Author Archives: Bill Oakey

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About Bill Oakey

I am retired from the State of Texas as an accountant. I am now an artist in Austin, doing photographic art. I'm also a lifelong music fan and a computer geek.

Goodnight…And Pleasant Dreams, Plus Other Updates

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By Bill Oakey – April 21, 2014

Last Friday night I spent a cool and very pleasant evening at the Lenoir Wine Garden on South First Street.  It was an Authors Party, sponsored by the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation.  In addition to the opportunity to mingle with literary standouts such as Elizabeth McCracken,  I happened upon a chance meeting with noted psychologist and Austin resident, Dr. Gemma Marangoni Ainslie.  Little did I know at the time that my curiosity would lead to…

Goodnight…And Pleasant Dreams!

A Google search for a few of the intriguing folks on hand for the party turned up a disturbing New York Times article.  You might be better off reading this in the morning, rather than right before bed.

Entitled, “The House of Your Dreams,” the article was published in 2009 during the height of the real estate bust and economic collapse.  “Foreclosure, eviction and an uncertain real estate market are providing material for disturbing dreams and nightmares about home, which has an especially powerful place in the psyche,” the story begins.

As I continued reading, I began to discover an eerie parallel between the housing collapse of the Great Recession and the feelings of hopelessness felt by many Austinites as they struggle to hold onto their homes today.  Just yesterday, a realtor in my neighborhood told me that quite a few of her clients are sellers who can no longer afford to live here.

Back to the article, here is another interesting quote.  “At a time of collective angst and fear of economic insecurity, psychologists say more patients are recounting stressful dreams that revolve around the theme of home.”

Some psychological studies suggest that people’s dreams reflect actual real life situations that they can act upon as a result of what they learn from their dreams.  Austin’s own Dr. Gemma Marangoni Ainslie, whom I met at Friday’s party, cautions against taking dreams too literally.  “Things are not necessarily what they seem to be,” she stated in the NY Times article.  In her view, dreams are simply “clues about personal struggles and ongoing conflicts.”

As you turn down the sheets tonight, try not to think about Austin affordability.  Goodnight…and pleasant dreams.

Presentation to the Austin Neighborhoods Council on Wednesday

On Wednesday April 23rd, I will give a presentation at the Austin Neighborhoods Council meeting at approximately 7:53 PM at the Austin Energy Building, 721 Barton Springs Road.  The title is “Affordability –  Goals And Reforms to Maintain Austin’s Economic Diversity.”

“Above and Beyond” – The First Award From This Blog

Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement.  The first ever AustinAffordability.com award will be presented to a public official who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the face of the inertia of Business As Usual.  She has definitely gone above and beyond her peers.  It will be a happy occasion, but the time and place have yet to be determined.  (As you probably already guessed, the tittle for this award was inspired by the classic Harlan Howard song, first reaching number three by Buck Owens in 1960, and then number one by Rodney Crowell in 1989).

Paul Robbins – Measures Needed To Control Austin Water Rates

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Austin’s critical water situation is an important element of affordability.  Veteran energy and water activist and author of the Austin Environmental Directory, Paul Robbins, weighed in recently with this guest editorial in the Austin American-Statesman:

Robbins: Austin needs to take measures to control water rates

Posted: 12:00 a.m. Saturday, April 12, 2014

BY PAUL ROBBINS – SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Austin’s cost of living is soaring, and one reason is its water costs. Water rates are falling into a dangerous pattern. It’s called a “death spiral.” Costs go up, inducing market pressure to drive consumption down, eliminating revenue needed to pay fixed costs. So rates go up again, causing consumers to cut back further, and the spiral gets steeper.

At the same time, the Central Texas region is afflicted with record drought, so consumption is heavily discouraged. Water rates will go higher to make up for even more lost revenue.

Austin’s water utility boasts that its conservation efforts have lowered consumption 17 percent per person between 2006 and 2013. This seems impressive until you consider water rates went up 70 percent in the same time period. In fact, between 2000 and 2014, water rates went up 123 percent and wastewater rates went up 130 percent. Inflation only rose 36 percent.

And brace yourselves. It has been announced that by 2019, water rates will need to be increased another 31 percent and wastewater rates another 15 percent. This is despite cutbacks planned for next year’s budget and recent hook-up fee increases for new buildings of almost 200 percent.

