The Downtown Austin Alliance FY24-25 Advocacy Priorities include advancing policies, regulations and funding to provide dense, walkable neighborhoods, preserve and enhance cultural assets and make downtown safer and easier to get around this year.
Since our FY24-25 advocacy priorities are aligned and organized with our Strategic Plan objectives and our FY24-25 annual budget, creating and maintaining a clean, safe environment is our highest priority. In addition to advocating for policies that support a safe and welcoming downtown, one of our major focuses is to increase public funding and public sector oversight of downtown safety initiatives and proactive homelessness outreach programs this year. You can learn more about our advocacy priorities here.
This blog post will feature more frequent updates on progress toward our FY 24-25 advocacy goals.
July 18 City Council Wins
Downtown Density Bonus Program Revamp Wins Council Approval
Over the last two months, our staff has been working closely with Councilmember Zo Qadri on a key Downtown Austin Alliance milestone related to the Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP), which states, “Downtown development and preservation policies are advanced through thoughtful recalibration, testing, and advocacy of key issues.” This work resulted in unanimous approval by the Austin City Council on July 18 of a resolution authored by CM Qadri that begins the process of amending and updating the DDBP. The resolution is the first step in directing city staff to begin drafting policy and ordinances. Throughout the drafting process, DAA staff worked with the office of CM Qadri on key tenets and outcomes for a successful DDBP update, including adding comments and critiques in the drafting process.
Since its initiation in 2014, the Downtown Density Bonus Program has transformed our downtown, notably doubling the downtown residential population and increasing our density by more than 50%. In exchange for over 5.5M square feet in development bonus granted to developers, the community has received enhanced streetscapes and elevated urban design, over $28M in fees dedicated to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and over 100 Affordable units created or in the pipeline.
The Downtown Austin Alliance’s VP of Built Environment, Hannah Rangel, spoke in favor of the resolution at the meeting, neatly summarizing the importance of this item by saying, “Item 185 addresses issues of floor-to-area ratio and above-grade parking by proposing a comprehensive update to our most critical tool to encourage and manage growth in downtown. We are most excited to see a clear emphasis on calibration, testing and engagement to ensure the suitability and viability of the proposed changes.”
Downtown PID Unanimously Approved
The Austin City Council unanimously approved Downtown’s Public Improvement District’s (DPID) FY24-25 Service and Assessment Plan (SAP) at the July 18 council meeting. The FY24-25 SAP details the Downtown Austin Alliance’s goals and services for its fiscal year and highlights budget allocation for its strategic priorities such as Clean and Safe (public safety, cleanliness), Active Urbanism (murals, events), Mobility, and the Built Environment (land use, density).
By law, we must submit a yearly SAP for City Council approval and seek approval for the yearly assessment rate. The assessment rate was kept at FY23-24 levels which was $0.0925 per $100 property value.
City of Austin FY24-25 Budget
In anticipation of the Austin City Council passing their FY24-25 budget on August 14, our team has been working with city staff and city council offices to include Downtown Austin priorities. The top two priorities the team have worked on are expansion and city funding of the HEART Pilot program and continued funding for the Mental Health Diversion Center and Pilot. This week, our team met with the offices of CM Qadri and Homeless Strategy Office Director David Gray to identify funding availability for funding the HEART program and to expand beyond its current pilot boundaries into greater parts of the central business district. Additionally, we are working with CM Qadri on identifying funding for the City of Austin’s portion of the cross-agency Mental Health Diversion Center and Pilot.
May 30 City Council Wins
The final Austin City Council meeting before their June break was quite successful for downtown Austin. Many of our monitored items were approved, marking major milestones for homelessness and public safety priorities.
TOOF
The City Council unanimously approved extending the term and adding funds to its agreement with The Other Ones Foundation (TOOF). We sent a letter asking the city to extend their agreement to operate the Esperanza Community, a 5-acre site that currently houses 100 micro-shelter units. With this funding, TOOF can add 100 additional micro-shelter units, doubling capacity at a time when Austin’s homeless population is increasing. This will help offset the closing of the City-operated temporary shelter at the Marshalling Yard in 2025.
Community Court’s Mobile Court Program
We supported the passing of the agenda item that implements the Community Court’s Mobile Court program. Community Court conducted a successful Mobile Court Pilot from October 2023 to January 2024 that demonstrated the need for full implementation. The pilot included 18 events around the city held in social service centers, shelters, libraries and churches and it engaged 383 people – 125 of whom had open cases with the Court. Through these pilot events, 69 cases were docketed, 48 arrest warrants were cleared and hundreds of people without active cases were able to positively engage with case workers to access social, health and housing services provided by Community Court.
Mental Health Diversion Pilot
The Mental Health Diversion Center and Pilot hit a milestone as the City Council unanimously approved executing agreements with Integral Care to create a Mental Health Diversion pilot oversight board and pilot funding. We wrote a letter of support because this action will advance a necessary governance structure, and provide funding needed to bolster and leverage existing services and facilities to implement the mental health diversion pilot. The pilot will provide immediate alternatives that are needed to prevent many people with behavioral health issues from entering the criminal justice system. It aims to help break the cycle of repeat offending due to untreated mental illness. The mental health diversion pilot is an important step to inform the development and future operation of a permanent Travis County Mental Health Diversion Center that will help make our community safer.