#TXLEGE: The case for THREE Legislative Priorities (in less than a sentence)

"Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?"
Isaiah 42:23

Ken Zafiris is a local Trotskyiste gadfly.  The Sean Penn look-a-like is, basically, the Fidel Castro of the Austin ISD teacher's union.  Given this background, Zafiris' recent comments about the relationship between the Austin ISD budget and next legislative session are very interesting.

Specifically, Zafiris wants to force upon Austin ISD taxpayers:

• Prioritizing compensation increases for all employees, not just teachers; and 

• Proactive lobbying of lawmakers during the critical legislative session.

Zafiris wants to use classroom teachers as human shields to demand payoff to the bureaucracy.  Then, he wants to outsource his lobbying costs to taxpayers!  All while his union has their dues collection subsidized by taxpayers.

"For the children," natch.

Bottom Line: Should we congratulate him on hitting the anti-taxpayer trifecta?!?

Travis County sees second highest constitutional election "turnout" in recent history....

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

Obviously, yesterday's election results for the Austin ISD bond seem...off.

We think we've found the "culprit":

According to Travis County, over 97,000 people voted countywide.  This would be the second highest "turnout" in Travis County for a constitutional amendment election since 1997 (Travis county doesn't have records past that on their website; going back further would require open records requests).  The only time turnout for a constitutional amendment election was higher was 2005, when the Texas Marriage Amendment was on the ballot.

In 2015, by contrast, the turnout was a smidge over 75k.  In 2013, WITH a special legislative election on the ballot, turnout was around 85k. In general, over the past decade, constitutional amendment elections have seen turnout in the mid-70k's (Note: It would be too time consuming to post the individual links, but you can see the information for yourself here).

So, we're expected to believe that this year's constitutional amendment election saw higher public participation than any other constitutional amendment election that didn't include the massively controversial marriage question...ever.  This despite the fact that previous elections (most notably 2013) have also seen issues on the ballot that were equally controversial as last night's bond.  We suppose that's not impossible, but neither does it seem entirely likely.

Moving onto the Austin ISD bond specifically, some interesting tidbits:

Travis county is claiming that over 40,000 people voted in Austin ISD yesterday.  That seems inconsistent with our personal observations.  We worked one of the consistently busiest polling places in the county all afternoon yesterday and we doubt more than 3 or 400 people voted during that entire time (and even the 400 figure is us bending over backwards to give them the benefit of the doubt).

[Note: What we know for a fact is that we started with 200 flyers and didn't go through them.]

But, for the sake of discussion, let's give them the 400 figure.  Furthermore, let's assume that 1500 total people voted at that location yesterday (to account for the hours we weren't at the polling location).  Even granting them those very generous assumptions, that still means over 38,000 people voted at historically less busy locations yesterday.

Again, that might not be impossible, but neither does it seem exactly likely.

So, what could have happened?!?

Travis county saw a massive surge in voter registrations for the 2016 presidential elections.  We suppose it's possible that 10 to 20,000 of those first time presidential general election voters discovered a new love for civic activism and showed up to vote for the constitutional amendments.  That being said, first time Presidential voters don't historically tend to be the type of person who participates in obscure state/local questions.

If that's the case, it shouldn't be too difficult to find the voter files of the folks who registered last year who subsequently voted yesterday.

Of course, if these unlikely events didn't happen, there's another possibility.

Bottom Line: Sometimes, unlikely events happen.  But the reason that they're unlikely is that they don't happen often.  More investigation is needed.

7 Reasons for YOU to VOTE AGAINST the Austin ISD tax increase!!!

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance is of the Lord."
Proverbs 21:31

• From TPPF:
  
  In the bond summary, AISD indicates urgently needed repairs in schools across the district. Such repairs include roofing system replacement, HVAC improvements, plumbing and drainage improvements, and electrical system improvements. These are all items that could justify a bond asking for taxpayer money.
  
  However, funding to correct these “Critical Facility Deficiencies” makes up only 19% of the entire bond package. The district is not simply asking for the $196,116,000 needed to make these critical improvements.
  
  The bond also includes items such as $6 million to improve the press box, concessions, and restrooms at House Park; $23 million for new athletic spaces (and some academic renovation) at a single school (Austin High—the new elementary schools in the bond cost $31-36 million each); and $5 million for “undesignated furniture improvements.” While such upgrades may be desirable, the wisdom of going into hundreds of millions of additional debt to finance these kinds of improvement is debatable.
  
  ....
  
  There are schools that are overcrowded, such as Maplewood Elementary, operating at 141% capacity. Inversely, only one mile away is Campbell Elementary, which is severely under-enrolled, operating at only 37% capacity. This is a trend found at elementary, middle, and high school levels across the district. The issue facing the district is not a lack of seats. In fact, there are 1,456 elementary, 910 middle, and 2,479 high school seats currently vacant. If the school board were to redraw attendance boundaries in an effort to distribute students more equitably, it could potentially save taxpayers up to $600 million by avoiding the construction of new facilities.
  
  ....
  
