austinreform

Latest #WatsonWire: What's in Your Wallet? Early in the budget process, I asked the City Manager to show us what a budget would look like if we held property taxes at the “No New Revenue” rate—meaning no Maintenance & Operations (M&O) tax increase and keeping the tax revenue to the city at what it was last year. I wanted to have more discipline in budgeting and to daylight the inherent tension in meeting the community’s needs and also keeping Austin’s affordability top of mind. As part of good stewardship, I want Council and the public to see all the options—what services should go on the chopping block, how that affects quality of life, and how it all affects affordability. A No New Revenue rate scenario results in a large and compounding budget shortfall that starts at $26.4 million this year and grows to $122 million by 2030. The Manager’s current proposal doesn’t use the No New Revenue rate. He closes the initial $26.4 million funding shortfall through spending reductions, reallocations, and higher fees and M&O property taxes. He proposes using the “Voter Approval” tax rate. A city can raise property taxes to generate up to 3.5% more revenue than the previous year without an election. The Manager’s proposal would cost the average homeowner $346 more per year than the current tax bill or $29 per month. I want us, as part of our discussions, to look specifically at what would need to be changed or cut if we didn’t go up to the Voter Approval rate. Read more: bit.ly/BudgetWire1

Today, we’re announcing that we’ve raised $115 million in funding, including a $100M Series A led by @kleinerperkins. America has lost the ability to build, and we’re here to restore it. My co-founder, @NoahMcGuinn, and I left our jobs at @SpaceX , where we worked on programs including Starship, Starshield, and @Starlink, to build a company that will solve construction’s greatest challenges. Infrastructure is the foundation of civilization, and construction is the precursor to innovation. If America wants to build a brighter future for the next generation, we have to make it faster, cheaper, and safer to build. That’s where @TerraFirma_Inc comes in. We’re a new type of company, a robotic construction company that builds the full technology stack needed to deliver an order-of-magnitude improvement in one of the world’s oldest, largest, most important, but least efficient industries. We are building technology that expands what’s possible in construction on Earth, and then we'll use that same technology to build megastructures and colonies on the Moon and Mars. We’ve made tremendous progress over the past year, growing the company more than 10x in the last 12 months. We are performing projects across the world. By the end of October 2026, we are on track to operate 3 of the top 3 largest robotic construction fleets in the world, each on a different continent, bringing unprecedented speed, scale, and efficiency to some of the world’s most complex critical infrastructure projects. This funding will allow us to step on the gas and scale our manufacturing, software, operations, and construction deployments, including work on massive commercial and government contracts. We’re building the future of construction right here in Austin, Texas, and scaling it globally. If you want to be part of the team changing the world, now and on Mars, join us. Our Series A was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, BANNER VC, Saga Ventures, Trust Ventures, Definition, PEAK6, Magnetar Capital, and Ravelin Capital. Huge thanks to all of our angel investors, friends, and family who have helped and supported us throughout this journey. Apply here: jobs.ashbyhq.com/TerraFirma-Inc…

263 missed deadlines. 5 accused murderers freed by an inept DA's office. While Austin voters were kept in the dark, José Garza let violent felons walk. And it’s not an accident—it’s the result of an intentional system funded by dark-money special interest groups -- and the whims of a locally-grown organization. Read on: open.substack.com/pub/austinrefo…