The planned increases may not stop here. Due to the drought, the utility is shopping for new water supplies. To give you an idea of the relative cost, groundwater sold by one potential supplier to an Austin suburb is 30 times the price Austinites pay for Colorado River water.

Why are costs so high?

  • The biggest reason is capital investment and debt, much of it coming from growth. About 52 percent of your water/wastewater bill is related to capital improvements. An example of this is the half-billion-dollar Water Treatment Plant No. 4, which began construction in 2010. Judging from the utility’s recent forecast, Austin will not need its capacity for 17 years. Because it is a wasted asset, it will literally cost more to turn on the plant than to leave off.
  • There were poor decisions regarding asset management. The “profit” from the land sale of the former Green Water Treatment Plant site was put back into enhancements for the site’s redevelopment instead of lowering water costs. Other property, such as the retired Govalle plant on Lady Bird Lake, sits almost unused.
  • The water utility is one of the largest energy users in Austin, consuming enough electricity to power 17,000 homes. Yet it has no energy conservation plan and is buying wind power at 39 percent more than it cost the electric utility to purchase.
  • The utility’s profit, the transfer to the General Fund, has more than doubled since 2000, while water consumption is roughly the same.

Until the debt works its way out of water rates over time, Austin may not be able to do much to lower them. But through fiscal discipline and real conservation efforts, it can mitigate future increases.

There are a host of small cost-saving measures that can add up. These include: reducing General Fund transfers; postponing the operation of the new treatment plant until it is needed; buying and conserving electricity at an affordable cost; selling unneeded assets and using the profits to buy down debt; using leak-resistant polyethylene pipe; using “smart” utility meters to reduce labor costs and water loss.

There are several strategies that need to be implemented instead of purchasing new supplies. One of the most basic is to fully implement the water conservation plan approved by the City Council in 2007. This would be greatly enhanced if the conservation program was moved out of the debt-strapped utility, which has a conflict of interest saving water.

In addition, Austin has a reclaimed water system that is barely used, as well as access to Barton Springs flows into the Colorado River that might be routed to a treatment plant.

Austin would be foolish to ignore the affordability of its water any longer. Wall Street has a word for cities that have reached the height of fiscal hubris: Detroit.

Robbins is an environmental activist, consumer advocate, and author of “Hard to Swallow,” a report on Austin’s high water costs.

A Little Bit of History On Truth In Taxation

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By Bill Oakey – April 17, 2014

Is it possible to make a duck walk without looking like a duck and quack without sounding like a duck?  In politics, yes, it is definitely possible.  Especially when dealing with that dreaded word that all politicians despise, TAX.  With property taxes, they must find a way to massage the thing, so that it looks like it hasn’t gone up since the year before.  So, how do they play that game downtown at Austin City Hall?

It’s really pretty simple.  They just don’t talk out loud about the percentage of a tax increase at all.  What they do talk about is the tax rate.  During boom times like we are in right now, property values are galloping upward.  So, using simple math, you know that the tax rate can stay the same, while your property tax bill will be higher if the tax appraisal on your home has gone up.

As recently as Thursday afternoon April 17th, I was told by one City Council member during Citizens Communications that the City complies with State law on property tax disclosure.  He is technically correct in that their public hearing notices published in local newspapers comply with State law.  But during annual budget deliberations, the City actually starts the process with a revenue assumption that raises taxes to the legal maximum of 8%.  The final adopted budget may come in below that amount by a couple of percentage points.  But what you will hear in the news media and from the City Council dais is how little they have adjusted the property tax rate. Little or nothing is spoken verbally about the true percentage of the tax increase.

Let me demystify it for you.   There is something officially called the “effective tax rate” that would result in a zero tax increase, when applied to the total value of all the property on the City’s tax rolls.  State law allows cities to raise taxes up to 8% above the effective rate.  That maximum amount is called the “rollback rate.”  Anything above that level could trigger a citizen initiative to roll the rate back.  (See the City’s official guide called, “Adopting a City Budget and Property Tax Rate Training).”

