Austin, Texas
From Sunshine Review
Austin is the capital city of Texas. It is located in Travis County.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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[edit] Evaluating the Website
[edit] The good
- The website for Austin, Tx has the names and contact information of all city council members listed.[1]
- Administrative officials have information available. [2]
- The current budget is published. [3]
- City council meeting minutes, Agendas, and schedules[4] are published.[5]
- The website has a procedure for requesting public records.[6]
- Names, contact information and responsibilities of the ethics review board members are published.
- Campaign Finance Reports are published.[7]
- Audit information is available. [8]
- Contract information is available. [9]
- Lobbyist information is published. [10]
- Zoning information[11] and building permits available.[12]
- Tax information is available. [13]
[edit] The bad
- A list of current bids is not published.
- The names of administrative officials for the department contact information is not provided.
[edit] Lobbying
- Main article: Texas taxpayer-funded lobbying
- Main article: Texas Municipal League members list
Arcadia has reported $680,000 spent lobbying since 2000 (see table).
| Year | Amount spent on lobbying |
|---|---|
| 2009 | $60,000 |
| 2008 | $80,000 |
| 2007 | $40,000 |
| 2006 | $40,000 |
| 2005 | $80,000 |
| 2004 | Less than $10,000 |
| 2003 | $20,000 |
| 2002 | Less than $10,000 |
| 2001 | Less than $10,000 |
| 2000 | $80,000 |
Austin pays membership dues to the Texas Municipal League, a taxpayer-funded lobbying association.