  AISD claims that the “$1.05 billion bond would not raise property tax rates.” Their carefully selected wording is correct, but it attempts to obscure the truth. Former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire recently noted, “No one in their right mind should believe AISD can borrow $1 billion plus interest and not have a property tax increase as a result." In Austin’s current property market, stable property tax rates mean steady increases in property tax bills year over year. In fact, the AISD website confirms that they are assuming “anticipated increases in taxable assessed values,” in their bond planning and taxpayers should not expect their bills to remain the same.
  
  ....
  
  As these kinds of tax increases occur not only within the school district but also in city, county, and special district taxes, it is no wonder that Austinites can no longer afford their homes.
  
  In sum, the number that most impacts taxpayer’s pocketbooks is not the tax rate, but the tax bill. Rising tax bills, however, are a poor slogan; they do not soothe taxpayers into voting for a bond trying to appear revenue-neutral.
  
  Furthermore, AISD cannot guarantee that tax rates will not be raised. This bond is a proposal, not a contract. The ballot language states that “the board [shall] be authorized to levy, pledge, assess and collect, annual ad valorem taxes on all taxable property in the district sufficient, without limit as to rate or amount, to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds, and the costs of any credit agreements.” Even if the bond passes, Austin ISD still has the option to raise tax rates in the future. AISD does not have to keep any of its campaign promises, but taxpayers are beholden to the $1.05 billion in debt.

• From Forbes Magazine:
  
  "The Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Central Texas serves a city that has consistently been one of America's fastest growing large metropolitan areas for a decade. Yet, in spite of being in the heart of this thriving city that has grown by more than 100,000 people in the past five years, AISD has lost 5 percent of its student enrollment since 2012, shrinking by some 4,200 children.
  
  AISD has taken steps recently to reverse declining student enrollment. One would hope the effort would focus on improving academic excellence, increasing educational options and opportunity, and stretching taxpayer dollars to make the budget leaner and more efficient.
  
  Sadly, no. Instead, officials felt they just needed better PR.
  
  So to stem the loss of students, AISD spent $850,000 on advertising and public relations consultants, in addition to the $1.5 million on in-house communications staff.

• From Texas Monitor:
  
  Poor planning and a hurried decision by Austin Independent School District Superintendent Paul Cruz has potentially saddled taxpayers with an additional $30 million in bond payments, records obtained by The Texas Monitor show.
  
  District emails show that school officials had options of rehabbing Austin’s T.A. Brown Elementary, which Cruz shuttered in November 2016.
  
  Those options for fixing Brown, which opened in 1957, were not explored until after the superintendent declared the building closed forever.
  
  And now it’s too late for any fixes. Demolition of the building has already begun.
  
  The trouble centered on cracks in a crawl space at Brown, indicating wear and tear had given way to a serious weakening of floors throughout the building.
  
  In the days after the building was declared closed forever, a team of consultants hammered out possible fixes for the defects and came forward with possibly cheaper remedies at Brown.
  
  Officials now say Brown Elementary was a neighborhood school rife with engineering problems. Decrepit flooring showed structural defects that endangered anyone in the school, they said.

• From this website:
  
  2015, 2016, and 2017.

• From Save East Austin Schools:
  
  A group of district volunteers, parents and Latino community leaders fighting against possible closures of East Austin schools are creating a political action committee and threatening to oppose the Austin school district’s $1.1 billion bond package that will go before voters in November.
  
  About 30 plan to rally at 6:30 p.m. tonight outside of the Austin school board meeting at district headquarters, 1111 W. 6th St. and announce the formation of Save East Austin Schools political action committee.
  
  Group members have called on the school board to make changes to a 25-year comprehensive facilities master plan, as well as the bond projects. The concerns also include displacing Eastside Memorial High School from its current facility to a $70 million facility and moving the nationally-ranked Liberal Arts and Science Academy to the current Eastside campus.
  
  ....
  
  Group organizers said current Eastside students won’t benefit from the move and new facility, which is years away, and want LASA students to co-locate with Eastside students on the current campus. They also said more resources in the facilities master plan and the bond need to be allocated to the district’s east side campuses, which historically have been underserved.

• Austin ISD is the largest landowner in Central Texas.  Late last year, Austin ISD formally proposed selling a number of their properties, including multiple prime lots downtown.  This would be both a win for taxpayers AND it would help with housing supply.
  
  Passing this bond can only slow that process down.
  
  Also, in the event this bond does fail, reviving this proposal should be the next step.

• From KXAN last April:
  
  The Austin Independent School District chief of police says his department mishandled a possible sexual assault case of a Boone Elementary School Pre-K student.
  
  The case was first opened on Feb. 7 when attorney Paul Guinn says the parents of the 4-year-old girl noticed traumatic injuries on her body after she came home from school.
  
  “Something very bad seems to have happened to this young girl and we are without answers,” said Guinn.
  
  According to Guinn, the child’s mother dressed her daughter and took her to school that morning at 8 a.m. and then picked her up from school three hours later.
  
  Once they got home, the mother says she heard the child screaming while using the bathroom, and found blood and horrible bruising on her body.
  
  “The daughter’s father came home from work and took a look and said ‘we need to go to the hospital with this — this looks very serious,'” said Guinn.
  
  He says a trauma surgeon at Dell Children’s Medical Center had to operate on the lacerations, and diagnosed the injuries as sexual assault by bodily force.
  
