FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TCTU Press Conference to Oppose $278M downtown Civil Courthouse Bond

AUSTIN— On Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 11:30am, the Travis County Taxpayers Union (TCTU) will hold a press conference outside of Austin City Hall. The TCTU, along with other organizations, will be speaking against the proposed $287M in bonds for the construction of a new downtown Travis County Civil Courthouse.

According to TCTU’s Bill Worsham, “Travis County needs a new Civil Courthouse. However, we need to say ‘No Downtown, Yes East Austin’. The current bond proposal will make Travis County and Austin even more unaffordable. We must not cater to the lawyers at the expense of families and taxpayers!”

While a new Civil Courthouse is needed, this specific downtown location has multiple flaws:

Downtown Austin is already extremely congested. This will make getting to and from the Civil Courthouse for most Travis County users a struggle.

In more than 15 years of planning, no option other than downtown was considered. The outcome of a very recent token effort in response to this criticism was predetermined. Economic development commitments to East Austin continue to be ignored.

There is NO PLAN included in project costs for handling parking and traffic demand. Only 500 underground (=expensive) spaces are proposed to be shared among up to 350 employees plus an unspecified number of credentialed (frequent user) attorneys, as well as the over 1,000 daily individual visitors to the facility. Any retail or other uses of the site will only add to the parking deficiencies and harm neighbors.

This bond represents only ONE FOURTH of the County’s projected $1.2 BILLION of spending over 25 years to build facilities downtown. [Source: 2012 Central Campus Master Plan]

It takes prime real estate off the tax rolls, representing hundreds of millions of dollars of foregone property tax receipts over the life of the project. For comparison, the recently announced “Independent” residential tower could generate over $465M in property taxes over the next 40 years, including $87M for the City of Austin.

Moving the proposed Civil Courthouse to East Austin would allow for ample, convenient parking much like the Travis County complex off of Airport Blvd. It would reduce the cost of land and construction now and in the future as additional County facilities are needed. Perhaps most important, it would help spur economic activity and mobility options in the “Eastern Crescent” of the city. East Austin has been ignored for many years; it is time that changed!

The Travis County Taxpayers Union recommends: (1) Vote NO on the civil courthouse bond proposal; (2) tell County and City of Austin officials to cooperate on alternatives; and (3) support a better alternative with a reasoned justification that works for families and taxpayers.

Contact:TRAVIS COUNTY TAXPAYERS UNIONBill Worsham (512)422-0998, billworsham@yahoo.com

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