Dear Neighbors,
On August 13, the City Council unanimously approved the Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget, continuing the complex work of transforming public safety as well as expanding our response to the needs of our residents – needs that in many cases have existed for a long time but have been amplified by the pandemic.
The approved budget includes substantial new and increased investments in mental health response, homelessness, and other important priorities, and I helped lead and support many of these successful proposals. I sponsored amendments to add a mental health professional to the interdisciplinary Homelessness Outreach Street Team (HOST) and to hire a staff member to help sustain and expand the supply of affordable high quality early childhood programs, many of which are struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. I co-sponsored amendments to increase resources for our Emergency Medical Services, to create an Office of a Chief Medical Officer and an Office of Violence Prevention (led by Council Member Alison Alter), and to invest more in workforce development and food assistance programs.
As a longtime advocate for our neighbors experiencing homelessness, I also co-sponsored amendments to allocate $6.5 million for rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing efforts and an additional $2 million for family violence shelters as well as to commit to more than $22 million in housing and services over the next two fiscal years. Our Council-approved budget also includes increases for the Sobering Center and mental health responders and for continued support of other important programs for youth, seniors, and others.
I continue to be grateful for our community partners who are also stepping up and extending themselves during this unprecedented time in Austin history, because it will take all of us to ensure that every member of our community has a stable home, food security, and the opportunity to thrive.
Reimagining Public Safety
I know that many of you have questions about the budget as it relates to public safety. The approved 2020-2021 budget does the following:
(1) Reduces the City Manager’s proposed Austin Police Department (APD) budget by $21.5 million and reallocates it to the public safety strategies and social services highlighted above. As a point of comparison, APD's budget was $434.5 million in FY20, and the City Manager proposed a budget of $434.3 million for FY21.
No officers were fired, furloughed, or had their pay reduced to achieve this $21.5 million reduction; the reductions in proposed spending came primarily from overtime, license plate readers, and the three planned cadet classes. Recognizing that cadet classes present an opportunity to reform police training, increase racial diversity, and change culture, I worked with the Mayor and Council Members Alter and Harper-Madison to pass a successful amendment that one or two cadet classes could take place in 2021 if the City Manager completes the work of revising the cadet academy curriculum and recruitment.
(2) Initiates a process to shift Internal Affairs, the forensics lab, 911 Communications, and some other programs out of APD and into other City departments. These programs would not be eliminated but rather considered for placement elsewhere. The budgets of these programs total about $80 million.
(3) Identifies APD programs totaling about $50 million and directs the City Manager to undertake a process of considering whether functions such as nuisance abatement, training and recruitment, lake patrol, and traffic enforcement should be restructured, reassigned to other departments, or in some cases, eliminated. In the event that changes result in financial savings, that money would be directed toward alternative forms of public safety and community services.
Six months into this budget year, the City Council will re-convene to review the work outlined in #2 and #3 above and to deliberate on programs comprising that approximately $130 million.
In the intervening months, the City-Community Reimagining Task Force will evaluate potential changes to our model of public safety in Austin, including those proposals outlined above. The Task Force will provide periodic reports to Council and create opportunities for community engagement.
It is critical that we do this work without compromising the safety of our residents or our officers. To that end, the Mayor and Council Members Alter and Harper-Madison and I added language ensuring that staff will review the proposals above carefully and report back to Council on how the proposed changes can be accomplished as well as highlight any potential unintended negative consequences that cannot reasonably be resolved.
While there are valuable functions that officers provide to our community, some responsibilities have fallen on police that other professionals are better trained to handle. My hope is that as we shift some of these functions to social workers and mental health professionals, we allow space for our officers to do better and more focused work as they are not rushing from call to call – ideally contributing to better outcomes and greater community wellness.
As your representative on the City Council, I place the highest priority on the safety of all our neighborhoods, and I value your collaboration in building a stronger, safer, more resilient city. You can always share your ideas and feedback by leaving a message at (512) 978-2109 or emailing District9@austintexas.gov.
Please continue reading below for additional updates.
Best,
Kathie Tovo
Council Member District 9