What do they have in store for this year’s budget cycle?  Well, here is one key sentence in a memo to the City Council from Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Ed Van Eenoo, dated February 28, 2014:  “City management has communicated its intent to present a proposed fiscal year 2014-15 Budget that maintains the property tax rate at 50.27 cents per $100 of assessed value.”  (See Conclusion, second sentence).  In other words, staff plans to “hold the line” on the tax rate, while collecting all the money that comes in from raising taxes on homes and businesses that receive big tax appraisal increases.  In order to not raise taxes when property values increase, they would have to lower the tax rate.

Last fall when the City Budget was adopted, KUT reported this headline story, “2014 Austin City Budget Holds Line on Tax Rate.”  The implication was that taxes were not going up.  But in fact, because of large appraisal increases, we did have a tax increase.  But the percentage increase above the zero “effective rate” was not readily disclosed beyond the required public hearing notices.  Better disclosure in the budget document with my proposed “Taxpayer Impact Statement” may not happen until we elect a new City Council in November.  

Now for a final bit of history.  I am the culprit who dragged out my old Sears typewriter in 1987 and went to my State Representative and State Senator and proposed the Truth in Taxation law that I was reminded of today by one of the City Council members.  Below is the cover page for House Bill 328, which established the State law.  It was signed by Governor Bill Clements on June 17, 1987.  Click the image below to enlarge it.

H.B. 328_HR

Let’s Get to Know Steve Adler

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By Bill Oakey – April 16, 2014

As I waited for the appointment at Cafe Josie’s on Monday, I had no preconceived notions about Steve Adler.  Most of us have heard by now that he is running for Mayor.  The other primary “heavyweight” in the race is current City Council member, Mike Martinez.  I had met Steve briefly on two other occasions, and was quite curious to meet him and learn about him.

Prior to the meeting, I had emailed him 10 candidate questions on affordability.  That list has gone out to several announced candidates in various district races.  When Steve arrived at the table, he opened a portfolio with my question list ready for discussion.  But before getting into that, he pulled out a spreadsheet that he had obtained by doing some research at City Hall.  He had picked up my cue on an unexplained $6 million fee waiver for U.T. that was mentioned in this blog.  Steve discovered through Council Member Bill Spelman’s office that the City has since renegotiated that fee waiver down to $3.57 million.  This is welcome news on a cost savings for the taxpayers.

Like me, Steve believes that the City needs a fee wavier policy that is fair and consistent.  There are plenty of challenges and unanswered questions on this affordability topic.  But progress is being made.

Steve and I had a very interesting and cordial meeting.  His background as an attorney in civil rights cases and cases defending workers sounds impressive.  On current City issues, he agrees with me that citizens should not have to wait six hours to speak to their elected City leaders at Council public hearings.  And his interest in the various affordability issues seems encouraging.  A decision on an endorsement from this blog in the mayor’s race will come after careful consideration of the leading candidates.

Mr. Adler does not have a well established name in all of the circles of local civic activism.  But he has lived in Austin since 1978.  It would be my recommendation that folks should try to attend forums and organizational meetings where Steve will be speaking.  I plan to ask him if he would be interested in setting up one or more town hall meetings, so that plenty of people can get to know him better.

The Human Face of Austin Affordability

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By Bill Oakey – April 14, 2014

This all happened quite unexpectedly.  I stopped into a local restaurant for a nice hot breakfast and to kill some time before a meeting at City Hall.  It was Monday, so just to make some idle chat, I asked my server the simplest of questions, “How was your weekend?”

Her response told me something about Austin affordability that I must have known somewhere inside of me.  But in the next few moments it was all out in the open.  She will remain anonymous, but she is very real.  And of course, there are many others like her.

“I just finished my 13th straight day of working,” she commented.  “I have two jobs, and on each of those 13 days, I worked 10 hours.”  Needless to say, she did not have the kind of fun weekend that you might read about in the Chronicle.  I then asked her if she had gotten a chance to check out South By Southwest when it was in town.  That’s when I discovered that hers was a story that needed to be told.

Yes, she made it to a music event on the East Side, but somehow she injured her ankle and could not find any convenient transportation back to where she lived.  I had read about the multiple-hour waits for cab rides.  In this case, the only faster option was a pedicab.  For a cool $60.00 fare.

