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Welcome to the City of Austin's Budget Engagement!

The City is committed to an inclusive and transparent budget development process that utilizes resident and stakeholder feedback to ensure budget priorities are being met.  

City Manager T.C. Broadnax presented the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Proposed Budget to the Mayor and City Council at 10:00 AM on Friday, July 12, 2024. You can watch the presentation in the ATXN archive.  

FY25 Proposed Budget Documents:

FY25 News Release

FY25 Taxpayer Impact Statement 

FY25 Full Document 

FY25 City Manager’s Message 

Budget Adoption Timeline: 

As outlined in the timeline below, the weeks following the presentation will provide opportunities for community input and City Council discussion. Council members may submit questions regarding the budget and the respective responses are made available for public viewing here. The City Council may initiate amendments to the Proposed Budget before final adoption. 

July 12:  FY 2024-25 Proposed Budget Presentation to Council 

July 24: Council budget work session and community input session  

July 30: Council budget work session 

August 1:  Council budget work session and public hearing on the budget 

August 6: Council budget work session  

August 8: Council budget work session 

August 14 – 16: Budget and Tax Rate Adoption by City Council  

For more information and updates on the process timeline, click here.  

City Council Community Meetings: 

City Council Members will be hosting district level community meetings about the proposed budget in July and August. See the schedule below to find a meeting near you. If you are not able to attend a meeting, you can view a copy of the Community Meeting Presentation (Spanish version here).

Members of the public may dial into any virtual or hybrid meeting with the phone number 1-408-418-9388 or the U.S. toll free number 1-844-992-4726, and then enter the Webinar Number (which doubles as the access code) to join. Call-in users will then be asked to type in the four-digit password.

City Council Districts 1 & 4 Joint Meeting 

• Hybrid meeting - in person and WebEx
• July 29 
• 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
• City of Austin Permitting & Development Center - 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr., Austin, TX 78752
• Webinar link here  
  • Webinar number: 2494 949 7587
  • Webinar password: bmth (2684 on phones)

City Council District 2 

• Hybrid meeting - in person and WebEx
• July 17 
• 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM 
• Bedichek Middle School - 6800 Bill Hughes Rd, Austin, TX 78745 
• Webinar link here
  • Webinar number: 2492 691 2801
  • Webinar password: guiw (4849 on phones)
     

City Council District 3 

• Hybrid meeting - in person and WebEx
• August 7
• 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM 
• Location - Montopolis Recreation and Community Center, 1200 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78741
• Webinar link here
  • ​Webinar number: 2494 766 4630
  • Webinar password: dbmt (3268 on phones)

City Council District 5 

• Hybrid meeting - in person and WebEx
• July 31 
• 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
• South Austin Senior Activity Center - 3911 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78704
• Webinar link here
  • Webinar number: 2499 630 8316
  • Webinar password: dgtt (3488 on phones)

City Council District 6 

• In person meeting
• July 15  
• 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM 
• Spicewood Springs Branch Library - 8637 Spicewood Springs Rd., Austin, TX 78759 

City Council District 7 

• Hybrid meeting - in person and WebEx
• July 23 
• 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM 
• Northwest Recreation Center - 2913 Northland Drive, Austin, TX 78757 
• Webinar link here
  • Webinar number: 2496 680 1378
  • Webinar password: dttl (3885 on phones)

City Council District 8 

• Virtual only
• July 22 
• 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• Register online here

City Council District 9 

• Hybrid meeting - in person and WebEx
• July 20 
• 10:00 AM 
• Austin Central Library – 710 West Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, TX 78701 
• Webinar link here
  • Webinar number: 2493 204 3283
  • Webinar password: dtgw (3849 on phones)

City Council District 10 

• In person Only
• August 5 
• 6:30 PM 
• St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church - 8134 Mesa Drive, Austin, TX 78757 

Budget Engagement Survey: 

The FY 2024-25 budget engagement survey asked for community prioritization of 12 service areas that are generally associated with city government, such as police, fire, parks, health services, and libraries.

To increase residents’ awareness of the budget priority survey and encourage participation, staff executed a robust marketing and outreach campaign. This campaign included:

• Social Media Campaigns: Posts were made on popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Nextdoor, Instagram, and YouTube. The City of Austin’s website also featured information about the budget engagement process.

• Online Advertisements: Digital advertisements were placed with Google to target a broad online audience.

• Traditional Media: Local newspapers and radio stations ran promotional content to inform residents about the survey. In addition to digital advertising, The Villager, El Mundo, and the Austin Chronicle ran content in their print publications and radio broadcast messages were run via KUT.

• Community Organization Outreach: Staff shared direct information with 100+ local community organizations to promote the survey with their networks.

• Community Events: Participation in six community events allowed for direct engagement with residents to raise awareness and encourage participation in the budget input process. During these events, staff provided tablets with the survey easily accessible for participation. In addition, promotional materials and information were distributed to the community.

• Promotional Material Distribution: Postcards with budget survey information were distributed to 47 different City of Austin recreation centers and libraries to further extend the campaign’s reach.

As part of our commitment to making the budget engagement process accessible to all residents, online and in-person materials were translated into Chinese (Simplified), Spanish, and Vietnamese. This effort ensured that non-English-speaking residents could participate fully in the budget process, contributing to a more inclusive and representative feedback process.

Based on the data gathered, efforts through Google and YouTube ads were the most effective, contributing significantly to our engagement metrics. These platforms collectively account for more than half of our survey views. Following closely behind, social media campaigns yielded substantial engagement. Additionally, direct traffic generated through outreach and community events proved to be an effective means of engagement. This multi-channel approach has allowed us to maximize our reach and impact.

Survey responses received by June 1st have been provided to City leadership. Thank you for your participation.

View the survey results here.

Boards & Commissions Budget Recommendations:  

During the months of October 2023 and November 2023, the Joint Inclusion Committee, composed of representatives from ten Quality of Life Commissions, hosted three hybrid (in-person and virtual) community input meetings on the FY24-25 budget. Various boards and commissions submitted budget recommendations for city leadership to consider during the budget process. Each recommendation received responses from the relevant departments, which were compiled into a final report available here.

Provide your feedback or reach out with any questions by emailing BudgetQA@austintexas.gov.