City Council members plan to set new guidelines for their offices' spending policies in early 2026.

The big picture

Officials moved in the fall to enact a new set of financial accountability and transparency measures for council member spending. A resolution from Mayor Kirk Watson, sponsored by all 10 council members, stated the policies should "demonstrate a public benefit" of all officeholder spending based on government standards.

"It was stated that if we want to assure trust, it is critically important for us to be the model for best practices and a place that sets the highest standards," Watson said in early December.

A draft expense framework for Austin's elected officials and their staffs was released by Watson Dec. 19. Some updates under consideration include a detailed outline of allowable expenses, ranging from office supplies and software to travel and hospitality at public meetings.


Spending on things like gifts, donations, alcohol, personal subscriptions or political campaign materials wouldn't be permitted, in line with some current rules. First- or business-class tickets and other luxury travel accommodations also wouldn't be allowed "without justification."

The draft policy would set regular public releases of monthly council office spending reports including city purchasing card, or ProCard, expenses. It'd also prevent remaining funds in annual council office budgets from rolling over into future years.

The draft policy calls for the city's chief financial officer to serve as a council liaison overseeing the spending practices. Any alleged violations would be referred to Austin Financial Services and the city auditor for investigation and potential enforcement.

Put in perspective


Council's committee on audit and finance met Dec. 3 and briefly reviewed expectations for the new transparency measures. At the time, Watson noted elected officials are already subject to several state and local expense requirements, but that the current process was launched to consolidate and clarify the city's rules. He also pointed to the diversity of standards now in place locally, in other peer cities and for Texas lawmakers, and said Austin's rules are more "dispersed" compared to a place like Dallas with a comprehensive policy in place.
Mayor Kirk Watson said Austin's expense policies for public officials are more dispersed than some other peer cities. (Courtesy city of Austin)
Mayor Kirk Watson said Austin's expense policies for public officials are more dispersed than some other peer cities. (Courtesy city of Austin)
Given some attention to council travel practices, Watson said he hoped to further clarify the required "public purpose" of council member visits to other cities and countries on official business. And council member Chito Vela said that, while there's a desire to see policy reforms, officials also shouldn't restrict spending that supports public engagement at events like council town halls, such as food or translation services.

"I think those are completely appropriate expenditures. I just want to make sure that in any zeal to clip expenses that we’re not just eliminating what I think are very helpful expenses that enable the public to engage and to be there," he said. "I just want to make sure we don’t sacrifice the quality of events, because that makes a difference and that definitely brings people out.”

What's next

Council's financial committee will meet mid-January to discuss the expanded expense policies. A final vote to adopt the new rules could come Jan. 22.