I decided to email her some additional questions.  She told me that she moved here from Toronto in 2012.  Here are some excerpts from her reply:

“Affordability is going to be an issue anywhere you live, but I think Austin is feeling some very strong growing pains. The sudden massive increase in demand for housing, combined with a seeming lack of oversight and rent control is one of the largest issues I’ve witnessed.  Everyone I know who lives in an apartment complex faces yearly rent increases. There seems to be no limit to how much landlords can raise the rent.  Most of my friends have had to move out due to such increases.”

“My other major issue is transportation: the recent changes made by Cap Metro have been very negative for me. I live near S. Congress and Ottorf, which has seen a decrease in service for the local route and increased service and pricing for the express route, as well as a detour in the route.  Basically, I’m forced to pay more money for decreased service on a route that takes me out of the way I used to take.  It’s a significant price increase, too.  A $30 monthly pass used to get me onto any bus.  That’s been increased to $33 but service has been deceased so much that I’m forced to pay $49.50 for the less convenient but necessary premium pass.”

“Other than during election time, I don’t really keep track of local politics.  Mostly because it’s kind of depressing.  It seems like Austin has been sold to developers to do what they want with it.  I fully support creating more housing.  There’s obviously a strong demand.  It’s just too bad that the only buildings going up are hotels and million dollar condos.  It’d be nice to see more housing go up that is meant for average Austinites.”

“A final thought on affordability – Austin is known for being an art hub.  It’s a place where artists can work as a bartender/server/barista and still focus on their art.  Instead of going to new York or L.A and struggling all the time to make ends meet.  Austin provides an environment that is encouraging and livable.  A rising cost of living will drive that community away from Austin, taking away a big part of the city’s character.”

If our local officials do not pay enough attention to what longtime residents have to say, perhaps they will take note of how our city looks to some of the newcomers.  There is a human face behind all those demographic facts and figures.  And she casts a long shadow over Austin’s uncertain economic future.

A Possible Breakthrough for the City’s $14 Million Budget Surplus

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By Bill Oakey – April 7, 2014

In the middle of the night, an idea came to me for the $14 million budget surplus…Transfer it to the Water Utility to help cover their severe revenue losses.This could help the City in several ways:

1. Protect ratepayers from high rate increases as an ironic “punishment” for water conservation.

2. Sustain or hopefully improve the Water Utility’s AA- bond rating from Fitch Rating Service.

Consider this quote from the Fitch Bond Rating Service dated June 3, 2013:

“INCREMENTAL DECLINE IN RATE AFFORDABILITY: The city’s water and electric utilities maintain autonomous rate-setting authority. However, AWU’s combined rates are somewhat high relative to income levels, and moderately-sized planned rate increases needed to boost financial performance could ultimately lead to rate fatigue.”

And this quote, especially the last clause in the last sentence:

RATING SENSITIVITY

“IMPROVED FINANCIAL METRICS: The continuation of AWU’s efforts to steadily improve its financial metrics will be critical to maintaining the current rating. Fitch considers AWU’s stated financial targets to be positive, particularly the improved reserve levels, and any deviation in achieving its financial forecast over the next few years will result in downward rating action.”

Here is a link to the full Fitch rating statement:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130613005835/en/Fitch-Rates-Austins-TX-611MM-Water-Wastewater#.U0KQrSe9KK0

The question now is whether transferring the money from the City’s General Fund to the Water Utility is doable.  It is perfectly legal to go the other way.  When the utility makes a profit, they routinely transfer part of it to the General Fund, just like Austin Energy does.

Stay tuned for updates on this important affordability development…

Tweet Tweet: AustinAffordability.com Goes Live on Twitter

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By Bill Oakey – April 6, 2014

Starting today, you and your friends can watch the fast moving developments on Austin Affordability by following us on Twitter.  In any twitter app, just search for @AAffordability.  Or use your browser and go to twitter.com/AAffordability.

The push for affordability reforms and researching the path to winning those victories promises to be a bumpy, but always exciting ride!  We have a City Council election on the horizon, with 10 new districts and a brand new mayor.  Which ones will we be able to trust on affordability?  You wouldn’t want to miss this adventure, and you wouldn’t want to deny your friends the opportunity to come along.

Just remember this. “Business As Usual” was appropriate for the rock group, Men At Work, as the title for their landmark album in 1982.  It was number one for 15 weeks.  But here in Austin in 2014, we can no longer afford business as usual at City Hall!

American-Statesman Editorial: Austin Affordability Issue Needs An Action Plan

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BY BILL OAKEY – SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Oakey is a retired accountant and writer of the blog AustinAffordability.com.

