Point Austin: Summer Stock Agenda

City Council's July hiatus offers a good moment to look forward on the to-do list, as much a community agenda as an official one. The longstanding official items – the 2018 city budget and the CodeNEXT revision of the land development code – inevitably draw the most attention, and are likely to demand plenty of oxygen from August into the new year.

On the CodeNEXT front, Council and the public continue to review the initial draft and maps, accumulating comments and corrections to be incorporated in draft No. 2 – making its premiere in August – now to be followed by another draft come late fall. Public discussion of the code remains polarized: It's either a magic wand that, if empowered, would dramatically increase housing supply and citywide affordability – or a sinister developers' weapon aimed at existing single-family neighborhoods. A bit more soberly, it appears to be an attempt to update a badly outdated set of regulations that over decades have accreted layers of unnecessary complication.

It's worth noting that under Texas law, cities are greatly constrained from direct action (e.g., rent control) to address housing affordability – witness the Legislature's recent ban on development "linkage fees" for affordable housing, and inadequate "density bonuses" that require cities to reward developers with increased entitlements. In a rational economic system, mixed levels of housing affordability would be expected as a matter of course – but in 2017 America, rational economics is not a direct option.

With any CodeNEXT luck – and at least some cooperation among diverse city interests – we'll end up with a clarified set of rules that should make it easier and quicker to increase supply, thus over time somewhat mitigating market pressure. Miracles of equity are unlikely.

Think Globally, Act Locally

In the shorter term, Council returns in August to its final budget discussions, beginning with the presentation of interim City Manager Elaine Hart's proposed budget (following the spring work sessions of estimates and policy development). It's likely to be a difficult conversation, since the spring budget projections estimated basic costs rising at about 5%, incoming revenue at somewhat less than that – meaning little left over for new initiatives. One decision has been made by default – the state's deadline for a city to adjust the homestead exemption on property taxes is June 30, so it will remain at the current 8%.

Other burdensome questions appear to be public safety compensation (contracts still in negotiation), how to cover about $40 million in anticipated structural "cost drivers" (that's after the city manager's cut of 1% across the board), and the threat of Dan Patrick's special session wish list, which includes a reduced property tax cap aimed directly at cities. If he succeeds with that bludgeon, Council's fiscal headache will spread citywide and be compounded over the next several years.

Indeed, specific budget questions always reflect a larger context: In this case, how do Council's choices somehow address unfunded mandates imposed by the state and federal government. On the one hand, the persistent refusal of the Lege to address (constitutionally required) public school finance leaves cities looking for ways to fill the gap, to reduce the pressure on school property taxes. On the other, the federal government's renewed obsession with undocumented immigrants (already driving whole families into the shadows) threatens to undermine local law enforcement and cripple other priorities (e.g., public health).

Via the Central Healthcare District, we're trying to address locally yet another federal burden kicked to the curb by the Trump administration – it's too soon to know if that local effort can succeed. Throw in the pressing necessity to address climate change (another abdicated federal and state obligation), and cities like Austin are increasingly subject to responsibilities for which we're not fully equipped, and certainly not funded.

O Say Can You See

That hardly recounts everything on the local public agenda, but gives a sense of major pending business. Add the current search for a permanent successor to former City Manager Marc Ott, currently in the "public profile" stage (provide your prescriptive two cents here: www.austintexas.gov/city-manager-search). Thursday morning, Mayor Steve Adler and a couple of council members were celebrating the first completed project funded by last fall's successful mobility bond (a northside sidewalk) – there's only about $719.9 million to go, and it will all need public monitoring and official adjustment.

That's not to mention even larger long-term projects, like addressing persistent economic inequality that continues to undermine and contradict our regional prosperity, nor the tasks highlighted by the mayor's blue-ribbon Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities. Those are big jobs best managed in achievable pieces, and it remains unclear whether, as a community, we're sufficiently united on the small questions to ever hope to resolve the big ones.

Just a few things for Chronicle readers and Austinites to consider, entering July and the vacation season. Please have a happy and safe Independence Day.