Petition seeking Austin charter amendment to require regular external audits certified by city clerk

AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A political action group seeking an Austin city charter amendment that would require regular outside audits of the city's budget will go before voters in November.

Save Austin Now says the Austin city clerk's office has certified its petition effort, with 20,051 of the 21,131 signatures that were submitted being deemed as valid.

If voters approve the measure, it would require an outside audit of the entire city budget at least every five years. The proposal would also require an audit to be completed no less than one year before any tax rate election.

“The more than 20,000 Austin residents who signed our petition only want transparency, accountability and efficient spending for the high taxes that we pay,” said Save Austin Now co-chair Matt Mackowiak. “We appreciate the work of the City Clerk’s office in certifying our petitions in 20 days. The campaign phase begins now. If Austinites want to see their tax dollars spent wisely and efficiently, then we must pass this outside audit charter amendment.”

The measure also explicitly requires that the independent auditor selected to commit to identifying annual or multi-year cost savings that exceed the cost of the initiative. It would cover the entire City budget, including enterprise departments like Austin Energy, Austin Water, and the Aviation department that runs Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

In February, city council members approved an ordinance to set up a recurring audit of city departments and operations. Supporters of the Save Austin Now charter amendment say the ordinance is a step in the right direction, but as an ordinance it can overturned at the whim of city council members.