  The attorney says AISD police were at the hospital and met with her parents, the doctors and interviewed the student. The girl’s teacher was placed on administrative leave. Two weeks later, on Feb. 22, AISD police decided to close the case and said the allegations were unfounded.
  
  It turns out, the detective never got a copy of the child’s medical records. “Frankly, I am mystified at how this diagnosis of a sexual assault was missed by the AISD PD,” said Guinn.

Bottom Line: If we had unlimited time, we could list 25 reasons why this monstrosity deserves to go down in flames; whatever your reason, get out and VOTE AGAINST the Austin ISD bond proposal.

TONE DEAF Austin ISD gives Superintendent RAISE (while pushing bond)....

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

This actually happened last week, but got lost in the shuffle with the Straus announcement; still:

The Austin school board Monday night approved a 1.5 percent raise and one-year contract extension for Superintendent Paul Cruz as part of the school leader’s annual evaluation.

The changes bring Cruz’s base salary to $310,958 and his contract through Dec. 31, 2020.

Keep in mind: Record Setting budgets amidst declining enrollment.

Also, keep in mind: The $310k figure only measures 'base salary.'  'Benefits' are on top of that.  We'd send an open records request for Cruz's whole compensation package, but we doubt they'd respond before election day.

Superintendent salaries tend to be a big issue statewide.  But, historically, Austin ISD has been middle of the pack on that front (especially for a large urban district).  This latest move, however, puts them among the worse offenders statewide.

Bottom Line: If this bond ultimately fails, it won't have been the opposition that gave the superintendent a raise on the first day of early voting....

Is Austin ISD engaging in taxpayer funded pro-Bond Electioneering?!?

"and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
2 Thessalonians 2:10

We attempted to attend this press conference yesterday, but arrived after it had concluded; kudos to this morning's Statesman for the write up:

The Travis County Taxpayers Union on Friday asked for a criminal investigation of Austin school district employees, alleging they have violated the Election Code by using public resources to lobby voters to support a $1.1 billion bond package.

The group is asking County Attorney David Escamilla to investigate communications the district sent to parents of students. Early voting is underway; Election Day is Nov. 7.

Members of the taxpayer group, including its attorney, Roger Borgelt, held a press conference on Friday morning, then filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission.

The group says flyers, stickers, letters and emails sent to parents did not contain a disclaimer required by Texas election law, and that the materials amount to illegal lobbying by the district. Borgelt also alleged that the district has used public funds and resources to advocate for the bond.

Click here to view the documents at issue

“We believe it’s criminally unethical, and we believe the law supports us on this,” Borgelt said, standing outside the Texas Ethics Commission’s offices in Austin. “To use teachers and students to basically disperse pro-bond materials and electioneering in favor of the bond … employees of the Austin Independent School District are not supposed to be doing this. We have at least four different instances of where we believe there has been violation of the election code related to the lack of disclosure, related to the use of public funds and resources, including the AISD internal email system to distribute pro-bond materials.”

....

One of the flyers in question was sent home with Davis Elementary students last month. The flyer included a sentence that inaccurately stated the bond would lead to “no additional taxes.” It had been prepared by a couple of parents and did not go through the approval process, as it should have, before it was sent home with students, according to a school email.

Read the whole thing here.

District FLOPS in Austin ISD Bond Debate

Austin ISD Board President Kendall Pace

"The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender."
Proverbs 22:7

Tuesday night, we attended KXAN's debate over the Austin ISD bond/tax hike.  Participants were Roger Falk of the Travis County Taxpayers Union and Bertha Delgado of Save East Austin Schools in opposition and Drew Scheberle of the Austin Chamber and Kendall Pace from Austin ISD in support.  You can view for yourself how badly this went for the District:



Highlights:

• Chamber guy spouts cliches about "talent availability."
• "21st century learning spaces."

• Roger Falk: Use finite resources wisely.
• Status quo is taxing people out of their homes.

• Chamber guy scaremongers re: bond failing.
• Calls Austin ISD's facilities plan "very thoughtful."

• Austin ISD is the largest land owner in central Texas.

• Roger: It doesn't take $1 BILLION to solve overcrowding.
• Austin ISD spends over $100k per month per school on maintenance.
• Austin ISD spends more per student than any urban ISD in the state.
• "Bloated, Contractor Bond."

• Pace: Something, something "belt tightening."
• Note: LOL, see here, here, and here.

• Roger: Robin Hood's impact is exaggerated.
• The only difference between the bond and Robin Hood is that you're giving the money to Wall St (via the interest payment) instead of giving it to the State of Texas.

• Pace makes a pretty racist statement re: El Paso.

• Pace acts super flustered and defensive.

• Chamber guy deflects when asked about bond being primarily for contractors.

• "Buildings don't teach children, people do."

• Chamber guy makes snotty, condescending, comment.

• Roger: "Right size the borrowing in this bond."

• Chamber guy deflects question about debt's impact on local economy by complaining about Robin Hood.
• Something something, tax hike not a big deal compared to "talent."

• Pace: Something, something "equality of outcomes."

• More cliches from Chamber guy.

• Austin ISD's superintendent just got a raise to over $300k!!!

