The budget passes
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Council–manager government
9 min read
Austin uses a council-manager form of government where the City Manager (T.C. Broadnax) proposes the budget. Understanding this governmental structure explains the dynamic between elected council members and the appointed manager
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Referendum
11 min read
Prop Q is referenced as a significant factor affecting the budget. Understanding how ballot propositions work and constrain or direct municipal spending helps readers grasp why its failure reshaped the budget proposal
City Council approved the budget last night. As is the case with almost every other city budget I've covered, most of the debate centered on relatively small numbers. The vast majority of the budget is tied up in fixed costs; it is the loose change at the end that Council has meaningful discretion over. The one exception was the Prop Q budget, but we all know how that turned out.
The upshot is that the budget Council adopted last night is pretty similar to what City Manager T.C. Broadnax proposed earlier this month in the wake of Prop Q's failure. Council voted unanimously to adopt it.
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