Tag Archives: Austin City Council

Dumpsters In The Night – Austin’s Insurmountable Challenge

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By Bill Oakey – October2, 2025

At a recent neighborhood association meeting, I learned a whole lot more than I bargained for. While reading my notes later, the phrase “dumpsters in the night” kept haunting me. Somebody asked the featured speaker, a City Council member, what could be done to get rid of the awful noise from trash haulers emptying commercial dumpsters, and waking them up in the wee hours of the morning.

This Council member’s short answer was that we have a noise ordinance, but we don’t have the resources to enforce it. Apparently, the-middle-of-the-night banging, clanging and otherwise haranguing noise has been disrupting sleep in neighborhoods all over town, for a good many years. I immediately wondered why the City Council doesn’t just pass an ordinance restricting the hours that commercial trash haulers can operate near residential neighborhoods.

Since we don’t live in Houston, we can’t easily ask a rocket scientist to help solve this insurmountable, years-long problem. On this blog, my first instinct is to research how a problem is approached in that great big world outside of Austin. Here’s what I found from an AI search:

1. Many cities have passed local ordinances restricting the hours during which commercial dumpsters can be serviced in or near residential areas. Typical rules prohibit pickups before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. and impose fines for violations, making enforcement possible when residents report early-morning disturbances. For example, Chicago enforces such time windows for noise control, with fines between $300 and $1,000 for violations. Urbana, Illinois has considered similar operational ordinances as they found noise limits alone difficult to enforce.

2. A growing number of cities rely on waste management schedules and advanced route planning software. By mapping out efficient daytime-only collection routes for commercial properties close to residences, cities minimize conflict between necessary services and quality-of-life concerns.

3. Cities and waste haulers in progressive regions deploy newer, quieter garbage trucks with technology that reduces mechanical banging, limits engine noise, and avoids beeping backup alarms where possible. Converting fleets to side-load trucks can reduce noise, though upfront investment is required. Advocates suggest cities incentivize or require such upgrades for haulers operating in dense urban or mixed-use neighborhoods.

I will run this by a couple of City Council members. In the meantime, grab a pillow when it’s time for bed. Think back to that old Frank Sinatra song, but with slightly modified lyrics:

Dumpsters in the night, those circumstances
Wondering in the night
What were the chances we could get some sleep
Before the night was through

The anger in your eyes, a fire igniting
Something in your scowl was truly frightening
Something in my heart
Told me I still love you

Ever since those nights, we’ve fought together
Knowing we were right, surrender never
We’ll go on to fight
Those dumpsters in the night

Dooby dooby doo…

Musical Accompaniment For This Blog Piece

1. “Strangers In the Night” – Frank Sinatra

(Note that the “Dooby dooby doo” at the end of the song was the inspiration for the title and the character’s name in the CBS cartoon series, “Scooby-Doo).”

Stop The “Forever Tax” – Vote No On Prop Q!

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By Bill Oakey – September 29, 2025

$100 Million Dollars – Three Times The Amount Of The Budget Shortfall, Every Year, Forever!

The City Tax Rate Election on November 4th is something to tell your friends, neighbors and colleagues about. The City claims to have a $33 million budget shortfall. But, if the voters approve Prop Q, the folks at City Hall will end up with a huge slush fund. This thing would generate over $100 million. The property tax rate accumulates each year, and becomes the new baseline for the following year. So, the $100 million tax windfall would repeat itself until the end of eternity!. It’s a Forever Tax. And, the City can pass annual regular tax increases on top of the Forever Tax. We simply can’t let this happen!


Why Is The City Asking For All That Money?

Please, please, please don’t be fooled by the ballot language on Prop Q. It is worded to make you fear that our parks will crumble into decay, and even fewer police officers will patrol our streets, without the Forever Tax. The language is very broad, generic and vague. You will not see any specific departmental programs or services that will be expanded if Prop Q passes. And City officials have not told us exactly which specific programs or services will be impacted if Prop Q fails.

A Huge Bombshell That No One Is Talking About!

