Posted on 09/14/2018 8:09:16 AM PDT by Jonx6
City budget boosts spending for homelessness services The new city manager and City Council agree: The city needs more money to address the homelessness situation.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget submitted by City Manager Spencer Cronk includes $3.1 million in new spending on homelessness-related services. That’s on top of the roughly $25 million of spending on such services that will continue from last year.
Part of that proposed increase comes from the Watershed Protection Department, which has proposed hiring a contractor for an estimated $1 million over four years to clean up litter in creeks or drainage facilities that homeless people are leaving behind, including trash, propane tanks, needles and human waste.
About $500,000 will fund an administrator to oversee city homelessness programs, two staff to manage contracts with social service providers, and two employees who will conduct outreach at the library.
Austin Public Health will get $600,000 for a number of general services, including a new $100,000 initiative to encourage “alternatives to panhandling.”
Although panhandling is not illegal in Austin, city ordinance bars “aggressive” panhandling, which is defined by a number of characteristics, including following people.
Advocates for the homeless have raised concerns about people who are getting ticketed over and over again for panhandling and accumulating fines or criminal records that may make it harder for them to get housing or jobs. The Austin Police Department has argued that officers are only targeting those who are disturbing the peace and that giving people a court date is a way to get them in contact with social services. Businesses have also said that aggressive panhandling is making customers and employees feel unsafe and that reducing enforcement will only make the situation worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at austinmonitor.com ...
How will they pay for these increases?
If you subsidize it, they will come. Not really the way to fight ‘poverty’, IMHO.
NOT enough sense to look at say California, and see the results of catering to the homeless. Some need help, and respect it, but too many profit from such help, and milk it all the while abusing those offering the help.
“including a new $100,000 initiative to encourage “alternatives to panhandling.””
Using taxpayer money to try to teach bums not to beg, is ridiculous.
Ah, Austin. San Francisco of the South.
Go back to California, and take the beggars with you.
As any Californian with a pair of eyes can tell you, subsidize homelessness and you get more homelessness.
Spend more on homeless -—> Get more homeless
With that, they just bought themselves more bums and druggies.
EXACTLY !!!!
No difference than feral cats & more kittens
Uber lib Austin have been paying for such for decades with your tax dollars.
Austin is a disgusting hive of filthy hippies and gays. A trek downtown shows them cavorting around bars and trendy restaurants, with their multi-colored hair and nose rings. A bunch of them hang around Whole Foods handing out pro-abortion flyers. I thought Berkeley was bad, Austin is disgusting.
We used to pull into the Whole Foods parking lot just to watch the sickly looking hippy dippy tree hugging freaks. Now days, you can’t pay me to go to commie Austin.
The People’s Antichristian Socialist Kakistocracy of Austin will rob your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to pay for it.
I have heard similar reports from others about Austin.
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