'Very successful': City of Austin analyzing local impact of legislative session ...Middle East

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed 1,155 bills into law following the legislative session, the city of Austin is working through the specific impact of those bills on local governments.

"I think it was a very successful legislative session," Austin City Manager TC Broadnax said on Wednesday's episode of Inside Austin's Agenda. He believes city staff did a good job helping state lawmakers understand what's happening in Austin.

Broadnax said the city would share the full impact of the legislative session, including required code changes, with city council members within the next few months.

"We are going through the process now. Our team -- whether legal and/or our respective departments -- are analyzing the impacts of those bills," Broadnax said.

New laws that will impact the city of Austin

Broadnax did point to HB 2802, which will change the way the city of Austin pays retired firefighters by reforming the Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund (AFRF).

"As you’ll recall, AFRF has been on the Texas Pension Review Board watchlist for two years because it is out of compliance with state requirements. It is not considered “actuarially sound” because the unfunded liability is too great. The unfunded liability is projected to reach more than $327 million by the end of this year and the payback period will exceed 100 years. Soundness requires the liabilities for a retirement fund like this to be able to be paid back in 30 years or less," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson wrote in March.

After that bill was signed into law by the governor, the mayor praised that move on the city council message board saying: "This is a big win for the City of Austin generally and our retired firefighters and those who will retire. It restores financial soundness, which was our main goal."

Bills that did not reach the governor's desk

HB 19 -- a bill that would have limited the amount of property tax-supported debt local governments can issue -- was left pending in committee. As the city of Austin looks at a potential bond package in 2026 and also a possible tax rate election (TRE), that bill could have nixed the city's ability to ask voters for more money as it faces a budget deficit.

Perhaps even more challenging for Austin's budget process moving forward would have been HB 5267 -- which also did not make it to the governor's desk. That bill would have made it so the "city’s total expenditures from all available source of revenue in a fiscal year may not exceed the total expenditures from the previous fiscal year or that amount adjusted for population growth plus inflation," as it was explained by the Texas Municipal League.

Special session looming

Abbott announced earlier this week that he is calling a special session starting July 21. According to a release, the governor will move the following bills forward:

During a news conference on property tax legislation passed this year, the governor also hinted at future state action on that topic.

"The Governor also noted that he is not done yet and will continue to work to provide Texans with the property tax relief they deserve," a release said. "Specifically, Governor Abbott discussed the need to further limit the ability of local governments to raise Texans' property taxes."

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