BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 28, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
As it goes before council, Austin housing bond plan may rise to $350 million (Austin American-Statesman)
Saying they believe Austin voters will open their hearts and their wallets, community housing advocates are increasing the dollar amount they want in a new housing bond — bumping it from $300 million to $350 million, which if approved by voters would be by far the largest in the city's history. The request is pending approval by Austin City Council members, who are scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to add the housing bond to the ballot for the November election, and, if so, at what amount. If it gets on the ballot, the housing bond would share the election spotlight with the mayor's race, where the three highest-profile candidates — Kirk Watson, Celia Israel and Jennifer Virden — have centered their campaigns on addressing housing and affordability.
If voters approved a $350 million housing bond, the city estimates the typical Austin homeowner would pay an extra $46 annually over the 20-year bond, which is about $6 more than if the bond is set for $300 million. That would be in addition to other tax or fee increases that will almost surely come. A typical home is defined as a home assessed at $448,000 with a homestead exemption. The funds would go not only to acquiring land and building new homes but to repairing existing homes that would likely be demolished but for the bond's assistance. A specific spending plan has not been announced. Awais Azhar, a housing advocate working on the bond, said polling he has seen indicates most voters would accept a higher bond amount. Testing at $85 million showed 62% support, and testing at $250 million showed 60% support, Azhar said. The polling did not test for $300 million or $350 million. "We had such a strong support at the start that even losing some points we felt we would be safe," Azhar said. "Our polling showed a very significant amount of support." Five City Council members have come out publicly in support of the higher bond amount, saying it is needed as funds from a 2018 housing bond are nearing depletion, and with rent costs increasing and threatening to displace some low-income residents… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
What is a live music venue? City Council looks to make it official (Austin Monitor)
Nearly 32 years after declaring itself the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin is finally getting around to defining what, exactly, a live music venue is.
A resolution on the agenda for today’s City Council meeting seeks to amend city code and a portion of the Land Development Code to include the specific parameters separating a live music venue – where music is a substantial portion of the business’ programming and revenue – from a bar, cocktail lounge or nightclub, which are already clearly defined in city code.
The amendment has been a goal of live music stakeholders for at least five years and was one of many issues included in debate over the CodeNEXT reform that was abandoned in 2018.
Adding the guidelines to city code would allow the city to specify music venues as a desired use or possible community benefit similar to affordable housing, with incentives possible for developers who incorporate those uses into new projects throughout the city. Those incentives are seen as one of the best possible tactics to prevent music venues from being displaced as property values and redevelopment pressures increase in response to the ongoing influx of new residents and business in the area… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
170 construction workers needed ASAP for Samsung’s Taylor factory (Austin Business Journal)
Hiring is well underway for the $17 billion Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. semiconductor plant in Taylor.
The HT Group, an Austin-based staffing agency that Samsung tapped to help with recruiting, is working to immediately fill 170 commercial construction positions, said Lori Lankford, HT Group executive recruiter.
"That will continue to evolve and grow," Lankford said.
She said her firm will pursue "advertising, job fairs and whatever we need to do to make this happen for them. We will be here to help them, and hopefully, it is for years to come.”
HT Group aims to hire those 170 construction workers by the end of the year, but that marks just an initial round of jobs for a project that could employ thousands.
Open positions listed online include project control specialist, construction engineer, mechanical engineer and administrative assistant, among many others.
Site work started earlier this year for the fabrication plant southwest of downtown Taylor. Samsung has previously said that building the factory could require 6,500 construction workers, while it should support at least 2,000 full-time jobs once up and running… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Travis County commissioners approve forensic performance audit on Central Health (Community Impact)
On July 26, Travis County commissioners voted to conduct a performance audit on Central Health—a health district that is designed to use taxpayer money to provide health care for low-income county residents—after members from the Austin Taxpayers Union, the NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens alleged Central Health has lacked financial transparency.
In March, the NAACP and the LULAC released a “red flags” report outlining Central Health’s lack of financial controls and decreased health care services during the pandemic.
Among several concerns, the report shows Central Health has grown its contingency reserves—money set aside for potential financial deficits—from $36.6 million to $298 million in the past five years, a 243% increase. The report also says Central Health’s non-health care costs are 12 times higher than they were when presented to Travis County commissioners, and that Dell Medical School has received $280 million from Central Health with no public record of how those funds were used to provide health care to the indigent… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council faces questions as Austin looks to pick new operator for downtown homeless shelter (Austin American-Statesman)
On July 18, Austin city officials convened a meeting with nine local nonprofits who work to deliver services to the homeless community and issued an urgent call for help.
The city had decided not to renew its contract with Front Steps, another homelessness services provider, to operate the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless — the downtown shelter commonly called the ARCH. Front Steps has managed the 100-plus bed facility for nearly 20 years, but that will come to an end when its contract with the city expires at the end of September. The reasons cited in a memo from city officials include leadership and a failure to make critical reporting deadlines tied to grants.
