By Joseph BascoSafety improvements are coming to the Slaughter

Lane and Manchaca Road intersection in Southwest Austin after the city of Austin ranked it the sixth most dangerous intersection in the city Sept. 2.

The Austin Transportation Department ranked the most dangerous intersections based on the overall num-ber crashes, the rate of crashes, the overall number of

Volume 8, Issue 7 | Oct. 22-Nov. 24, 2015 communityimpact.com/socialSOUTHWEST AUSTIN EDITION

ONLINE-EXCLUSIVE NEWS AND FEATURES

VISIT TODAY!Where local lives.

06 IMPACTSNow Open, Coming Soon & More

1 5 DEVELOPMENTSaint Elmo project

21 CITY & COUNTY Travis County, San Leanna budgets

22 VOTE 2015

25 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

27 PROPOSITION 7

ELECTIONGUIDE

Manchaca, Slaughter crossing ranked among city’s most dangerousIntersection to get safety upgrades

$287.3M proposal would build new facility downtown

Travis County voters to weigh new civil, family courts bond on ballots

The Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse is located on Guadalupe Street in Austin.

By Kelli Weldon Travis County voters will decide

this fall whether to authorize spend-ing $287.3 million in bond funds on a new civil and family courts complex, or CFCC, in downtown Austin.

The Travis County Commissioners Court called for an order in August to place the bond election on the Nov. 3

ballot. If voters approve it, each county homeowner would see an estimated $13.50 property tax increase annually per $100,000 of taxable valuation, said Belinda Powell, strategic planning man-ager for the Travis County Planning and Budget Office.

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Drivers pass through the Slaughter Lane and Manchaca Road intersection Oct. 14.

fatalities and injuries, and the rate of fatalities and inju-ries, ATD Managing Engineer Eric Bollich said.

At Slaughter and Manchaca, ATD plans to revise right-turn lanes, add raised medians on Manchaca north and south of the intersection and include dual left-turn lanes in every direction of the intersection, in total costing $1.5 million, Bollich said.

ATD counted 32 traffic collisions at the intersection in 2014 and an average of 25 collisions per year from 2012-14. By comparison, the most dangerous intersec-tion in Austin, at Lamar Boulevard and Rundberg Lane, had 38 collisions in 2014 and an average of 41 collisions per year from 2012-14.

See Road safety | 32

Community Impact Newspaper • communityimpact.com22

commissioners and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, voted unani-mously to approve the order.

“I know folks are going to have sticker shock on that cost, but by build-ing it now and building it right with additional capacity for the future it’s going to [cost less] overall,” Eckhardt said. “We’ve got to have a 30- to 50-year view on this.”

Need for capacityThe current Heman Marion Swe-

att Travis County Courthouse at 1000 Guadalupe St., which will remain the county’s main courthouse if the bond passes, was constructed in the 1930s.

Retired Judge John Dietz said he has given dozens of tours of the courthouse to inform people about the reality of what staff and visitors see every day.

“We have used every possible space and there is no way to expand,” Dietz said, adding much of the 158,000 square feet is taken up by hallways and common spaces.

Entrances are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and vacant, outdated jail cells are taking up space, he said.

“This is our IT department,” he said jokingly, resting his arm on a stack of computer parts past their prime.

At the proposed CFCC, space would be allocated for information technology infrastructure. The proposal includes courtrooms, a parking garage and safe waiting areas, Powell said.

South Austin-based nonprofit Safe-Place provides services such as emer-gency shelter, supportive housing, advocacy and legal assistance for sur-vivors of sexual and domestic violence, said Southwest Austin resident Emily Rudenick LeBlanc, SafePlace’s director of community advocacy.

When a client applies for a protective order, he or she meets at the courthouse with a protective advocate, LeBlanc said.

There is no civil courts safe room at the current courthouse separat-ing them from perpetrators, she said, noting there is a safe room in the

criminal courts area at the Heman Marion Sweatt courthouse.

Statute requires a safe room for civil courts, LeBlanc said.

It is not uncommon for perpetrators to wait in the hallway or elevator for the victim, she said.

“It can be pretty traumatic and scary for the victims to know that they’re not protected from their perpetrator being able to see them or intimidate them during the court process,” she said. “If [the bond] doesn’t pass, we’re going to continue to do our best to keep survi-vors safe throughout court proceed-ings, but I think it’s a problem waiting to happen.”

Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, who represents Precinct 3, said he feels confident the proposal represents what the county needs.

“When this thing first started … we were talking about a $350 mil-lion project. So now we’ve got this thing down to [about] $288 mil-lion, and so we’ve certainly done a good job with that, knowing that people are anxious about afford-ability today,” Daugherty said.