We deserve to see a detailed accounting, showing the items within each department that would be funded, expanded or reduced, depending on the outcome of the election. Well, last Friday night, instead of watching “Superman” on HBO Max, I explored the FY 2026 Approved City Budget. On Page 917, I discovered a set of General Fund Financial Policies for Tax Rate Elections. Here is Policy #3:

“The City shall clearly identify the level of programming or services funded with the additional revenue generated above the voter approved rate, and provide an accounting of the expected level of services should the election fail.”

There is a City Council Resolution that formalized this policy. It began as a recommendation that passed unanimously by the Audit and Finance Committee. Then, on May 22 the City Council unanimously passed it as Resolution No. 20250522-058.

Where Is The Transparency That Was Promised Back In May?

That question will be put to the City Council while you are reading this. In the meantime, here’s a little history lesson about the City Budget. Several years ago, I got a surprise phone call from 1980’s era City Council Member, Max Nofziger. He shared what he had recently learned about the budget. From its earliest days until the year 2000, it went up on a gently inclining slope. From 2000 onward, it has shot up into the sky.

The City Should Manage Its Budget The Way Austin Families Do

If Prop Q fails, the City will still have the maximum tax increase allowed by State law. In this tough economy, many Austin families are struggling. People have to do without what they want, or postpone things until they can afford them. With Prop Q, homeowners and small businesses would suffer. Landlords would pass their costs on to renters. This is the wrong time for a walloping tax increase.

Ax The Tax! Vote No On Prop Q!

For additional info, check out AustinTaxRateElection

Musical Accompaniment For This Blog Piece

1. “One Minute Past Eternity” – Jerry Lee Lewis

2. “Forever” – The Little Dippers (Actually the Anita Kerr Singers)

3. “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” – Connie Francis

4. “Eternally” – Petula Clark

5. “Please Love Me Forever” – Bobby Vinton

6. “Taxman” – The Beatles

Mackenzie Kelly Rocks – Support Her Reelection!

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By Bill Oakey – August 19, 2024

Why am I not surprised at the City Council’s record $5.9 billion budget? Last week’s vote delivered a whole parade of cost increases, for every type of tax and utility fee that you can imagine. And what did they tell us…”Oh, it’s ONLY going to cost you $361.92 more per year.”

Only one City Council member stood tall for the taxpayers – Mackenzie Kelly.

Mackenzie Kelly - For the Taxpayers!

Mackenzie Kelly – For the Taxpayers!

This year’s City Budget is a huge wake-up call for voters. We have a City Council that is completely out of touch. By contrast, Mackenzie Kelly is working hard on a platform to help longtime residents with real, tangible affordability. Check out her platform:

Senior Discounts

Here are the initiatives I am actively pursuing:

  1. Senior Discounts for Utility Bills: During our budget, I am committed to advocating for fixed charges on utility bills, including waste disposal and water rates, to be adjusted to offer discounts for seniors.

  2. Senior Discounts on All City Facilities: I will begin working on an ordinance to require senior discounts across all city facilities. This includes private events hosted on city property.

  3. Encouraging Business Community Adoption: I will encourage the business community to adopt senior discounts to support our elderly residents.

Homestead Exemptions for Property Taxes

During her time on the City Council, Mackenzie has proactively supported increases to the general homestead exemption and the over-65 and disabled homestead exemption.

Strong Support for Preserving Neighborhoods

Mackenzie was a leading voice in opposing the ill-conceived HOME initiative to allow developers to build multiple living units on single-family lots throughout the City. The Council majority thumbed their noses at three prominent studies, showing that high density in tech hubs like Austin actually makes housing more expensive. Despite the overwhelming public resistance to HOME, the Council approved a sweeping, one-size-fits-all approach. They ignored obvious pitfalls related to parking, flooding, drainage, wildfires, infrastructure issues and incursions of short term rentals. Mackenzie stands ready to work for meaningful amendments to correct the overreach, as the process moves forward.

Working With All Sides to Get Things Done

During her time on the Council, Mackenzie has successfully sponsored and co-sponsored ordinances and resolutions to solve problems. She has done a great job of putting partisanship aside, for the sake of affordability, and a host of other issues.

A Closing Poem

The Austin City Council can seem like a zoo
What are struggling taxpayers supposed to do?
If you get a queasy feeling way down in your belly
The solution is to support Mackenzie Kelly

Trimming the City Budget is tedious, not fun
But we can count on Mackenzie to get the job done
Check out her campaign, you’ll quickly see
She will listen to people like you and me

Please don’t think of her in a partisan way
She works hard for all of us, we need her to stay!
Even if you don’t live in District 6
Support her anyway, there are problems she can fix

Before You Go…

Visit Mackenzie’s website and make a donation.

We Need Marc Duchen on the City Council – Spread the Word!

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By Bill Oakey, June 29, 2024

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Marc for this blog. He is tailor-made to bring affordability to City Hall. We’ve heard local politicians roll that word off their tongues for years. But they have clearly not delivered. Now it’s time for the real deal. Here are the first refreshing words from Marc in the interview:

1. “We have a problem with just the way our dollars are spent, creating public value for people.”

That is quite a wallop for an opening statement! He quite simply “gets it.”

2. “Looking at the City Budget over the last several years, I ask myself if we are getting the right value for the accelerated increases in spending? The benefits to the people are not obvious. Do we get more value from the $1.6 billion convention center, or from supporting the arts, local musicians and the other things that Austinites enjoy? I think we need to scrutinize and evaluate some of the major items, like Project Connect.”

I did not have to nudge Marc on the “value” of Project Connect. Much of the fairy tale promises of sipping cocktails by an underground station, while listening to a band and waiting for a magical chariot on rails have already collapsed before our eyes. The courts are now determining whether our open ended, perpetual tax increase for Project Connect is even legal.

3. “The hometown spirit of Austin is at risk of being lost. We may be way past keeping Austin weird. But at least we need to have public events that are accessible to people of all ages and all income levels. The Parks and Recreation Department, especially, has a lot of events that cater to the wealthy, as opposed to longtime Austinites. I do support a broad range of senior discounts. We seem to have fewer of those than we used to.”

Marc is reviewing one of my earlier blog posting that called for senior discounts. All of his responses during our interview were carefully and thoroughly worded. I could tell that he had a firm grasp on the substance of the issues.

So, Where Does Marc Duchen Really Stand On Affordability?

Firmly in your corner!

Please spread the word to your neighbors and friends. Stay tuned for more details from this blog interview. I will share his thoughts on accountability and citizen engagement at City Hall. Plus – Marc’s take on the City Budget.

Support Marc Duchen for City Council, Place 10

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By Bill Oakey, June 12, 2024

In all my years of endorsing Candidates for the Austin City Council, I have never met a better affordability candidate than Marc Duchen. Our City is at a critical crossroads, facing financial headwinds that are unprecedented. We need a strong voice for affordability now more than ever. Marc Duchen checks all the boxes. He has also committed to focusing on much better accountability and citizen engagement at City Hall.

I will be publishing a detailed interview with Marc in the next few days. In the meantime, please let your friends and neighbors in District 10 know that we all need to spread the word about Marc, and get to know him. My best advice is to attend his meet and greet events, check out his website, and start making donations with this link.

Here is a photo of Marc. Stay tuned for more details on why I offer this endorsement.

Marc Duchen, District 10 Affordability Candidate

The City Council Has Been Snookered – But It’s Not Too Late To Fix It!

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By Bill Oakey – November 30, 2022

I am not surprised by what happed yesterday with the City Council and Austin Energy. After all, a good sales pitch can be hard to resist. The odds are pretty good that snake oil, if it were cleverly packaged in souvenir bottles with an antique logo, might sell pretty well. Heck, you could probably sell them in a gift shop on Congress Avenue.

But, when it comes to something serious, like our electric bills, we should all pay careful attention to what’s inside the package that we are being sold. Otherwise, we could easily be sold down the river.

So, How Can We Un-Snooker the City Council?

The answer is pretty simple. Just let the numbers do the talking. I like to talk, but I would be willing to sit still without uttering a single word, if we could just get the right set of numbers. So, let me try this, and let’s see how it goes…

Dear Friends On the Austin City Council,

Most of you know me pretty well. I don’t have a reputation for making up things that are not true. I try to ensure that my research produces accurate information. If I make an honest mistake, I will accept responsibility for it, and correct it promptly. You probably know that I have successfully challenged Austin electric rates in the past. I was appointed to the Electric Utility Commission, after getting the City Council to cut a 20% rate increase in half, in April 1984. In between music events and art shows, I have been following electric rate cases for 39 years. So, I know more than just a little bit about them.

Here is my simple challenge for you in the current rate case. Stop listening to me, and all of the other competing voices. Ask for a few sets of numbers, and then let those numbers do the talking. Please do that, and I promise that this whole confusing matter will be put to rest.

These Are the Numbers That You Need to Ask For

For each proposed rate increase scenario, ask Austin Energy to provide residential customer bill examples for the following consumption amounts and timeframes:

1. 860 kWh (the average customer amount) in a typical winter month

2. 1000 kWh in a typical winter month

3. 1500 kWh in a typical winter month

4. 2000 kWh in a typical winter month

5. The same four examples in a typical July

6. The same four examples, using  July, 2022 data

 7. Try to get some estimated bill impacts for typical small business ratepayers. Those folks are still trying to recover from pandemic-related financial losses. They need your compassion, and the best possible diligence that you can provide.

Of course, every individual customer has different conditions in their home that will affect their energy usage. But any examples are better than no examples at all. You folks on the City Council could offer your own electric bills, or the bills of people on your  staffs. The point of this exercise is to demystify the actual impact of whatever rate increase that you consider. Will a triple-dose of rate shock give most of us a $30 monthly bill increase, or will it be significantly higher for a 3 bedroom home, especially in another summer heatwave?

Please ask for those sets of numbers, and take a good, hard look at them. Don’t pass a highly controversial rate increase, without knowing up front how it will impact the community. Thank you for your time and consideration.

On a Lighter Note, Here’s the Lowdown On Snookering

Here’s the official definition by Merriam-Webster. Click to enlarge the images.

The transitive verb describes what has befallen our City Council.

And a lesson can be learned from the noun definition.

Don’t be snookered on your Christmas gift purchase of professional snooker balls. You can get them for less than the full retail price of $452.03.

Austin Energy’s Triple Rate Shock – Look At The Forest And Not The Trees!

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By Bill Oakey – November 29, 2022

My view of this rate case is simple and straightforward – It’s a matter of many people involved not seeing the forest for the trees! I look at it like this:

1. Austin Energy asked for a base rate increase back in April.

2. They asked to increase the monthly customer charge by 2 1/2 times, to $25.00. No other major utility in the State has done that! Shouldn’t that raise a huge red flag? Why are people saying that we should “compromise” with a $12.00 customer charge? $10.00 is standard throughout the State.

3. Austin Energy wants to upend our conservation-based rate design, that dates back to 1981. Why would we want to do that? Reducing the incentive to conserve would jeopardize the City’s adopted Climate Equity Plan. A “compromise,” to reduce the rate tiers from 5 to 4 might only reduce our conservation incentives by 20% or so. But why cut back on conservation at all?

4. Austin Energy said they need a base rate increase because of declining energy sales. But their own charts, presented to the City Council at the very beginning, don’t back up that claim. The only years where costs exceeded revenues were 2020 and 2021. Well, duh, we had a 100-year pandemic and a highly unusual winter storm. Of course less energy was sold, but only in those two years.

5. Now, here’s the clincher. In 2022, this year, Austin Energy sold more electricity from mid-May through mid-September, than in any other summer season in their entire history. And, they are still insisting that they need a rate increase? What’s up with that?? Well, apparently, they spent that huge summer surplus, without a required budget amendment being approved by the City Council. The public deserves to know the base revenue amount of that surplus, and how those un-budgeted funds were spent.

