Of course it was the "biggest budget" in history
And the cops got the biggest chunk.
Every year articles in local media about the budget begin with something to the effect of: "Austin City Council approved the largest budget in city history..."
Well, duh. Absent a a group of hardcore conservatives coming into city government to slash core services, every budget is going to be bigger than the one before. In a growing city, the cost of maintaining our current service levels –– police, fire, EMS, parks –– grows every year. Just the cost of health insurance for city employees, for instance, rose 10% in the past year.
Now, how much you should expect your taxes to go up each year is a similar but distinct question. It is true that the city's budget could grow without increasing the amount that each property owner pays. Because we're a growing city, there are new property tax payers being added to the rolls every year.
The reason our taxes are going up isn't necessarily because the city government is getting bigger.