Cost, locationThe Commissioners Court

sought ways to lower the CFCC budget as well as offset its tax burden, including selling under-utilized county property and using parking revenue from evenings and weekends.

The court voted Aug. 11 to lower the $291.6 million budget set in February by $4.3 million.

An adjacent private office tower is planned for the property but will not be paid for by bond funds, and Eckhardt said the county will see cost savings by constructing it at the same time as the courts complex.

Affordability is a priority for Austin resident Bill Oakey, who said he has decided to remain neutral on the bond proposition.

Oakey, a blogger, said county leaders need to set priorities based on realistic assumptions about what the public can afford to pay.

He said if the county wants voters to

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WHAT IS A CIVIL AND FAMILY COURTS COMPLEX?Civil and family court cases include adoptions, custody hearings, cases related to domestic violence, marriages

and divorce proceedings. The proposed complex would house courtrooms, waiting areas, clerks’ offices and other facilities related civil and family law uses.

$287.3MILLION

2,840 new jobs

500+ PARKING SPACES

371

2019

$100k $39

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14 floors

33 COURTROOMS

520,000sq. ft.

to be spent over a 20-year period

created as a result of construction and

staffing within three years of

approval

new jobs created over long term (through 2035)

Courts complex slated to open in

Homeownerwill pay $13.50

annually per

Approximate annual tax bill increase

on home valued at $360,000* will be:

Increase varies depending on

eligibility for county property tax exemptions

of taxable value

Construction would be one building with

Building would house

(existing one has 19)

Building height would be

Four-level underground

1 The Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse is located in Austin.

2 Retired Judge John Dietz gives a tour of the courthouse.

3 Wires hang from some parts of the ceiling in the courthouse.

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2015ELECTION GUIDE

approve the bond it should work with the city of Austin on developing a joint affordability initiative.

Support, oppositionSouthwest Austin resident David

Holmes, who is running for the Travis County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 seat, said the old courthouse is “dan-gerous” for people involved in trials.

“I hear some people’s argument that we should have it out of downtown, but when I hear that I think of all of the people who work in downtown offices who have to get in their cars multiple times a day and drive to that new court-house, and it seems like a very bad idea to generate that much more traffic for building a courthouse out of down-town,” he said.

CourtsContinued from | 1

Southwest Austin Edition • October 2015 23

Southwood neighborhood resident Ray Collins, who has lived in the South-west Austin area since 1994, said he was more likely to vote in favor of the courts bond after attending a Saturday morn-ing open house at Sunset Valley City Hall in September. The event was one of several during which staff walked attendees through plans for the proj-ect, displayed key facts about the bond proposal on informational posters and answered questions.

Collins said he remembers the court-house being crowded when he visited it in the early ’90s.

“The cost to me personally is not going to be much,” he said, noting he is eligible for the homestead exemption offered to residents age 65 and older.

Not everyone is in favor of the project. With only a few weeks before the Nov. 3 election, the Travis County Taxpayers Union and Travis County Republican

Party both voiced their opposition to the bond Oct. 14.

East Austin proposalThe county needs a new civil court-

house, but the TCTU wants the county and city to work together to collaborate on location options that are less expen-sive, TCTU analyst Bill Worsham said.

“This is just another straw that is breaking the camel’s back in terms of affordability,” he added.

Taxes and access are the main con-cerns for the TCRP, TCRP Communi-cations Director Andy Hogue said.

“We need to put the courthouse closer to where there are actual families in Austin,” Hogue said, adding there are more families in East Austin.

Austin City Council Member Don Zimmerman and Council Member Ora Houston proposed a resolution Sept. 8 that would have city staff seek out land

in East Austin on which the courthouse could be developed, such as near Walter E. Long Park.

“Putting the proposed courthouse downtown doesn’t make sense,” Zim-merman said in a statement. “Down-town is already very congested and expensive. East Austin would be much more affordable and would spur eco-nomic development in the ‘Eastern Crescent’ of the city.”

The resolution specifically asks that city-owned land be identified as pos-sible sites for the courthouse. Such a trade of land to Travis County from the city would require voter approval.

Zimmerman asked the Audit and Finance Committee to consider the res-olution in September.

In response, the Austin Bar Associa-tion released a statement opposing that resolution.

Eckhardt said she thinks the proposal

would be less efficient financially and less efficient from a functionality stand-point than the project outlined in cur-rent ballot language. She said the pro-posed location downtown would offer more accessibility for county residents using public transportation as well.