• Roger: You could buy every student in Austin ISD an iPAD for $24 million, district is asking for $1 BILLION!!!

Astonishingly inept Austin ISD bond draws remarkably diverse opposition coalition

"You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning."
Leviticus 19:13

[Note: There was a lot of ambient noise in the background and the sound wasn't amplified on site, so the audio quality on the videos we shot turned out terribly.  Unfortunately, because we were filming, we didn't take notes during the press conference.  We've included the videos below, but hope readers will cut us some slack over the fact that we're writing up today's events from memory without the aid of notes or good video.]

It takes a special act of chutzpah to push a tax hike so big that you piss off every Republican in town, while structuring said tax increase so that the burden falls disproportionately on the Black and Hispanic communities in East Austin to subsidize affluent white people on the west side of town, which pisses off half the Democrats; with this current bond, somehow Austin ISD somehow accomplishes that feat.

This afternoon, a broad trans-partisan coalition of grassroots Austinites held a press conference in East Austin to highlight a number of flaws with the current Austin ISD bond proposal.  Objections ranged from the sheer size of the package, to the deceptive marketing of a tax increase that could easily surpass $600/year for median Austinites, to the fact that the district is holding East Austin schools hostage to the bond while structuring the bond so most of it's 'benefits' are seen elsewhere.

Obviously, this website has been opposed to the bond ever since we learned of it's magnitude (combined with the fact that they've never completed the process of selling off other real estate holdings they assured us they would complete before attempting another bond).  It's just a gigantic ask when their recent record of financial stewardship doesn't inspire confidence.  What have they done with the maintenance budget they already have?!?

Taxpayer advocate John Goldstone explained how the district is using deceptive language to minimize the tax impact.  The district is claiming the bond won't change the tax rate.  But you don't pay a tax rate, you pay a tax bill.  And more debt service means higher taxes.  In this case, Goldstone estimates the tax hike at over $600 per year (we will deflect all questions over how he came up with that number to Goldstone himself).

A number of other community advocates, including former #atxcouncil candidate Pete Salazar (ran against Greg Casar in 2014), LULAC head Gavino Fernandez, and Grey Panthers head Richard Franklin, discussed how the bond places a disproportionately large tax burden on the black and Hispanic communities on the East side to disproportionately benefit affluent white folks in the West side.  To be honest, we hadn't thought about that aspect prior to hearing it today.  But it's completely true.

And that's what's interesting: We've been fighting poorly conceived bonds for several years in Austin.  And it seems like there's more opposition on "the left" this time than we've seen previously (or that they're at least more engaged).  And the district has no one to blame but itself and its own arrogance.

Bottom Line: Early voting begins in two weeks; Election day is November 7.

-------

As district launches bond campaign, Austin ISD's Enrollment Declines further....

And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Revelation 14:8

But they TOTALLY need another billion dollars:

Preliminary enrollment numbers show more than a 1,600-student drop in the Austin district, which would be the biggest loss of students in a single year since the district’s attendance peaked in 2012.

There is time for a rebound. Unofficial student enrollment numbers taken from the third week of school show enrollment at 81,427, down 1,640 students from last year. But enrollment from the same day last year shows a smaller decline of 1,176 students.

....

The 2017-18 school year losses would mark the fifth consecutive drop and the district’s lowest point in more than a decade. Two years ago, Austin lost its position among the top five largest districts in the state.

Read the whole thing here.

#atxcouncil: Adler proposes GIGANTIC tax hike (vaguely assures someone else will cut taxes)....

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass."
Psalm 37:7

What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!?

Austin will consider a maximum tax rate of 46.5 cents per $100 of property value — a 14.4 percent revenue increase that could trigger an election — to facilitate a possible tax swap with the Austin school district.

....

Such a swap would involve the city raising its taxes, the school district lowering its taxes, and the city taking over paying for some school district functions. The goal would be to keep more dollars locally, and to send less money in school district taxes back to the state to help fund schools in property-poor areas.

....

If approved, the tax swap would be full of complications. The city would have to persuade residents to approve a tax increase when they wouldn’t see immediately see the decrease on the school district side. Six other school districts include parts of Austin’s city limits, and it’s unclear whether residents in those areas would see a benefit or just a higher bill. The city would have to find a way to balance the deal for senior and disabled residents, whose school district taxes are frozen.

And therein lies the greatest rub of all:  This proposal, at least as it's currently structured, doesn't have an enforcement mechanism.  Austin ISD is under no obligation to cut its portion of the tax bill.  Essentially, Mayor Adler is saying "trust me."

[Note: This lack of an enforcement mechanism is very similar to what's wrong with the Texas house's current "school finance" proposal.]

Then, of course, there's the fact that it's pretty much impossible for this to not be a net tax hike for city residents who don't live in Austin ISD; that might not be a dealbreaker for this author, but it doesn't take a genius to see how that creates a political nightmare.

The biggest shame is that there might be some merit in the underlying concept.  There's something to be said for getting the property tax bill away from a body subject to recapture.  But, to be done properly, any tax swap of this nature would have to be vetted for unintended consequences by a team of lawyers.  And, to be done properly, that process would take months.  Unfortunately, we don't have months.  We have seven weeks.  The city is legally required to adopt a budget by October 1 and that simply isn't enough time to vet this proposal with the amount of care it needs.

