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.

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.