April 4, 2014

“Affordability” has become a popular catchphrase for several years now. We hear it often in local political campaigns and public gatherings. Now it is the time for an aggressive, proactive approach to addressing the problem and finding solutions. My suggestion is to establish a group of public officials and citizens with topical expertise to work together in a formal problem-solving effort. It’s time for some folks to roll up their sleeves and make real progress.

The issues are complex and daunting, but one thing is clear. We simply cannot afford business as usual at City Hall or the other local governmental entities. Here are just a few examples of fiscal discipline and accountability gone awry:

• Since February, the Austin City Council has given away millions of dollars in fee waivers, including $756,000 to South by Southwest and $6 million to the University of Texas for road realignment near the new medical school.

• Last year the city spent a $14 million budget surplus with no formal citizen review.

• The city routinely raises property taxes close to the 8 percent legal maximum every year. But they obscure the truth by hiding behind the tax rate. Rising property values provide an easy cover for tax increases.

• Citizens wishing to speak at 4:00 p.m. city budget hearings are often kept waiting for up to six hours. A reform for that madness is 30 years overdue.

• Twice in the past year, Travis County commissioners have sidestepped voter approval for controversial road projects.

As noted in a recent American-Statesman editorial, the owner of a $185,133 Austin home faces an estimated increase in taxes and fees from $6,981 to $8,327 by 2019. That is the combined impact from the city of Austin, Travis County, the Austin school district, Austin Community College, and Central Health. People living in neighborhoods with significantly higher home values will be hit much harder.

Better coordination among local jurisdictions would be a helpful step to lessen the taxpayer impact of large-scale capital projects. Priorities should be set, and perhaps bond issues could be scheduled less frequently. Everyone in public office needs to take a “big picture” approach to all spending, and not assume that every wish list item is a must-have. Not when too many citizens face budget cuts of their own and the possibility of having to sell their homes and leave Austin.

The affordability problem extends well beyond taxes and fiscal prudence. Some owners of our treasured local businesses have complained loudly about onerous and expensive permits for remodeling and expansion. Why couldn’t some of the regulations that don’t involve critical public safety or environmental concerns be reduced or eliminated? I long for the good old days when letters sent from City Hall bore the slogan, “Austin, The Friendly City.” How about bringing that back, for existing residents and not just the tourists?

A recent Leadership Austin breakfast discussion on affordability touched on a housing problem that begs for a solution. Why is there hardly any multi-family housing being built for moderate-income people? The vast majority of it is large-scale and luxury priced. City planners and policymakers need to identify and fix whatever disincentives exist for building smaller projects with affordable units. At the same time, we should not demolish every remaining apartment complex for low- and middle-income renters. We risk losing our population diversity.

Failure at the local level to address affordability concerns could trigger an ominous overreaction from the Texas Legislature. The anti-government fervor from some state officials could lead to strict controls on cities and counties, forcing cuts to badly needed services. Where we do need help from the Legislature is in closing the giant loophole that allows commercial property owners to get tax appraisals at below market value.

Affordability encompasses taxes, housing, transportation and other important areas. Our best hope for finding solutions and making progress towards implementing them is to bring some people to the table and get to work.

Why Does The City of Austin Give Away Millions of Dollars in Fee Waivers?

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By Bill Oakey – April 3, 2014

No matter how hard I try, I can’t get this off my mind.

On March 27th, the City Council let $6 million slip through the taxpayers’ fingers with fee waivers for a road realignment project for the new U.T. medical school. Ever since then I have been bothered by one simple question.

Why?

The answer is nowhere to be found on the main page of the March 27th City Council Agenda. The topic is listed as Item 13 under “Consent Items.”  But after wandering through the legal jargon, I found no mention of the $6 million in forgiven fees lost to the taxpayers.  So, come with me and I’ll show you how to look under the stones and find where the dollars are buried:

1. Go to this link to find the list of 2014 City Council Meeting dates.

2. Click here to find the PDF documents related to the March 27th meeting.  The first file is the Agenda.  You can skip over that since we know that Item 13 is the one we need.

3. Please scroll down to the list of agenda item numbers that is laid out like a calendar.  You are all doing great.  We are almost there!  Now click on Lucky Number 13.