[Note: This is very similar to the challenges with some of the tax swap proposals under consideration in the legislature.]

Bottom Line: Not in its current enforcement mechanism free form, and certainly not on the current compressed timetable.

-----

What Troxclair said:



She also put out a press release with similar sentiments:

Ellen Troxclair Austin City Council Member For Immediate Release Contact: 512.978.2108 Troxclair "will be first to sign" Petition Opposing City Tax Hike   AUSTIN, TX – Today, Council Member Ellen Troxclair opposed Mayor Steve Adler's proposal to set the maximum tax rate at a staggering 14.4% above the effective tax rate, or 46.51 cents per $100.  State law currently allows voters to protest a tax increase above 8%, called the "rollback rate".  While the city has adopted increases of nearly 8% in 8 of the last 11 years, the city has never exceeded this threshold. Council debate centered around a possible tax swap with Austin Independent School District, a proposal to reduce some of the funds recaptured by the state and allocated to less property rich school districts across the state. Council Member Ellen Troxclair said, “Although this idea might have some merit, if this was something the City wanted to pursue, we could absolutely do it without turning back to the taxpayers and asking them for more than 8% than what they paid last year.” Troxclair continued, “It is so upsetting to me to know there so many people in the city who are struggling with property taxes and affordability, and the City decides they can afford an 8% tax increase year after year. I was opposed to the 8%, and now we’re even exceeding that rate. It’s outrageous.  I will be absolutely the first person to sign a petition for a rollback election, and I will lead the opposition in opposing a 14% tax increase.” Council passed the item on a 6-4 vote, with Councilmembers Garza, Houston, Flannigan and Troxclair voting "no". The tax rate will not be final until budget adoption in September.  Upon that vote, citizens can sign a petition to call an election on the tax rate for March of 2018.  Council will hear citizens thoughts on the proposed budget during the public hearing on August 17th at 4pm. ###

Austin ISD just passed a budget for HOW MUCH...and they want to issue bonds for HOW MUCH?!?

"As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly."
Proverbs 26:11

Shot (and keep in mind this is, at least, the third year in a row they've passed the biggest budget in their history):

The $1.46 billion dollar budget was approved much quicker than anticipated with the discussion only lasting about 10 minutes. The vote went 7-0-2, with two board members abstained.

Chaser:

As for the bond proposal, the board approved 40 different bond projects totaling $990 million (*)....

While we're on the subject, however, there's one point we need to re-emphasize: This is exactly what you should expect to happen when three of the trustees run unopposed.

But still....

Bottom Line: We'll see you in November....
-----

* - Keep in mind, that's only principal and doesn't include interest or cost overruns.

Is Austin ISD Bullying Engineers to invent support for bond?!?

"They are deeply corrupted,
As in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins."
Hosea 9:9

Don Zimmerman asks some fantastic questions:



Highlights:

• Austin ISD exaggerating problems 

• Decision to close T.A. Brown was "a political move designed to build support for a bond campaign."

• "I think it was political theater and I don't appreciate it."

• "The district was putting pressure on engineers to exaggerate their interpretation of the studies."

• Contractor issues denial.

• Parents of students at the school agree with Zimmerman.

• Austin ISD declines to comment.

Austin ISD facilities plan, 'new' Travis County Courthouse, proves value of defeating bonds....

"So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God."
Romans 14:12

About a month ago, we had some modestly positive comments to make about Austin ISD's new facilities plan; they recently announced the next step in the process:

We need your input as we continue to plan for our #AISDFuture with the Facility Master Plan (FMP). During these meetings, AISD will present the Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee’s (FABPAC) FMP update, including updates on preliminary options, and receive feedback from the public. Each meeting will focus on a different vertical team, though anyone can attend any meeting.

Email us: future@austinisd.org
Call direct: 512-414-9595
Upcoming Meeting Locations:
* January 24 McCallum HS – Cafeteria, (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) | Vertical Teams: McCallum & Special Campuses
* January 25 Crockett HS – Cafeteria, (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) | Vertical Teams:Akins & Crockett
* January 26 Garcia YMLA – Cafeteria, (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) | Vertical Teams: LBJ & Reagan
* January 31 Martin MS - Cafeteria, (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) | Vertical Teams: Eastside Memorial & Travis
* February 1 Burnet MS - Cafeteria, (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) | Vertical Teams: Anderson & Lanier
* February 2 Gorzycki MS - Cafeteria, (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) | Vertical Teams: Austin & Bowie

More information online at www.AISDFuture.com

During Community Engagement Series #3, AISD will present the FABPAC's FMP update, including updates on preliminary options, and receive feedback from the public. The FABPAC will review and use public input as they continue to work with consultants to refine the FMP draft and eventually formulate recommendations to modernize our district over the next 20-25 years.

But while we're on the subject of fallout from the bonds we've helped defeat over the years, check out the latest on the Travis County Courthouse front:

The federal government has approved Travis County’s application to utilize the old U.S. courthouse for its probate court offices.

Travis County commissioners were handed the deed to 200 W. 8th Street on Thursday morning. The courthouse – built in 1936 – has been vacant since the new federal courthouse on West 5th opened in 2012. The U.S. General Services Administration declared the building surplus, and the county applied to take ownership of the property.

