ASAN (KXAN)-In a final stampede to finance park floors on the expansion project in the Ministry of Transport in Texas, some members of the Austin City Council are combing through possible financing options that will not be taken away from the city’s borrowing force for the proposed comprehensive bond package next year.
“We have identified additional financing mechanisms that allow us to do the approach” Yes, and “,” said a member of the Austin Ryan Altti City Council.
Alter is one of the members of the Council who pays for the construction of these highway spaces, called “Caps and Stitches”-alongside the Zo Qadri and Chito ‘Vela and Mayor Pro Tem Vanesa Fuentes-and they ask employees to look at the financing options such as episodes in the project of the growing temporary conference center on the right of temporary corridors and withdrawal from Cally for transportation links.
“Given the previous bond projects that exceed the original costs that we cannot even build, what about using these money for something else? Given the car rental tax, something that allows us to spend on a project such as hats, but again it cannot be used to spend on displacement or parks,” said change. “
If the city’s employees can swing this funding puzzle, the Austin City Council will still need a majority vote when TXDot financing later this month. Some members of the Council, such as Christa Lane in District 6, asked whether the city should be the main investor of this project.
“The diversity of the financiers outside the city of Austin has reduced to a large extent,” said Christa Lane, a member of the Austin City Council. Region 6, in northwest Austin, is one of the farthest where the hats will be built near the city center.
In an analysis of hats in six other cities, a group called Hayat Brown found similar projects that relied heavily on charitable work or federal and state funds. In any of the examples, Hayat Brown was submitted to the city council earlier this week, the city funded more than 25 % of the total cost of obstacles in those other projects.
“The city takes it completely, I have big concerns about whether this is a smart financial thing,” Lin said.
What are “hats and stitches”?
Caps and Stitches will look like scattered squares, parks and community spaces on the expansion project in the Ministry of Transport in Texas I-35 near the city center. The deadline for Austin to commit a txdot financing for the road elements in the project is May 31.
“Talking about the 1928 plan, where Austin was pushed to the eastern side, I really think this is a way to do good health,” said Zohab Al -Qadri, a member of the Austin City Council. It represents the city center area where these hats will be built.
inNovember 2024 Council working sessionsCity employees said they believe that building a full -vision plan for the stitch will cost more than $ 1.4 billion.
City invitation groups have pushed the road elements at least for all hats and stitches in the initial vision plan for Austin.
The recommendation of the city’s employees
City of Austin staff has issued an updated recommendation for “Caps and Stitches” that the city may want to make funding for this week.
While the vision plan was placed on highways with gardens and societal spaces on the highway in a handful of sites, the city now recommends financing the road elements only to obtain a cover that extends from Cesar Chavez to the fourth street and another project from 11 to 12.
Austin has only a lot of money that it can borrow if it does not want to hurt its credit rating. The city’s employees said on Tuesday that there is no change in the state law, the city should not exceed $ 750 million of additional bonds between covers and stitches and anything that the city chooses to put in a comprehensive bond package for 2026.
“I also look at November 26 with a comprehensive bond package that meets things like gardens, easy housing and other needs that we may have. It reduces, in my head, what I think we can bear,” Mayor of Austin Kirk Watson said in an interview with KXAN Monday.
Analysis: The return on investment
The members of the Austin City Council have previously asked employees to look at whether the return on investment from CAPS – increases in nearby property values, amenities above CAPS, etc. – will greatly help compensate for the cost of building structures.
Hayat Brown city staff brought to help in this analysis. This group found that Austin would be less than compensation for the cost of building all hats and stitches in the vision plan.
“CAPS will not produce adequate revenues to finance its construction and processes, but the construction of Caps will lead to unlimited social benefits,” he wrote in his presentation of the council.
“The city’s gardens do not bring the return on investment. It brings joy, and they bring happiness, and they bring the quality of life. But they do not bring additional revenues to the city.”
A federal grant of $ 105 million is still oblivious
Austin is still waiting to see if it will have $ 105 million to build one of these main hats, but the last step by the US House of Transport and Infrastructure Committee makes this possibility look smaller.
Austin was previously awarded this grant by the federal government, but with a new administration that operates through the budget settlement process, Austin leaders will have to work on the idea that funding will not be available at the present time.
“There is always hope,” Watson said. “This has a few obstacles before it ends with traffic. How do they get reconciliation, they will have to talk about Medicare, and they talk about food stamps, and they will have to talk about some difficult sounds. But I think it is likely that this is smart on our part to make our decisions with expecting that this type of grant will not be there.”