4. Click on the file that says, Agenda Backup: Fiscal Note.  Voila!  Here is a summary of the fee waivers, with the bottom line total of $6,038,186.  Just below the total, you will see a somewhat disturbing statement, “The amount of $6,038,186 reflects a conservative estimate of the fees based on the projected work that could be required to complete this project.”

What We Are Left With At the End of the Journey

Thank you for joining me in this intriguing quest for the facts behind $6 million of your money.  One more statement posted at our last stop on the journey is worth noting:

“Waiving fees for this event results in unrealized revenue for the Transportation Fund, Austin Water Utility, and General Fund. Although budgeted revenue for fees is based upon historical data and not necessarily upon specific events, the waiver of these fees reduces potential revenues that could be realized. Revenue for this project was not budgeted in FY 2014, therefore the waiver of these fees will not impact current year revenue projections.”

Oh my goodness.  What a huge relief!  The $6 million in revenue that we are losing was not included in this year’s budget.   I guess nobody would miss it, it’s only money.

Maybe that explains one other cryptic statement that I found.  In the document titled, “Recommendation for Council Action” for March 27th, here is a direct quote:

“There is no unanticipated fiscal impact.  A fiscal note is not required.”

It was nice of them to provide a fiscal note anyway.  And it’s comforting to know that since this year’s budget did not “anticipate” the $6 million in fees, we don’t need to worry about it!

But Just On the Chance That Somebody Does Care About This…

I met with Mayor Leffingwell on Monday, March 31st.  One of my written recommendations was for the City to provide better transparency to the public on meeting notices regarding both large expenditure items and large revenue losses, including fee waivers.   More specifically, I asked him for a policy that would require those meeting notices to address that one simple question about fee waivers…

Why?

In the case of the $6 million, I waded through every document, exhibit, schedule, addendum, note, and attachment without finding any justification.  Which makes me wonder, does the City have a written policy that governs the awarding of fee waivers?  If not, I have asked the City Council for that as well.  The policy should be referenced on the Council meeting notices, next to any fee waivers given, along with the criteria that were met before granting the waiver.  And by default, all required fees should be collected, with the waivers being highly justified exceptions, where the taxpayers at large receive something in return.

How To Open Your Tax Appraisal Notice

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By Bill Oakey – March 26, 2014

Within just a matter of days, something will happen all over Austin that must be approached with utmost caution.  That thump and rustling sound that you hear outside your front door could evoke a cold sweat and the starkest feeling of sheer dread and fear.  “Could it be out there today?” you might wonder.  “Was that really the mailman, or just a bird trying to make another nest?”  “Should I actually go out there and look?”  “Do I have to?”

All of those are perfectly legitimate questions.  But sooner or later, you are going to have to open that door.  You are going to have to stick your hand in the mailbox, and find out if this is the day that you were hoping  would never come.  But I have a few suggestions that might help you get through the process.  There may be a way to do it and remain in one piece.

1. With any luck, the “bad envelope” will be buried inside a bundle of junk mail.  Grab the bundle and squeeze it tightly, so that you can take everything inside without looking at the envelopes.

2. Once your are safely inside the house, it’s OK to look through the envelopes.  But make sure you are sitting down first.

3. If you even think you see an envelope from the Travis Central Appraisal District, don’t open it right away and don’t panic!  Take a few deep breaths and look at the envelope again.  Make absolutely sure that you saw what you think you saw.  Our brains can play tricks on us sometimes.

4. If you are positively certain that what you are holding really is your tax appraisal notice, then you will have to make another decision.  When and how are you going to open it?

5. My advice is definitely not to do it alone!  If your significant other is not home yet, wait until you can share the memorable experience together.

6. If you don’t have a significant other, or if he/she is out with another significant other, just call a good friend.

7. Depending on your situation, you might want to pour a glass of wine or have some medication handy if needed.  I’ve always heard that aspirin is good for a stroke.

8. If the battery is low on your phone, plug it in.  You might need to call 911.

9. When you and at least one other supportive person are sure you are prepared, go ahead and get ready to open the envelope.  Do not attempt it with a sharp object like a knife or a letter opener.

10. Open your tax appraisal notice.

Sorry, I can’t help you any further.  We will all miss you when you leave.  Take those fond memories of Austin with you, and come back and see us sometime!