The Commissioners Court consid-ered certificates of obligation and pub-lic-private partnerships to fund the new courts complex, but commissioners decided instead to go to the county’s voters, Eckhardt said.

“The feeling of property tax exhaus-tion is totally justified. … [But] we are long overdue for this piece of infra-structure,” she said.

Additional reporting by Jennifer Curington.

To calculate your potential tax increase, visit:

www.traviscountytx.gov

IMPORTANT DATES

ELECTION DAY: NOV. 3, 2015

Voter registration deadline: Oct. 5First day of early voting: Oct. 19Last day to apply for ballot by mail (received, not postmarked): Oct. 23Last day of early voting: Oct. 30

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Compiled by Kelli Weldon | *Incumbent

Sunset Valley aims to expand green tax areaBy Kelli Weldon

The city of Sunset Valley’s existing Edwards Aqui-fer Protection Venue Project, also known as a “green tax,” could affect more areas in the city if voters approve a proposition on the November ballot.

The proposition is not to increase taxes or change the way they are collected, but instead to broaden the definition of where funds from the green tax can be used, City Administrator Clay Collins said.

The majority of Sunset Valley is built over the recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer, a local groundwater system that provides water for parts of Central Texas.

Voters in Sunset Valley approved the green tax in November 2007, enabling the city to collect one-eighth of 1 percent of the city’s sales tax for watershed protection-related initiatives, such as purchasing environmentally sensitive land to preserve it from being developed, Collins said.

Currently, the tax can only be used for initiatives in the designated venue, which is along Brodie and Country White lanes. The proposition aims to expand that venue so that the funds can be spent on areas throughout the city, Collins said.

“This would provide a little more flexibility,” Collins said.

Council Member Forrest Arnold said the city has purchased other properties for environmental pres-ervation reasons outside the geographic area of the existing tax without using the green tax funds.

“It’s a very useful fund,” he said, noting if the proposition passes the fund could be used anywhere in the city that would benefit the aquifer.

The tax generates approximately $400,000 annu-ally, according to city documents.

CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS: THREE SEATSOn the Nov. 3 ballot, the city of Sunset Valley will hold elections for three seats on its five-member City Council.

Marc BrunerBruner, who has served on the city’s Public Works Committee and Budget, Finance and Administration Committee, is running for Council Member Forrest Arnold’s seat. Arnold said he is not seeking re-election this year.

Rudi Rosengarten*Rosengarten, a Realtor, has served two full terms and was first elected in May 2011. She is seeking re-election in 2015.

Jeff Burdett*Burdett was appointed to City Council on June 15, 2012, after Rose Cardona was elected mayor and she resigned her council seat, staff said. Burdett was then elected Nov. 5, 2013. He is seeking re-election to the council in 2015.

Visit www.sunsetvalley.org for more information.

CITY OF SUNSET VALLEY VOTER ID REQUIREMENTS**When voting in person, Texas voters are required to present one of seven specific forms of photo identification before they may cast their ballot. Under Senate Bill 14, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011 but did not take effect until a June 25, 2013, decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, voters must present one of the following forms of identification to vote:

• Texas driver’s license• Texas personal ID card issued by the Texas Department of

Public Safety• Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS• U.S. military ID card with photo• U.S. certificate of citizenship or U.S. certificate of

naturalization showing photo• U.S. passport book or card• Election ID certificate (EIC)

With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling location. To obtain a free EIC, voters will need to show documents proving citizenship and identity. For most Texans, that means their birth certificate and two supporting documents, including:

• Social Security card• Voter registration card• School records• Medicare or Medicaid card• ID card issued by a government agency• Expired Texas ID

In almost every circumstance, voters voting by mail do not need to provide a photo ID. Furthermore, eligible voters age 65 and older and those with disabilities qualify for ballot by mail.

POLLING LOCATIONSTravis County voters are allowed to vote on Election Day at any polling location in Travis County. Voting locations include:

ACC Pinnacle campus, 7748 W. Hwy. 290 ACC South Austin campus, 1820 W. Stassney Lane Akins High School, 10701 S. First St. Manchaca United Methodist Church, 1011 FM 1626 Oak Hill Fire Department No. 301, 9211 Circle Drive Oak Hill Primitive Baptist Church, 11408 RM 1826 Randalls, 2025 W. Ben White Blvd. Randalls, 9911 Brodie Lane Randalls, 6600 S. MoPac Science and Health Resource Center, 305 N. Bluff Drive Southwest Church of Christ, 8900 Manchaca Road Sunset Valley City Hall, 3205 Jones Road, Sunset Valley Texas Oaks Baptist Church, 9910 Bilbrook Place Travis Country HOA Office, 4504 Travis Country Circle Villages Amenities Center, 12006 Gatling Gun Lane Western Hills Church of Christ, 6211 Parkwood Drive West Rural Community Center, 8656 W. Hwy. 71, Ste. A Wheatsville Food Co-Op, 4001 S. Lamar Blvd.This list is not comprehensive. For a complete list of polling locations, visit www.traviscountyelections.org.

