Austinites can view results of online budget exercise; comment on items

For immediate release
July 15, 2010

Austinites can comment on the results of the City’s online budget survey through 5 p.m. July 22 at www.cityofaustin.org/citymgr/budget_input.htm.

City Manager Marc Ott will consider the results and ongoing comments as part of his budget deliberations before submitting the Proposed Budget to Council on July 28.

To comment, choose either the Potential Service Reductions page or the Unmet Service Demands page. Once on either page, click a topic and then scroll to the bottom of the page where there is a comment dialog box.

During the online survey, residents were asked to cast votes in the separate exercises. Each participant had 25 votes in each exercise and could cast up to three votes for any one item. Participants could also add an item to either list for public voting.

More than 65,700 votes were cast. Approximately 1,600 people voted on potential reductions (103 items) and 2,468 voted on unmet needs (77 items).

The City’s new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Contact: Samantha Park, Communications and Public Information Office, (512) 974-2220