Austin City Council to vote on audit ordinance, officer holder spending policy soon

Austin City Council to vote on audit ordinance

Austinites overwhelmingly voted against a tax rate increase last year and city leaders say they got the message. In the next month, they'll be voting on policies to rein in spending.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austinites overwhelmingly voted against a tax rate increase last year and city leaders say they got the message.

In the next month, they'll be voting on policies to rein in spending.

This comes as one group is petitioning for a charter amendment.

The backstory:

"Every taxpayer should want to know where their tax dollars are going and what we're getting for it," Matt Mackowiak, co-chair of Save Austin Now said.

Save Austin Now started a petition in November to try to get a charter amendment on the May ballot. It would require an external audit of the city's budget within a year, at least every five years, and before any future tax rate election.

They've collected about 10,000 signatures, and they still need 10,000 more to get it on the ballot.

"This is about identifying waste, fraud, duplication, and having an outside firm tell us how the city can be more efficient," Mackowiak said.

Mayor Kirk Watson has proposed an ordinance for a citywide audit. He hopes to have a draft ordinance out on Friday, so it can be discussed at the next Audit and Finance Committee meeting and possibly voted on at the Feb. 5 council meeting. He says an ordinance is faster than a charter election.

"I'm a big fan of having these kinds of performance reviews and audits. I'm not afraid of those kinds of things. I think they help us. I am absolutely dedicated to making sure that Austin, Texas provides quality services, has continued improvement in the providing of those efficient and effective services, and that we're living within our means," Watson said.

Mackowiak says an ordinance isn't going to stop his petition. He says he hasn't seen the ordinance language yet and doesn't know if council members will approve it.

"We would see an ordinance like that as being positive towards ways to make the city more efficient. What happens the following year? Do they have to decide to do it again? What about the next mayor and the next council? Do they believe in that ordinance?" Mackowiak said.

Dig deeper:

Another policy the Council is looking at is office holder spending.

"We've seen absolute abuse of office holder accounts," Mackowiak said.

A draft policy lays out prohibited expense items, including gifts for staff, colleagues, and constituents; donations to outside organizations; food and beverages not for a city purpose; and luxury travel accommodations.

The policy could be voted on in the Jan. 22 council meeting.

Group calls for audit of Austin's city budget

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson is responding to a group calling for an audit of city spending. ‘Save Austin Now’ opposed Prop Q and has since started a petition.

FOX 7 asked Council Member Vanessa Fuentes about council office spending criticism.

"Part of our work in ensuring that we are being judicious with taxpayer dollars and showing the importance of the investments that people make in our offices and our teams and our representation of the city, on behalf of the City of Austin, is that we've got to have a policy around it that really guards and guides those uses. We did an assessment, we looked at other cities and how they spend their dollars, and there were areas in which our city can and should improve. That's part of our updated spending guidelines. For the first time, we'll have even more clear definitions and criteria on how we use our dollars. I'm a big proponent of that. I think that's great. I think we should have to submit monthly expense reports. I think they should be uploaded online, easily accessible, so that people can see just how we're using their dollars," she said.

What's next:

These policies will be discussed at these upcoming meetings. People will be able to sign up for public comment: