Energy Rate Hike Hearing Thurs. – y’all come!
This just in from our Austin Energy Ratepayer Watchdog, Bill Oakey who is urging you to come to the public hearing this Thursday at City Hall at 6 pm: (you might call or email Council too, see below)
“Austin Energy’s latest “revised” proposal does nothing to reduce the utility’s spending, reduce fixed charges for residential customers, stop the shifting of costs from industrial to residential customers, and keep a rate design that rewards energy conservation and low usage. The $22 in fixed customer charges is still in place for this year. The 200 kWh of electricity that is included does next to nothing to soften the impact of the high charges.
And in a new and shocking twist, the new plan includes the ‘Leffingwell Subsidy,’ which provides a 6.1% discount for out-of-city ratepayers. This would exacerbate the existing problem of Austin citizens paying for growth, instead of growth paying for itself. And on top of that, Austin Energy just last year signed a 10 year agreement to pay a 3% franchise fee to several suburban communities served by the utility. No other municipal utility in Texas offers an out-of-city ratepayer subsidy. The Austin Energy service area is twice the geographic size of Austin. Providing an electric rate discount would stifle future annexation strategies and set up a war with developers over inside versus outside Austin building plans. It would lead to a serious erosion of our tax base. One more nail in the coffin of unaffordability for Austinites!
Come out to the public hearing and tell Mayor Leffingwell that we reject his plan, and ask the rest of the City Council to turn it down flat. There is some support on the City Council for a delay in the rate case to allow for better analysis of the facts and time to prepare a fair and equitable plan. That’s what Austin Energy customers deserve.”
Here’s how you can contact the Council:
Mayor Lee Leffingwell (512) 974-2250, Lee.Leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole (512) 974-2266, Sheryl.Cole@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Mike Martinez (512) 974-2264, Mike.Martinez@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Laura Morrison (512) 974-2258, Laura.Morrison@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Kathie Tovo (512) 974-2255, Kathie.Tovo@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Bill Spelman (512) 974-2256, Bill.Spelman@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Chris Riley (512) 974-2260, Chris.Riley@ci.austin.tx.us
Stop the Rate Hikes!
Are you ready to pay $25 per month to Austin Energy, before you even flip on a light switch? Had enough!?
Show up at City Hall at 6 pm tomorrow, Thursday, January 12th and sign up against this and speak out! OR, email or, better yet, call the City Council and tell them to stop these unfair increases. (See email and phones of Council at the bottom of this email.)
Read Bill Oakey’s article here that explains these outrageous increases.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & IMPORTANT DATES!
Join us at the Martin Luther King Day Celebration
Next Monday, Jan. 16th, anytime 10 to 4 pm. We’ll be gathering petition signatures at the Austinites for Geographic Representation booth at Huston-Tillotson University and at the march, which begins at UT at 9 a.m. and then goes to the state Capitol. Send us a note if you can help anytime that day.
Thursday, Jan. 19th, Charter Revision Committee meeting in north Austin at 6:30 pm at Lord’s Church of Austin, 301 W. Anderson Lane. The focus will be on an independent redistricting commission to draw the lines for geographic districts!
SAVE THIS DATE!
Austinites for Geographic Representation meets on Saturday, January 28th, 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Interested in attending, reply to this message or call Linda.
Thank you Austin — get up, stand up!
PO Box 42053, Austin, TX 78704* 512-535-0989, 657-2089
Mayor Lee Leffingwell (512) 974-2250, Lee.Leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole (512) 974-2266, Sheryl.Cole@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Mike Martinez (512) 974-2264, Mike.Martinez@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Laura Morrison (512) 974-2258, Laura.Morrison@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Kathie Tovo (512) 974-2255, Kathie.Tovo@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Bill Spelman (512) 974-2256, Bill.Spelman@ci.austin.tx.us
Council Member Chris Riley (512) 974-2260, Chris.Riley@ci.austin.tx.us
Holidays are the time to keep giving to Austin (and partying!)
TheAustinBullDog.org: This Sat., Dec. 3, 5-9 pm, the hungry, feisty online publication by ace investigative reporter, Ken Martin, needs cash to stuff its stocking. The best part (besides the Cajun cuisine to be served) is that your contribution is doubled! Details here.
Keep Mopac Local
You may have heard that Hays County is asking Travis County to spend close to $20 million on a new road to connect South Mopac to FM 1626. Long term plans are to connect MoPac to IH-35. This will make MoPac gridlock even worse!
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2011-11-04/point-austin-buckle-up/
What’s in it for Travis County? The proposed road dramatically increases daily traffic on Mopac, delivers pollution to Travis County neighborhoods, and takes scarce county funds away from higher-priority transportation and community needs.
So who benefits from the new road? Hays County developers and long-distance haulers–at the expense of each and every Travis County taxpayer and Mopac driver.
We need to say NO to Hays County’s giveaway road proposal and spend our limited transportation dollars on projects that improve traffic, not make it worse. Take a minute to go here and send a message to the Travis County Commissioners Court and Austin City Council to Keep Mopac Local:
http://www.keepmopaclocal.org/take-action
PS Our friend, Bill Oakey, just submitted this information on the rate hikes that Austin Energy has in store for Austin ratepayers.
Better get organized, y’all — and we need smaller geographically representative districts — to rein in the perpetual hogs at the public trought, aka the growth lobby!