....

Officials have been looking for remedies to the overcrowding at the Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse since voters in 2015 narrowly rejected a $287 million bond that would have paid for a new civil courthouse. The county said they will need to renovate and restore the building before they will occupy it in 2020.

These solutions might not be perfect, but they're both light years better than what the respective governmental entities were proposing in 2013 and 2015.

Indeed, as much as it kills us to admit this, Mayor Adler's "corridor" bond that passed last year was (for all its flaws) still substantially less terrible than the rail bond that was defeated in 2014.

Bottom Line: It's amazing how often Plan B costs less while doing a better job accomplishing the task the governmental entity in question says they want to accomplish.

Austin ISD actually does something (modestly) encouraging....

"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."
1 Peter 4:10

It's not a secret that we've been extraordinarily critical of Austin ISD's finances over the years, but this is a step in the right direction:

The Austin school district on Wednesday afternoon unveiled the 40 bids and proposals for 10 of its properties, including the district’s headquarters just west of downtown.

Some of the proposals are intended to create affordable housing in Austin. The city of Austin, Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas and several well-known developers and nonprofits sought the properties, which included vacant land as well as such buildings as the downtown Millett Opera House (home of the Austin Club) and the Baker Center administration building in Hyde Park.

While the dollar amounts for the bids were released publicly, the details of the proposals weren’t disclosed.

 A few thoughts:

• The housing numbers are probably too small to make a major difference...but for a city that needs to construct 150,000 units of new housing over the next decade, every little bit helps.

• We've seen the suggestion made online that the headquarters on West 6th st should be converted into high rise condos; we'd fully support such a decision, but that probably makes far too much sense to ever be considered by this city.

• Shedding some of their incredibly valuable real estate is the absolute bare minimum Austin ISD needs to do to get their finances in order.

We remain in wait and see mode, but nevertheless we encourage more thinking along these lines by the district:

The bids come amid the district’s efforts to create a 20-year facility master plan, which could call for building six new schools and closing up to 10 aging campuses in poor condition, in preparation for the next bond package, which could come as early as November. District leaders have said they must demonstrate efficiency with their surplus properties before asking voters to approve new projects.

Read the whole thing here.

Three Austin ISD Incumbent Trustees Running Unopposed

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

They passed an obscene budget in 2015.  In 2016, it got worse.  Unfortunately, in the process of researching who to vote against, we learned something even more disturbing:

Bottom Line: Austin ISD is the largest part of your tax bill; this cannot continue.

2016 Austin/Travis County November Candidate Endorsements

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

[Author's Note: For races where we don't offer endorsements, our longstanding rule of thumb in local elections is to take the Austin Chronicle's endorsements and  vote AGAINST whoever they endorse.]

Austin City Council:

District 6: Don Zimmerman (Far Northwest Austin)

In two years in office, despite being in the distinct minority, Don Zimmerman has successfully stopped a hostile annexation, fought multiple municipal level attacks on the first amendment, and delivered traffic congestion solutions for a fraction of what the city bureaucracy proposed.

He's also one of only two council members to have voted against the ride-sharing and short-term rental regulations that have caused so much discord; if the council majority had listened to Don Zimmerman, most of the unpleasantness of the past year could have been avoided.

Finally, Don Zimmerman gives a voice at city hall to those who have been abused by the city bureaucracy (and, let's not kid ourselves, Don Zimmerman is the only reason Marc Ott left town).

District 7: Natalie Gauldin (North Central Austin; Burnet Rd./Parmer Ln. corridors)

In a city that needs to build 150,000 units of new housing over the next decade, Natalie Gauldin is a tenacious advocate for new housing supply.  She has the slings and arrows to prove it.  Just last week, her political opponents launched an over the top smear website against her (Author's Note: Austin Transit Blog has a through rebuke of the allegations here.)

Natalie is also a vote to repeal the ridesharing and STR regulations; obviously, the incumbent voted for both.

On taxation, we've had more productive discussions with Natalie than we've ever had with the incumbent; we don't expect to agree with her on every single issue, but she's light years better than the incumbent.

Distict 10: Rob Walker (West Austin)

This is a last minute addition, and a bit of a longshot, but we met Rob Walker over the weekend and liked what we heard.

Rob is the only viable candidate in this race to oppose the Mayor's "corridor" bond and he supports repealing the ride-sharing regulations.

Rob remains a work in progress on housing issues, but there are no perfect candidates in this race and Rob Walker offers, by far, the best issue mix of any of them.

AGAINST: Prop 1 "Mobility Bond" (aka. Adler's "Corridor" Bond)

This thing costs far too much to deliver far too little.  The city transportation department simply isn't capable of pulling off this complex of a project in anything remotely resembling a competent or timely manner.  And the process by which the bond package was developed was terminally shady.

And that's before you get into the degree to which this package is, in reality, a corrupt "redevelopment" scheme.

Read our archive about this package here.

Austin ISD Trustees:

No endorsements.  They all look terrible.  See the note about the Austin Chronicle above.

Austin Community College Trustees:

Place 9: Jeremy Story

An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jeremy Story has built successful enterprises in both the for and non-profit sectors.

