Austin TX Jobs Sacrificed Under City Budget

Some Austin TX jobs have been sacrificed in exchange for passing the city's budget.

The Austin City Council recently passed the 2011 city budget, which came in at $2.8 billion. The council was able to overcome  a $28 million shortfall, but not without sacrificing some jobs and reducing various department budgets.

A total of about 22 vacant city positions were eliminated in an effort to help save money. In addition, the Planning and Development Review Department only received funding to fill 11 of the department's 25 open jobs.

Funding for those 11 jobs became necessary as local businesses have been calling for a way to increase the speed of the development approval process, which has become strained by city ordinances that regulate construction, according to an article by the Austin Business Journal.

Aside from the job eliminations, the council approved most requests by the Planning and Development Review Department and Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office. It did not, however, approve a $385,000 request to establish a global commerce program.

In addition to the annual budget, the Council proposed a property tax rate of 45.71 cents per $100 of assessed property value, which will be voted on at the end of this month. The budget also includes electric, garbage, and water rate increases.