6. Austin Energy sprang a last-minute surprise on the City Council in late October. We got a double dose of rate shock for fuel and regulatory charges on Halloween at midnight.

7. One final important note – The so-called $15 increase in the “average” customer’s bill for the fuel and regulatory charges is mythical. It is only that low if you use 860 kWh per month. Try going that low in a 3-bedroom house in the sweltering July heat. So, obviously, if the City Council approves a third round of rate shock, be careful with the “average user” cost estimate. It might be as lowball as another $15.00. Well, for starters, even $30.00 more per month is tough to swallow during an affordability crisis. So, just imagine the actual, much higher costs for a 3-bedroom homeowner, in every neighborhood across the City!

This Is Not Rocket Science…

It just requires you to stand back and look at that big forest in front of you. Don’t get bogged down in all of those confusing trees. No other Central Texas electric utility is asking for radical, controversial changes to their rate structure. And they are not asking for a base rate increase. They are getting along just fine, with the historic summer heatwave providing a nice revenue cushion.

What Austin Energy does badly need is a big reality check. Austin’  hard-working residents and small business owners deserve much better transparency and accountability. Because, after all, we are the folks who own Austin Energy!

Musical Accompaniment for This Blog Piece:

1. “A Walk In the Black Forest” – Horst Jankowski
2. “A Walk In the Black Forest” – Rare vocal version by the Modernaires
3. “Tall Tall Trees” – Alan Jackson, Excellent George Jones cover version
4. “Tall Oak Tree” – Dorsey Burnette, Stereo version
5. “I Fell In Love Again Last Night” – The Forester Sisters

Austin Energy Spent Summer Surplus Without City Council Approval

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By Bill Oakey – November 28, 2022

For the past several months, consumer advocates have tried to break through Austin Energy’s transparency barrier, for details on the huge revenue surplus that the utility earned from the historic summer heatwave. The critical question is how much un-budgeted base revenue did they reel in, from mid-May through mid-September? The public still has never been told. And yet, Austin Energy wants the City Council to approve a conservation-busting, highly controversial base rate increase, as soon as this week. We simply can’t let that happen! Our hard-working families and small business owners deserve a better solution.

Where Was the Required Budget Amendment?

Austin City policy requires departments to seek City Council approval, by way of a budget amendment, if they want to significantly raise or lower their annual budget. Austin Energy has routinely complied, as recently as late September. But there is no visible record of any budget amendment request to spend the surplus summer base revenue. We are talking about tens of millions of dollars, from the biggest and longest triple-digit heatwave in Austin history. It is conceivably possible that the utility did request a budget amendment. But, if so, it was done at a low-profile meeting, and it left no online tracks.

A Google search for “Austin Energy”  “budget amendment” shows only these two recent results:

1. Sept. 29, 2022 – Budget amendment to increase monthly electric charges related to fuel and ERCOT expenses. This was the double-dose of rate shock that hit at midnight on Halloween.

2. April 9, 2020 – Budget amendment to authorize $15 million in COVID relief.

Back on July 22nd, I suggested on the 6:00 PM KXAN-TV News, that the summer surplus should wipe out the need for a rate increase. It is time for City officials to finally explain why San Antonio’s public utility gave nearly $50 million back to their ratepayers from their summer surplus, while Austin Energy kept the money and asked for a rate increase. No other Central Texas utility has asked for a rate increase. And the vast majority of large Texas utilities maintain a standard $10 monthly customer charge. Austin citizens, who literally own Austin Energy, deserve much better transparency, and the more prudent financial management, in the face of record inflation and our affordability crisis.

Hey City Council, Please Answer One Big Question

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By Bill Oakey – November 22, 2022

We’re into the final stretch of the Austin Energy rate case. All of the official legal parties have made their recommendations. The Electric Utility Commission could not agree on everything, so they made a partial recommendation. But guess what…Everybody so far has overlooked the one big question that still begs to be answered…

What Happened to the Huge, Un-Budgeted Surplus From the Summer Heatwave???