We heard Jeremy outline his pro-student, pro-taxpayer agenda for ACC a couple weeks ago.  Suffice to say, an organization that currently sees only 4% of its students move on to four year colleges has considerable room for improvement.  He also supports streamlining the process by which student may obtain certifications in skilled trades.

On the pro-taxpayer side, Jeremy Story is the only candidate running for the ACC board (IN ANY PLACE) who supports a moratorium on tax hikes.  This is important because if there's a single member of the board raising heck during the budget process, that will attract the attention of the media.  Case in point: Don Zimmerman.

Other places: No endorsements, but....

We haven't done our own homework, but we've heard reasonably positive things about Douglas Gibbons in place 6 and Michael Lewis in place 4 from ACC sources.

Travis County Races:

District Attorney: Maura Phelan

Maura Phelan has over 20 years of criminal law experience, her opponent last practiced criminal law in the 1980's; Maura Phelan is the only candidate for District Attorney who has the basic qualifications for the office.

Beyond qualifications, Maura Phelan wants to reduce the backlog of mental health cases that keep vulnerable citizens in jail by default.  Currently, the Travis County DA only has one attorney overseeing 10,000 mental health cases.  This is abhorrent.

Finally, Maura Phelan will end the disgraceful criminalization of political differences which the Travis County DA's office has become notorious over the past few decades.

Sheriff: Joe Martinez

Joe Martinez is the only thing standing between us and a nightmarish outbreak of politicized identity politics in the Travis County Sheriff's office.

Similar to Maura Phelan, Martinez also wants to focus on mental health to keep these vulnerable citizens away from violent criminals.

Then, of course, there's that whole second amendment thing.





Commissioner's Court, Precinct 3: Gerald Daugherty

We supported his opponent in the primary, and some of our misgivings remain, but we have no doubt that Gerald will be light years better than whatever hack the D's are running against him.

And it doesn't hurt that he's produced the best campaign commercial of this entire election cycle.

State House of Representatives:

District 46 (East Austin/Manor/Pflugerville):  Gabriel Nila

Gabriel has been doing the Lord's work against dramatic odds in this longest of longshot districts.

He has been aided in this quest by running against a multi-decade incumbent who can't seem to stop tripping over her own corruption.  This past weekend, we learned about another sweetheart contract she had obtained for herself and her family from Austin ISD.  Now she says she wants to retire early next year which will enable her to milk the state's retirement system one last time.

The only way to halt this shenanigan (Sidenote: Besides abolishing state pensions for legislators) is to deny the incumbent another term by voting for Gabriel Nila this November.

Bottom Line: A lot of people who vote for president aren't going to vote in anything else on the ballot.  It's what political science types call 'undervoting.'  But down ballot races are where real political power is held and they are often EXTREMELY close.

Yet ANOTHER Infuriating Budget from Austin ISD....

"There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it."
Proverbs 21:20

We can't even, from the Austin Monitor:

Trustees with the Austin Independent School District approved a $1.3 billion operating budget for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year in an 8-0-1 vote Monday night, with District 1 Trustee Edmund Gordon abstaining. It is the largest budget AISD has ever considered, yet board members continued to call out the state’s public education system for its unfairness.

....

The district approved approximately $1.2 billion in general fund expenditures, which is a $162.7 million increase compared to last year’s general fund revenue. The largest voluntary budget increase stems from a 4 percent raise for all full- and part-time employees, which equates to about a $20 million spending increase.

....

Other notable expenditures included AISD’s decision to raise the minimum wage of its employees to $13 per hour — an additional $1.2 million expenditure — and put in place a new teacher compensation program. The new program, Professional Pathways for Teacher Compensation, allows teachers to qualify for salary increases through continual education and performance-based measures, among other means. Board members put aside an additional $3 million for the program.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Keep in mind, this is in a district where enrollment has now declined four years in a row.

That being said, for those of us who successfully opposed their bond three years ago, there was this one modest piece of good news:

Due to debt-related savings, AISD is lowering its tax rate by 1 cent this year, to $1.19 per $100 of assessed property value.

Read the whole thing here.

#YAK: Austin ISD proposing UNIVERSAL Salary Increases....

"One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion
Gathers it for him who will pity the poor."
Proverbs 28:8

Good grief; from this week's Austin Chronicle:

At the April 25 board meeting, Chief Finan­­cial Officer Nicole Conley presented the draft $1.3 billion budget for the 2016-17 school year. In it, the administration proposes two salary changes: a 3% across-the-board pay raise for all staff, and a $13/hour minimum wage. The raise will be the second biggest driver of the budget increase this year, with a price tag of $15 million. Add on the minimum wage increase, worth another $1.4 million in employee salaries, and the district is looking at an increase of $16.4 million in spending on pay.

But Education Austin President Ken Zarifis argues that it's nowhere near enough. The union has a counter-proposal that it's calling "four and four" – a 4% raise for all employees for the 2016-17 school year, with a guarantee of a 4% increase for 2017-18. If the board can't deliver that cumulative 8.16% increase over two years, the union is asking for 5% this year.

