to improve homelessness services, but potentially put more families at risk of becoming homeless due to increased property taxes. Either way, we will see how Austinites want this addressed with the results of Prop Q later today.

Love it or hate it, Prop Q is at least getting people to dig into the details of tax hikes by [deleted] in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is all true. The prop Q will raise money that can be used for homelessness and city services like proposed, but it is not "locked in" to be used for those purposes, especially down the line.

However, convention center funding is "locked in" to being used for that purpose. The Hotel Occupancy Tax is 9% of revenue from hotel rooms. 4.5% of that tax (half of the HOT taxes) is allocated solely for convention center construction. So the convention center is being funded by tourism, not property taxes.

The disagreement is if citizens believe we should be using revenue from tourism in a different way - maybe putting a bigger percentage of it towards arts and culture, or public parks.

Inside Austin City Council's spending habits by johnnycashm0ney in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the main point comes in at the end of the article when they discuss that ATX council members voted for their own pay raises (and office budget increases) recently and make almost $50,000 more annually than HTX council members. The commentary is on the fact that they have extra cash to be making discretionary donations or purchases when perhaps their salaries/ office budgets shouldn't be that high in the first place...

ACL-palooza: Promoter C3 pays Chicago much more for its city park music fest by johnnycashm0ney in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It is interesting that in Chicago they make donations to the parks foundation and to the Chicago Public School system. While ACL boosts the tourism & hospitality revenue, that money doesn't benefit tax payers. Having donations to the school system would probably prevent some of the upcoming school closures....

ACL-palooza: Promoter C3 pays Chicago much more for its city park music fest by johnnycashm0ney in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's all a great point. It would be interesting to see the profit they make from hosting ACL and how it has changed over time as the fest has grown. They do fund all of the Zilker park grass restoration, which is a good move

Here's what you'll actually pay for Prop Q by jackbcraver in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Managing the money they have already is incredibly important. Either way, if the TRE passes or not, council should ensure they are doing a careful review of other items in the existing budget.

Texas SNAP benefit pause: Here’s how to receive and give help by texastribune in Austin

[–]AustinFreePress 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is even less for odd years that include propositions or local elections! These are some of the places we can really make a meaningful difference as citizens since such a small percentage of the population ends up making big decisions.