If you just sit back and think about it for a moment, the request for a rate increase just doesn’t add up. In fact, it makes no sense at all. And yet, whole groups of people have completely overlooked the obvious – Why do we need an electric rate increase, when Austin Energy made more money from mid-May through mid-September, than in any other summer season in all of Austin’s history? And that goes back to 1839, when the City of Austin was founded.

I have raised that issue before on this blog. How it has managed to escape more attention is strange and mystifying. One could ask a few more obvious questions:

1. Why is Austin Energy the only electric utility in Central Texas asking for a rate increase?

2. The revenue windfall from the historic heatwave was not predicted, and was not part of Austin Energy’s budget. Their budget was approved by the City Council in August 2021. So, why was the utility allowed to spend a historic surplus, without asking the City Council for amendments to their budget?

3. Since the rate increase under discussion is an increase in the base rates, shouldn’t the public be told how much un-budgeted base revenue came in from the summer heatwave? It is quite reasonable to assume that it runs into the tens of millions of dollars. And, it could easily have a material impact on the $35.7 million revenue request for the rate increase.

4. If Austin Energy has already spent that money, without City Council budgetary approval, then what did they spend it on?

5. Does the City Council have a formal process for City department to make budget amendment requests? If so, how often is that process overlooked and not enforced?

A Disturbing History Lesson About Austin Energy and the Ratepayers’ Money

I have followed Austin electric rate cases for 39 years, since 1983. I served on the City Electric Utility Commission from 1985 through 1990. During that time, I researched and unraveled some fascinating financial scenarios. But none compares with the twisted tale that you are about to  read. I am not smart enough to make this up. The whole thing is true, and I still have the newspaper archives that tell part of the crazy adventure.

Let’s travel back in time to the late 1980’s, when the Electric Utility Commission met at the Electric Building Auditorium on West Avenue. Before it was rebranded as Austin Energy, it was simply called the Electric Utility Department. At the Commission meetings back in those days, we had more than a few dramatic rate battles.

Shudde Fath was a founding member of the Commission, and she was my mentor. It was Shudde who pioneered Austin’s conservation-based rate design. It was first implemented in 1981, and it served as a highly respected national model. This year, unfortunately, it is being threatened by Austin Energy’s radical new rate design recommendation. Ironically, the formal rate case hearings this year were held in the honorary Shudde Fath Conference Room.

So, back to the history lesson…One night at a Commission meeting, we were presented with a report that focused on a legal dispute over a coal contract for one of our power plants. The report explained that this contract allowed Austin to purchase coal on the spot market, if the market price dipped below the contract price. So, our utility exercised that option, and started purchasing the cheaper coal.

The coal contractor sued the City, claiming that we did not have the right to purchase the cheaper, spot market coal. So, the Electric Dept. presented our Commission with a report, detailing how the electric rates were impacted by the price of coal and the legal dispute. Our utility decided to continue collecting the full contract price for the coal. We were told that the difference between the contract price and the cheaper spot market price was being deposited into an escrow account. Thus, if the coal contractor won the legal case, we could pay off their claim from escrow funds. But, if Austin won the lawsuit, we would be able to keep the extra money.

Shudde Fath and I kept copies of the financial reports that were included in our meeting packets. I carefully observed the growing amounts of the clearly labeled, “Escrow Ending Balance.” By the time the lawsuit was finally settled, the escrow balance had climbed to $43 million. During this same time period, President Ronald Reagan, John Poindexter and Oliver North were accused of violating an act of Congress, by diverting large sums of money to the Nicaraguan Contras. I happened to notice that the total amount involved was less than the $43 million in our Electric Utility coal contract escrow account.

Finally, at one of our evening Commission meetings, it was announced that Austin had won the legal case with the coal contractor. Therefore, we would be able to keep the $43 million that was in the escrow account. So, I made a motion that this money should be credited back to the ratepayers on their electric bills.