Zarifis argues that the money is there. "We've done 3 percent when things were really hard," he said. And the district was already proposing a 3% raise before the county reported a 15% increase in appraisals. Now that the draft budget has gone from a $24 million deficit a month ago to a $15 million surplus, the district is obligated to give something back to teachers who see their own tax bills rising. Zarifis said, "That money must go into the system and into their pockets."

If the board goes ahead with the administration's plan, this would be the third consecutive year with a pay raise. In 2014, after several years of wage stagnation and one-off payments, salaries rose 2%, followed by a 3% boost last year.

....

Zarifis said he doesn't blame the board for the soaring cost of living in Austin. But he argues that it's their responsibility to respond to it, and he's already seeing some support. Trustee Gina Hinojosa told staff during the board meeting that she would at least want to see calculations about what "four and four" or the 5% would mean for the overall budget. Similarly, Trustee Jayme Mathias, who has called teacher compensation "a social justice issue," said he was particularly concerned about only going with a 3% increase when surrounding districts are considering anything up to 5% this year.

Read the whole thing here.

The Latest from Austin ISD

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

We can't even:

The Austin school board Monday night approved hiring a marketing firm to help boost student enrollment. 

The board approved a $350,000 contract with Sanders/Wingo Adversting, Inc. to serve as a marketing consultant for the district, which has seen student enrollment dwindle in the past three years. 

The one-year contract is part of the district’s multi-faceted plan to increase student numbers. Austin schools have already expanded prekindergarten to 3-year-olds, started advertising on billboards and on the sides of buses, and enlisted the help of local real estate agents to spread the word about new school programs and improvements made in recent years. The contract funds will come from $800,000 already designated in the budget toward marketing efforts; about $52,000 will go to the firm, with the remaining amount to be spent on advertising and media buys.

It gets better:

The Austin school district is moving forward with plans to purchase two parcels of land for one or two future high schools in southern Austin — with the intent for one to be in Southwest Austin, and one in Southeast.

The school board will make the long-awaited announcement Monday that it has directed staff members to begin pursuing the purchase of two tracts meeting 16-point criteria that include size, topography and environmental issues.

Administrators and land-use consultants recently provided the board with a list of possible parcels, ranked by how well each meets the criteria.

....

Trustees would need to call for another bond to begin designing or building a new school, and it’s unclear when such an option would come before voters.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Bottom Line: Remember, Austin ISD is HALF your property tax bill.

Austin ISD's new "School Bus Camera" Swindle

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

We didn't report on the campaign to remove red light cameras earlier this year in Arlington, but one of the key players has just set up shop in Austin:

Austin school buses will soon start recording drivers who pass them illegally.

The school board is contracting with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions to install cameras on about 300 buses, roughly 60 percent of the fleet. The cameras, which are installed near the stop arms of the buses, start rolling once the bus stops. After a review by Austin school district police, any drivers recorded passing stopped buses will receive a $300 ticket in the mail.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

It gets better:

The Austin school district isn’t paying American Traffic Solutions anything for installing the cameras. The district will give 60 percent of the ticket revenues to American Traffic Solutions, and the district will keep the rest. Hafezizadeh said that the proportions could change, depending on the number of systems installed and whether the district or the vendor will perform certain related services.

But at least it'll be fairly enforced:

Some drivers have complained about the accuracy of the cameras and the fairness of the adjudication process when people want to contest tickets. In San Marcos, drivers contest a camera-enforced ticket with the school bus camera vendor, who makes most of the profit from the tickets. Drivers can appeal the vendor’s decision to a municipal court judge, but they rarely do.

....

Drivers who violate the law can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $1,250.

Because we're from the government and we're here to harass you and give your money to our cronies help.

#FortheChildren

Bottom Line: Austin ISD seems determined to make itself one of this website's top 2016 priorities.

Austin ISD gives Taxpayers GIGANTIC Middle Finger!!!

"There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it."
Proverbs 21:20

There's are no words; TPPF this morning:

TPPF Statement on Austin Independent School District Proposed 2015-16 Budget

AUSTIN, TX – Today, the Austin school board will consider adopting a $1.1 billion budget for 2015-16 that spends 8.9 percent more than the previous year’s budget. Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on the proposed budget:             “AISD’s budget is set to see a near-double digit increase at a time when student enrollment is shrinking and homeowner tax bills are soaring. The district’s inability to live within its means will add another $168 per year to the average homeowner’s property tax bill, further exacerbating Austin’s affordability crisis and likely leading to even more students leaving the area.             “AISD’s latest budget snafu highlights not only its problem with budget restraint, but also its difficulty with debt. In the district’s latest budget proposal, debt service payments constitute almost 10 cents of every dollar spent, which is money that is not going to the classroom but instead going to help pay off the district’s $1.2 billion in total debt.”

Bottom Line: Austin ISD hasn't been a high priority since we curbstomped their bond two years ago.  If they want to pass profligate budgets, they can become a priority very quickly.  The next round of elections is in November 2016, and Austin ISD trustee races are always low-turnout affairs at the end of a VERY long ballot; they would not be difficult to swing.

-----

Personal Note: Cahnman's Musings would like to lavish praise on the Texas Public Policy Foundation for catching this monstrosity.  Their diligence is the only reason we found out about this.  If you are a person of means, do feel free to support their work here.