For more information and follow-up on the elections, visit communityimpact.com/vote.

The general and special elections included in this guide will be on ballots in the communities covered by Community Impact Newspaper’s Southwest Austin edition.

FOR MORE INFO

www.votetexas.gov, www.keepcalmvoteon.com, www.votetravis.com, www.traviscountyelections.org**Information updated as of March 11. Texas’ voter photo ID requirements are subject to change. Visit www.texas.gov for any updates.

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2015ELECTION GUIDE

Southwest Austin Edition • October 2015 25

COMPLETE COVERAGE AT COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM/VOTE

Voters to decide on multiple amendments to Texas Constitution

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Proposition 1 (SJR 1): “The constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes from $15,000 to $25,000, providing for a reduction of the limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for those purposes on the homestead of an elderly or disabled person to reflect the increased exemption amount, authorizing the legislature to prohibit a political subdivision that has adopted an optional residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation from reducing the amount of or repealing the exemption, and prohibiting the enactment of a law that imposes a transfer tax on a transaction that conveys fee simple title to real property.”

Proposition 2 (HJR 75): “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran who died before the law authorizing a residence homestead exemption for such a veteran took effect.”

Proposition 3 (SJR 52): “The constitutional amendment repealing the requirement that state officers elected by voters statewide reside in the state capital.”

Proposition 4 (HJR 73): “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit professional sports team charitable foundations to conduct charitable raffles.”

Proposition 5 (SJR 17): “The constitutional amendment to authorize counties with a population of 7,500 or less to perform private road construction and maintenance.”

Proposition 6 (SJR 22): “The constitutional amendment recognizing the right of the people to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife subject to laws that promote wildlife conservation.”

Proposition 7 (SJR 5): “The constitutional amendment dedicating certain sales and use tax revenue and motor vehicle sales, use, and rental tax revenue to the state highway fund to provide funding for nontolled roads and the reduction of certain transportation-related debt.”

By Caitlin Perrone Voters will head to the polls

Nov. 3 to decide whether to shift mil-lions of dollars in funds to Texas roads, grant certain elected officials the ability to live outside of the state capital and increase the amount certain homeown-ers can save on property taxes.

They will cast a ballot on seven proposed constitutional amendments, which were crafted in joint resolutions by the House of Representatives and Senate during the previous legislative session. The resolutions required at least a two-thirds “yes” vote by the members of each chamber to be pre-sented to voters and cannot be vetoed by the governor.

Proposition 1 would raise the value of the property tax homestead exemption for public schools from $15,000 to $25,000.

According to a report from the House Research Organization, a non-partisan group that provides informa-tion on legislation to the Texas Legisla-ture, supporters of the proposition say the increase would provide much-needed property tax relief to Texans and drive economic growth. However, opponents say they would rather see other tax-cut alternatives that would provide more equitable relief.

Proposition 2 seeks to change a con-stitutional amendment voters approved

in 2011 that allowed the surviving spouses of 100 percent disabled veter-ans an exemption on property taxes, as long as the surviving spouse had not remarried. That amendment did not apply to surviving spouses of veterans who died before 2011.

Proposition 3 would repeal a con-stitutional requirement that stipulates statewide elected officials reside in Austin during their terms of office.

Proposition 4 would let legislators enact laws allowing professional sports team charitable foundations to conduct charitable raffles. Proposition 4 and its enabling legislation, HB 975, would allow 50/50 raffles at professional sports games in which 50 percent of ticket sales are awarded in cash prizes and the other half goes to charity.

Proposition 5 would increase the maximum population threshold of a county that is allowed to construct and maintain private roads from 5,000 to 7,500.

Proposition 6 would amend the Bill of Rights to establish the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife in Texas, including by the use of tradi-tional methods.

Proposition 7 proposes a constitu-tional amendment that would dedicate $2.5 billion of the state’s sales and use tax revenue that exceeds the first $28 billion of taxes collected, and

35 percent of the state motor vehicle sales, use and rental tax revenue that exceeds the first $5 billion of taxes collected, to the State Highway Fund. These funds would be deposited in the General Revenue Fund, which can be used to construct, maintain or acquire rights of way for public roads other than toll roads or to repay transpor-tation-related debts. These transfers would expire in 2032 and 2029, respec-tively, unless extended at that time.