Suddenly, I noticed what looked like a huddle in the middle of a football field. The top executives of the Electric Utility Dept. scrambled to prevent us from taking a vote on my motion. One of the financial officials took a seat in front of our Commissioners. He asked us to please postpone the motion until our next monthly meeting. He said they needed more time to consider the administrative impact of distributing the $43 million.

We agreed to the delay. Very soon after that, the issue landed in the lap of the City Council. City Finance Director, Virginia Rutledge stood before the Council. She performed the most artful and creative dog and pony show that I have ever beheld. I used to have it all preserved on a VHS tape, but it eventually gave way to more important music concert. The gist of her presentation was that distributing the $43 million back to the ratepayers would cause “too much of a cash flow problem,” and she recommended against doing it at that time.

Then, the entire issue blew up in the news media. Everyone began asking, “What really happened to that $43 million. Why couldn’t the Electric Department simply withdraw it from the escrow account, and credit it back to the ratepayers?” If I had known then what I found out later, that would have been one heck of a news story!

Instead, Mayor Frank Cooksey came forward with an ideal solution. He recommended that the City hire not one, but two outside auditing firms, to review the financial records of the Electric Utility Dept. This, we were told, would get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding that big chunk of money.

So, Shudde Fath and I decided to make an appointment with one of the auditing firms, Coopers and Lybrand. We took our latest copy of the financial report, that showed the escrow ending  balance of $43 million. We wanted to ensure that the auditors looked into what happened to that money, and whether it was available to be credited back to the ratepayers. They told us that they would need to check with the City first. It would be up to whichever manager had been assigned to oversee their audit.

Well, about three weeks went by, and Shudde and I never heard back from the auditors. So, I called them to check on our request. They said they were not allowed to include our request, because the manager overseeing the audit determined that it was outside the scope of the audit. Then, I asked who that manager was. It turned out to be the City Finance Director, Virginia Rutledge. That gave me a queasy feeling. Could it be that the fox was guarding the henhouse?

The next thing we heard was that both auditing firms had completed their work. The results would be aired on the 6:00 PM local TV news. Lo and behold, both auditing firms gave the Electric Utility Dept. a clean bill of health. They each concluded that “The $43 million was properly posted to the deferred fuel revenue column in the financial statements. That is in full compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.” Very well, indeed. It was a spectacularly perfect whitewash. The auditors were never asked to investigate what happened to the money, or how much of it had been spent.

The news medial dropped the story at that point. Nothing we said could convince them that the real issue had not been resolved. So, we all went about our lives and moved on. The issue was the farthest thing from my mind about three years later, when I walked out of a West Austin restaurant after lunch. The current Mayor, Lee Cooke, walked up to me with a friendly smile. “Hi there, Mr. Oakey, how are you doing?” “Just fine, Mayor,” I responded. “Hey, I have a question for you. Did you ever find out what happened to that $43 million?”

The Mayor didn’t even hesitate. I was totally unprepared for what he said that day. “Well, Mr. Oakey, I think you can be pretty sure that the money found its way over to cover the deficit at Brackenridge Hospital.”

Those of us who took on volunteer positions at various times over the years, all have our favorite stories to tell. This one never made it into the news. It was all water under the bridge, as the old saying goes. But at least I can say that I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks. Sometimes, I unleash my emotions on this blog. But my motto when dealing with public officials is, “Walk softly and carry a big memory stick.” Try to let the facts speak for themselves. That doesn’t always work. Sometimes, what seems like the most blatantly obvious questions never get asked, and never get answered.

Like…Hey guys…What happened to that unprecedented windfall revenue surplus from the record summer heatwave? It was never budgeted and never approved for spending by the City Council. So, how much was it anyway, and where did it get spent?

Perhaps someday, a future Mayor will whisper the answers to somebody. Then, at least one other fortunate soul will know the full and complete truth.

Musical Accompaniment for This Blog Piece

  1. “The Fox” – Elton John
  2. “Foxy Lady” – Jimi Hendrix
  3. “Fox On the Run” – Tom T. Hall
  4. “Such An Easy Question” – Elvis Presley

A Simple Austin Energy Rate Case Timeline And Proposal

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By Bill Oakey – November 16, 2022, Revised November 21, 2022

Forget all of the confusing excuses and convoluted explanations surrounding this long, frustrating ordeal. Share this timeline that makes it simple, and ties all the loose ends together.

