Audit committee wants to keep a close eye on upcoming bond packages

The City Council Audit and Finance Committee wants staff to deliver quarterly updates to all relevant City Council committees on all projects being considered for Austin’s next bond package – mainly related to climate change and the effects of severe weather.

At Monday’s meeting, members of the committee said they would prefer a “parallel collaborative process” that would include input from the mobility, public safety and other committees along with a bond task force that is expected to be initiated at the next City Council meeting.

The next bond package could take place as early as next year. Last week, Council approved taking a somewhat slow approach to moving forward with a host of projects that will require major new funding, with the required bond proposal taking place no later than the fall of 2026.

Some Council members had pushed for a bond proposal to fund climate change initiatives on this November’s ballot, but city financial staff said the city’s debt load for previously approved bond packages would make a 2024 package difficult to manage.

James Snow, director of Capital Delivery Services, said he and his team meet every two weeks with staff from departments with possible bond-funded projects with the goal of having a long list of requested projects by early next year. Snow said in the past, bond task forces have had more of an advisory role related to public engagement for the forthcoming bond proposals, with staff doing most of the work to determine the priorities for what should be included in the final package.

“For most of the recommendations, the asset owners have been working through engagements and through long-range plans. … Some of them might not be as well defined and we’ll work with them to define them better so that we can make sure we can execute it in the six-year cycle for the bond,” Snow said. “We’re creating prioritization criteria or for each asset type.”

Council Member Ryan Alter said he and other members would like to have insight into how much of the project list has already been somewhat vetted versus newer projects that are just being considered. He said he’d like to have an idea of the makeup of the list and how projects were prioritized by the middle of next year.

“That’s so we can decide where we are, and if it’s one very large bond package in ’26, or if it’s a piece in ’25 and a piece in ’26,” he said. “I really just want to make sure there is a path in place for us to continually see what work you’re doing and then for us to have enough information ahead of being able to ultimately make a final call on” whether 2025 is a feasible start date.

Council Member Alison Alter said some of the projects destined for the eventual bond package likely have already been evaluated and engineered enough to be included in a package for voters to decide this fall. Other needs, such as land acquisition for a variety of uses, will need substantial time and consideration from staff and relevant committees before being included on the ballot.

“It is very important to have those check-ins and those conversations here and in other committees for their specific pieces. So perhaps we can plan a check-in and and we can figure out whether it’s the October, November or December meeting for us,” she said. “The bond advisory council has a role to review proposals from different points of view, but they also do a lot of public input that is very helpful for the Council for them to be going out and doing that engagement on our behalf and helping departments to understand that.”

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.