According to the Legislative Budget Board, the proposition would bring in an estimated $5 billion in

general revenue in fiscal year 2018, and $2.9 billion in fiscal year 2020.

Supporters say the proposition would provide a consistent source for funding transportation projects throughout the state. Opponents say it could tie the hands of legislators in future years by dedicating billions to transportation projects each fiscal biennium, which could cause larger cuts in other state services during tight fiscal times.

Find an extended version of this story at communityimpact.com/vote.

Source: Texas Secretary of State/Community Impact Newspaper

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Southwest Austin Edition • October 2015 27

Transportation funding for Texas roads back on ballot this NovemberBy Amy Denney

In June state legislators approved Senate Joint Resolution 5, paving the way for the possibility of more funding for Texas roads.

The resolution calls for voter approval of a constitutional amendment to divert funding from the state’s general sales tax revenue to the State Highway Fund starting in 2017. SJR 5 also asks voters to approve dedicating a portion of the motor vehicle sales tax revenue to the SHF. That resolution will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as Proposition 7.

“The two most important arguments for it is it doesn’t raise your taxes, and it doesn’t go toward toll roads,” said Jack Ladd, president of Austin-based Move Texas Forward, which aims to educate Texans on transportation issues.

He said if approved SJR 5 would provide a more dependable source of funding to the Texas Department of Transportation for the maintenance and construction of roads.

“The gas tax is losing its fervor because [automobiles] are getting more and more fuel-efficient,” Ladd said. “That’s not a dependable source of funding anymore.”

TxDOT needs about $5 billion more annually to maintain 2010 congestion levels, TxDOT Information Specialist Mark Cross said. Funding from Prop-osition 1—which voters approved last November to divert funding from the

oil and gas tax to the SHF—helps that lack of funding.

“[The state has] suffered from a lack of reliable and sustained funding sources,” Cross said. “We have been hampered to achieve the goal of sound financing and planning of projects.”

If voters approve Proposition 7, Cross said TxDOT officials would work with the Texas Legislature to determine allocation of funding throughout the state. The agency would also work with local governments and regional metro-politan planning organizations—which coordinate regional transportation planning—to prioritize projects that could receive funding from SJR 5.

Ashby Johnson, executive director of the Capital Area Metropolitan Plan-ning Organization—which encom-passes Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties—said any projects that could be funded through SJR 5 need to be in the 2015-18 Transportation Improvement Program.

“[The SJR 5 funding] is only for right of way acquisition, construction or paying down debt,” Johnson said. “That says to me the Legislature wants this money to get spent quickly.”

Projects in the TIP are those ready for construction and could include some I-35 projects TxDOT has already taken through the environmental pro-cess, Johnson said.

If Proposition 7 does not pass, John-son said the region would not be any worse off because CAMPO has not added any revenue from Proposition 7 into its revenue estimates.

“It’s got a pretty good chance based on what we saw from Prop. 1,” he said.

On Aug. 27, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce board of directors adopted a resolution sup-porting the passage of Proposition 7. Jeremy Martin, the chamber’s senior

vice president of strategy, said the proposition would address two top regional concerns: affordability and enhancing infrastructure. He said good infrastructure is necessary for viable economy and quality of life.

“If we want to develop the trans-portation system that we want and deserve here in Central Texas, we need to dedicate more funding to it,” he said. “... Funding from Prop. 7 could further accelerate projects such as I-35.”

SJR 5 dedicates $2.5 BILLION each fiscal year from general sales and use tax revenue after state revenue exceeds $28 billion to the State Highway Fund beginning in 2017.

It expires Aug. 31, 2032, unless extended.

It also dedicates 35% of motor vehicle sales tax revenue each fiscal year after the first $5 billion to the SHF beginning in 2019, or an estimated $500 million to $600 million annually.

This expires Aug. 31, 2029, unless extended.The resolution was agreed upon by a joint legislative committee composed of House and Senate

members June 1.

SJR 5 requires voter approval in the NOV. 3 election.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 5

Sources: Texas Legislature, Move Texas Forward/Community Impact Newspaper

SJR 5 REVENUE INCREASESIf passed by voters, the estimated revenue increases would appear in the State Highway Fund by these dates:

$2.5BFY 2018-19

$2.92BFY 2020-21

$3.04BFY 2021-22

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2015ELECTION GUIDE

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