August 2021 – The City Council approved Austin Energy’s annual budget, which began October 1st.

April 2022 – Austin Energy made a presentation to the City Council, requesting a $47 million base rate increase. The reason given was declining electricity sales. But, Austin Energy’s charts show revenues exceeding costs from 2014 through 2019. No evidence of declining energy sales is provided, except for 2020 and 2021. A 100-year pandemic and a highly unusual winter storm caused the lower sales in those years. Not mentioned in the presentation is an August 2020 memo from Austin Energy to the City Council. At that time, they forecast a $19 million revenue surplus for 2021. So, it is crystal clear that the lower energy sales caused by the pandemic and the winter storm were abnormal. There is no evidence of an ongoing trend. The rate case was flawed from the very beginning.

May Through September 2022 – Rate case participants offered a broad range of revenue and cost-saving opportunities to reduce or eliminate the rate increase. Austin Energy agreed to correct two accounting errors, reducing the rate request to $35.7 million. (See pp. 1,2)

Late Spring Through Early Fall 2022 – Austin ratepayers filled up Austin Energy’s coffers, by paying for the biggest, baddest and longest triple-digit heatwave, since the city was founded in 1839. This huge increase in revenue was not predicted, and not budgeted. Austin Energy spent tens of millions, without budgetary approval from the City Council. They never publicly disclosed the base revenue surplus amount. San Antonio’s municipal utility announced a $75 million budget surplus, and gave $50 million of it back to the ratepayers.

October 2022 – The City Council was blindsided by Austin Energy’s eleventh-hour announcement of a 71% increase in the monthly Power Supply Adjustment and 24% increase in the Regulatory Charge. The City Council voted to spread the rate shock over 3 years. Austin Energy estimates that these increases will cost the “average customer” only  $15 per month this year. But folks living in 3 bedroom houses will pay much more, especially during the hot summer months.

Early November 2022 – Rate case participants presented a compromise rate proposal to the City Council, even though their rate filings offered enough options to completely wipe out the rate increase.

Here is my proposal:

This Proposal Is Simple, Fair and Financially Prudent

1. The public deserves to be told the amount of the un-budgeted base revenue surplus from the summer heatwave, and how it  was spent.

2. The City Council may decide that a small base rate increase is needed to cover the pandemic and storm-related losses from 2020 and 2021. If so, it should be done as a temporary adjustment to the base rate charges in the current rate tariff. The City Council can determine how long to keep the temporary rate increase in effect.

3. No changes to the rate design, customer charge or Value of Solar benefits should be included in the temporary rate adjustment.

4. The City Council should regularly monitor Austin Energy’s financial position. They should conduct a financial review, towards the end of the adjustment period. If the utility’s financial position has stabilized, the City Council should suspend the temporary base rate increase.

5. Austin Energy, with City Council oversight, should develop new short term, midterm and long term plans. These plans should guide the utility toward the inevitable future of rapidly accelerating customer adoption of solar and other energy-saving technologies. They should examine and implement some of the emerging business strategies outlined in the 2019 report, commissioned by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Early December 2022 – The City Council faces critical choices. They should protect our existing     conservation-based rate design, and honor their commitment to the City’s adopted Climate Equity Plan. A higher customer charge would threaten affordability for customers across several income levels.

The City should postpone the rate decision until the new Mayor and City Council take office in January. They should comb the rate filing briefs, consult with the participants and citizen experts. They should adopt the various measures to wipe out the rate increase. If any rate increase is deemed necessary, a temporary adjustment is the most reasonable approach.

New Year’s Eve 2022 – This is a time for Auld Lang Syne and fun celebrations. It would help to know that our City leaders are committed to that word that is so often casually supported, but so seldom backed up with concrete action – affordability.

Musical Accompaniment

”Auld Lang Syne In Austin”