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August Regular City Council Meeting Recap |
The regular City Council meeting for August was this past Monday, August 16 at City Hall. Here are a few highlights from that meeting:
PROPOSED TAX RATE: City Council voted unanimously to propose a tax rate of .1545 for the upcoming fiscal year, which is a full penny less than this current fiscal year tax rate of .1645, and would be the lowest tax rate in more than a decade. A public hearing on the proposed tax rate and FY 2022 budget will take place at a special City Council meeting on Monday, September 13, with formal adoption by council expected at the regular City Council meeting on Monday, September 20. The new tax rate and budget would take effect on October 1. CLICK HERE for more details on the proposed tax rate and budget.
OVER 65 HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION: City Council voted to approve (with two councilmember abstentions) increasing the Over 65 Property Tax Homestead Exemption for qualifying properties from $5,000 to $15,000. There are currently 2,404 properties with this exemption in Lakeway equating to $8 per homestead tax reduction under the original exemption. With the $15,000 exemption approved Monday night, that number will equate to an approximate $24 tax reduction per homestead.
FINANCIAL UPDATE: The City finance director gave an update on the current state of this year's budget showing a positive variance in the revenue side of the budget of $1,159,217 and a savings in the expenditure side of the budget so far this fiscal year of $454,617.
TEXARTS HOT FUNDING: City Council unanimously approved a request by TexARTS for funding from the City's hotel occupancy tax in the amount of $20,000, which would cover 50% of their season's advertising campaign, and $30,000 for promotion of the arts to be used to help create theatrical productions and assist with items such as costumes, set designs, etc. This is the fourth year TexARTS has applied for HOT funding. In 2019, the funding helped TexARTS market to the community, resulting in 4,280 total attendees at their events and dozens of bookings at Lakeway hotels.
SOLID WASTE RATE INCREASE: City Council approved an amendment to the Lakeway Code of Ordinances to increase the monthly recycling and solid waste disposal fees charged to each household in the City by 19 cents ($.19) starting in October. The rate increase will help generate the amount of revenue to cover the change in the base rate approved by City Council in July from Waste Connections after they petitioned for an increase due to a rise in operating costs.
For additional details from this city council meeting, CLICK HERE to watch the video or to review the agenda.
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Oak Wilt is a lethal disease of oaks at epidemic levels in Central Texas, including in the Lakeway area, and are often found in what are known as 'oak wilt centers.' The disease is caused by the reaction of susceptible oaks to a fungus, which causes the water conducting system of the tree to become plugged so that the tree wilts and drops its leaves. Pictured to the left is a fungal mat on an oak tree along Porpoise Street in Lakeway.
Most infected oaks die within weeks or months. Oak wilt has a high mortality rate and spreads rapidly. It's considered by many scientists to be the most devastating tree disease in the south.
All oaks can be infected by oak wilt. Some types of oaks are more susceptible than others. Red Oaks are most susceptible, followed by Live Oaks, then White Oaks, which are often resistant.
There are some simple ways to protect your oak tree and prevent oak wilt, including:
- Painting all wounds on oaks immediately.
- Pruning when the risk is low ('Never Prune February through June')
- Destroying infected Red Oaks before they make spores.
- Avoiding oak wilt-infected firewood.
Additionally, the following tree species are prohibited from being planted in the City of Lakeway due to their high susceptibility to oak wilt:
- Live Oak
- Texas Red Oak / Spanish Oak
- Shumard Oak
- Southern Red Oak
- Blackjack Oak
- Other members of the red or black oak group
CLICK HERE for more information on oak wilt and how to prevent it in the community.
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Travis County remains in Stage 5 of the Austin Public Health risk-based guidelines. The guidelines recommend all individuals, whether vaccinated or not vaccinated, wear a proper face covering when engaging with others not from your household. The guidelines also recommend those not vaccinated avoid gatherings and activities unless essential.
Travis County continues to offer multiple COVID-19 vaccine distribution pop-up events throughout the weekend. No appointments are necessary. CLICK HERE for location details, and also for more on the Stage 5 restrictions and county orders in place.
A total of 98,256 positive cases have been reported to date in Travis County. There have been a total of 3,195 cases in the Lakeway area (zip codes 78734, 78738 and 78669) since the start of the pandemic (up 116 cases from the same time last week, compared to a rise of 114 the previous week). There are currently 2,983 active cases at this time in Travis County (up from 2,714 last week) and a seven-day moving average of 602 hospitalizations in the region (up from 557 last week). CLICK HERE to review the COVID-19 case dashboard. CLICK HERE for more details on hospitalizations.
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NEW: Cool Arts Show & Tour
The Cool Arts Show and Studio Tour will take place this weekend with various artists opening up their homes to residents. Locations for the studio tours will be posted on the city's Parks & Recreation Facebook Page (facebook.com/lakewayparks) Saturday, and also available at the Lakeway Activity Center. This is the 6th annual event, featuring live music and fine visual arts created by several Lakeway-area artists. The show takes place Saturday afternoon (1-5 p.m.) at the Lakeway Activity Center and at various homes throughout the weekend. CLICK HERE for more details.
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NEW: Indoor Garage Sale
The popular indoor city wide garage sale is making a return to the Lakeway Activity Center next month. The event will take place on Saturday, September 11 from 8 a.m. through noon. This event is free and open to the public. Donations of canned food items are encouraged, which will be distributed to a local charity. The community garage sale is a unique community event for collectors, families and bargain hunters. It includes everything from children's clothing, furniture, toys, housewares, collectibles, tools and much more. Still have questions? Contact the Activity Center at (512) 261-1010.
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Thursday, Aug. 26 @ 530 PM
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