Sound Off on City Budget, Property Tax Today

Austin City Council members will hear from residents today about the city’s budget and the proposed property tax rate.

The proposed tax rate is up approximately 2 cents from last year – making it a little over 50 cents per $100 of taxable property value.

Council members are scheduled to adopt the city’s budget next month, in a series of meetings starting Sept. 10. Today’s public hearings are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. in the council chambers, and as always, you can watch the action online.

Council member Bill Spelman is expected to return today, after a medical absence to remove a tumor from his pancreas.

A press release from his office stated “Pancreatic tumors are often life-threatening, but Spelman's – a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor – was much less virulent than average. Neuroendocrine tissue grows relatively slowly and, once removed, is less likely to grow back.”

Spelman himself writes “The surgeons got good, clear margins around the tumor. … There's reason to believe they got it all.”

But all council members won’t be present. Council member Mike Martinez is taking time off to be with his wife and their newborn child. Martinez and his wife Lara Wendler welcomed their son Diego Edward Martinez into the world yesterday. Council member Martinez is expected to be out on paternity leave for the next few weeks.