Affordable Energy for Austin
Austin Energy’s rate increase proposal begins with an outrageous $25 in fixed monthly charges for residential ratepayers. That’s $25 before you even flip the first light switch! Customers who use the smallest amount of electricity, 300 kWh, would see a whopping 60% rate increase. This policy goes against Austin’s proud legacy of encouraging conservation and keeping energy affordable for those least able to pay. We believe that Austin Energy’s proposal is upside down and backwards:
The following groups and individuals are working together to oppose the AE rate proposal:
Public Citizen Texas
Texas ROSE
Austin Tenants Council
Texas Legal Services Center
Sierra Club
Gray Panthers of Texas
Bill Oakey, Consumer Advocate
Paul Robbins, Energy Activist
The City Council will begin holding public hearings on electric rates after the first of the year. Please ask your friends and neighbors to help, by subscribing to our blog, “Affordable Energy for Austin,” and visiting our “Affordable Energy for Austin” Facebook page. Or contact Bill Oakey at boakey39@gmail.com.
The high fixed charges are just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s what we are asking the City Council to fix:
| Austin Energy’s Proposal | Affordable and Fair Proposal |
| $25 in fixed monthly charges | Eliminate the new $15 “delivery charge.”Reduce the proposed $10 customer charge. |
| A new rate design that imposes the biggest financial burden on those who can least afford it and those who use the least electricity, which discourages energy conservation. | Keep a rate design that follows Austin’s legacy that encourages energy conservation and conforms to the City’s own “Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan.” |
| Change existing “cost of service” model to the “AED” model, which severely over-charges residences and small businesses. | Use the “BIP” model, which is fair and accurate and eliminates corporate welfare to large industrial customers. |
| An overstated revenue requirement totaling a $100 million a year or more. | Reduce revenue requirement by at least 50% |
Austinites for Geo Rep Petition Kickoff Success!
We had a great kickoff rally and party at Mexitas. The Austinites for Geographic Representation (AGR) Petition Drive is on!
Special thanks to Daniel Llanes, who performed at this event and made two very nice banners, and Steve Speir, who helped with lots of organizing to get folks out. Thanks to Frances McIntyre (not pictured) and Mary Krenek who worked the entire event on very short notice.
We are parking petition materials here, but in a few days, you can go directly to AustinGeoRep.org for these materials and more:
Click here for our Kickoff Press Release.
Click here for the AGR Flier & Supporters.
Click here for Talking Points for Petitioners.
Click here for Petition Instructions — read them carefully!
Click here for the AGR Petition! Make sure you have the petition language attached to the petition grid pages — print as many grid pages as you wish and attach them.
Occupying Austin Permanently! Austinites for Geographic Representation
We’ve been working quietly to help forge a new broad-based electoral coalition of neighborhood, political and civic organizations from across the spectrum from the NAACP and LULAC, to leading Republicans. (see flier below)
Our goal? To file 20,000 signatures in January for a public vote for geographic representation on the Austin City Council.
High Noon! Don’t miss the showdown at City Hall!
Don’t Miss the Kickoff Party & Rally! (flier below)
Saturday, October 22, 3 to 5 pm
Mexitas Restaurant, 12th and E. IH-35
(Food is provided with a Cash Bar)
Sign Petition/Letter to Austin City Council-No Tax/Fee Hikes!
Yes, it is totally true — the City wants to raise your energy, water and property taxes by an average of $265 per year. Sign this petition/letter to the 4 members of the Council up next for reelection — Mayor Leffingwell, and Councilmembers Cole, Martinez and Spelman. They must end unnecessary projects and the practice of the “growth lobby” (aka the big boy developers and the real estate lobby) offloading the costs of growth onto current residents. As we say at ChangeAustin.org, ‘welcome to Austin, but pay your own way’ and growth must pay for itself. Sign here and pass it on, folks, or forever hold your peace on Austin’s affordability.
You can ALSO print out the Petition-No Tax Rate Hikes 2012 City Budget here, take it around and mail it back to us by September 10th, before the City Council votes on September 12.
City Wants to Raise Your Taxes $265/year
Did you know that Austin City Council is being strongly advised by the City Manager to raise your energy, water and property taxes by $265 this year? That’s in addition to all the likely hikes from the county, the healthcare district and AISD.
Sign this letter/petition now! An immediate message is sent to Mayor Leffingwell and the three other members of the Council up for reelection next — Cole, Martinez & Spelman. Then send it to your friends across the city! (P.S. Mark your calendars to attend the first budget hearing on August 25th. More info soon.) You can also print the petition out (see below) and take it around in your neighborhood.
Petition-No Tax Rate Hikes 2012 City Budget (print out, take it to your neighbors and get it back to us soon!)
This Monday night – Double Feature! Manchaca Library @ 6:30-8 pm
| Bill Oakey: What Citizens Must Do About the City Budget
Bill is one of the most effective citizen activists in Texas who got the Texas legislature to enact two bills into law. One was the over-65 freeze on school property taxes. The other was a “truth in taxation” law, which reformed the guidelines for public hearing notices on property taxes published by all statewide taxing entities. Currently, Bill is working on plans to address out-of-control property tax and utility rate increases in the Austin area. Travis County gets 70% of its money from City of Austin taxpayers. But where does the money get spent? Who benefits and where do they live? Brian will present a sneak peak of the new 27 page tax equity study to be unveiled in two weeks. |
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