Among the nonprofits the city invited to discuss the opportunity was Urban Alchemy, a California-based organization that is just 4 years old, has limited experience in managing an emergency shelter like ARCH, and has faced troubling allegations made against some of its employees… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Prolific infill developer StoryBuilt to bring 100-plus homes to South Austin (Austin Business Journal)
South Austin is set to receive a badly needed injection of infill housing.
Locally based StoryBuilt will develop 116 homes on 15 acres in South Austin, according to a July 25 announcement. The development will mostly consist of single-family detached homes with some attached townhomes, StoryBuilt Austin Division President Ross Wilson said.
It's the latest infill project for StoryBuilt, which aims to grow the city from the inside out, he said.
The neighborhood will be located at 8420 Longview Road, in South Austin off West Gate Boulevard. Construction is not expected to begin until summer 2023.
"We're really excited about this opportunity," Wilson said. "Obviously it's a big parcel in South Austin. It's very well connected to downtown and the other employment hubs for Austin, so we love the location."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Workers Defense asks for construction standards on Statesman PUD (Austin Monitor)
In anticipation of one of Austin’s next big construction projects, advocacy group Workers Defense Project demanded Tuesday morning that the redevelopment of the former Austin American-Statesman site at 305 S. Congress Ave. lead to safe and well-compensated construction jobs as well as on-site affordable housing.
“This is a big investment that will be many, many years and thousands of construction jobs,” Emily Timm, co-executive director of Workers Defense Project, said. “And we can’t miss this opportunity to make sure that Better Builder Standards and affordable housing are included in this project.”
The demands are among a litany of public benefits, including parkland, affordable housing and infrastructure, that various stakeholders want developer Endeavor Real Estate to provide. As projected costs for the project escalate, Endeavor has said it is struggling to make the various requests work financially – a claim backed up by a third-party report last week.
The project is seeking Planned Unit Development zoning in order to build several towers with a mix of residential, office, hotel, and retail space on the 19-acre site on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake. City Council already approved the PUD on first reading in April, leaving two more votes until final approval. The PUD zoning will enshrine public benefits on-site into law.
Better Builder Standards, a program created by Workers Defense, includes “a living wage, OSHA-certified safety training, goals to hire from apprenticeship programs, workers’ compensation and independent Better Builder certified on-site monitoring,” according to a press release. Living wage, in this case, is pegged to the minimum wage in city government, which is currently $15 per hour… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Amid growing ‘Robin Hood’ payments, property-rich Texas schools want state relief (Dallas Morning News)
Texas officials expect a surplus of funds though the state continues to draw back more money from districts -- including Dallas, Plano and Highland Park -- under the growing Robin Hood school finance system. Local school districts who pay into the system, formally known as recapture, say their swelling bills could impact how their schools operate as inflation rises and they juggle costly needs like security and technology upgrades, as well as the high price of catching students up amid an ongoing pandemic. The Texas comptroller earlier this month celebrated new estimates showing a $27 billion surplus. At the same time, officials project that so-called property rich districts could send $3.3 billion back to the state to be redistributed to poorer schools. Each summer, the Texas Education Agency alerts local districts that they may be expected to pay into recapture, a signature of the state’s model for funding schools.
Roughly 175 districts – more than one in 10 public school districts across the state – are projected to make some level of contribution, ranging from hundreds of millions to a few thousand. Texas’ reliance on recapture has ballooned since it was established in 1993 in response to lawsuits that illuminated the deep inequities baked into state funding. A public education funding model tied to local property taxes meant students in poorer parts of the state didn’t have schools like families in wealthy areas. Disparities were apparent in the shape of buildings where children learned, in the caliber of curriculum purchased and the quality of teachers hired, said Al Kauffman, who represented poor school districts when they sued the state. “These extremely wealthy districts could outspend everyone else at much lower tax rates,” he said. “The inequities were just incredible.” Decades later, some North Texas districts are now among the largest contributors to Robin Hood, though a significant portion of their students come from low-income families… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
U.S. Senate passes bill to boost chip manufacturing, compete with China (Reuters)
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed sweeping legislation to subsidize the domestic semiconductor industry, hoping to boost companies as they compete with China and alleviate a persistent shortage that has affected everything from cars, weapons, washing machines and video games.
The House of Representatives plans to vote on Thursday on the long-awaited bill after the Senate passed it on a 64 to 33 bipartisan vote. If approved as expected, President Joe Biden plans to sign it into law early next week.
The "Chips and Science" act provides about $52 billion in government subsidies for U.S. semiconductor production and an investment tax credit for chip plants estimated to be worth $24 billion.
The legislation would also authorize more than $170 billion over five years to boost U.S. scientific research to better compete with China. Congress would still need to pass separate appropriations legislation to fund those investments… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 160: Talking Public Relations, Career advice, and Austin with Kristin Marcum, CEO of ECPR
Today's special weekend episode (160) features Kristin Marcum, owner and CEO of ECPR, Austin's preeminent public relations firm.
Kristin and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss her path into PR and her career leading to the C-suite and ownership of the firm.-> EPISODE LINK
Enjoyed this episode? Please like, share, and comment!
SUBSCRIBE / CONTACT US AT: info@binghamgp.com