The Austin City Council passed a slate of items Thursday designed to tamp down the negative economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The action comes as recent stay-at-home restrictions have shuttered most businesses in the city in an effort to contain the spread of the outbreak. An untold amount of Austinites have lost their jobs or been furloughed as a result.
The council passed the following measures:
• A resolution to give City Hall staff more latitude to develop programs to assist those hurt by the cancellation of South by Southwest and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The creation of the Austin Economic Injury Bridge Loan Program that would use federally backed loans to provide small businesses and nonprofits working capital until Small Business Administration aid is made available.
• Reappropriating about $4.5 billion of Housing and Urban Development money for emergency disaster loans.
• A 60-day moratorium on evictions.
• A resolution calling for relief to utility bills for people who are working from home.
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The items passed unanimously as the council conducted its first meeting following teleconferencing rules that were put in place because of the pandemic.
The anti-eviction ordinance came from Council Member Greg Casar. It gives renters a 60-day grace period to respond to evictions.
"No one should lose their home during the pandemic," Casar said. "It's wrong and it's also terrible for public health."
Many speakers who teleconferenced into the council meeting said the item did not go far enough and called for a full freeze on rent payments during social restrictions and limits on landlords’ ability to report missed payments to credit agencies.
But Adam Gates, a landlord for multiple Southeast Austin properties for 15 years, said renter relief should come in the form of a government subsidy, not a hard stop on evictions.
"It is a taking of my equity," Gates said. "You can’t do that. I feel for all of these people on the line that have lost jobs, but you can’t ask the private sector to absorb what should be a federal, state or local subsidy."
The resolution for utility bill relief comes as Austin Energy announced it would not shut down anyone’s service over unpaid bills while the COVID-19 restrictions remain in place. Many Austinites have seen their electricity usage jump as they transitioned to working from home.
The council also passed a resolution directing city staff to create programs to support small and local businesses, along with workers in creative, hospitality, service, music, and film industries, among others. Council Member Jimmy Flannigan authored the resolution as a rapid response to the cancellation of SXSW, but as the economic impact of the the coronavirus swelled, it was changed to include a wider range of businesses and people.
"I encourage the public to keep engaging and watch all of the work that is underway and don't think that we are forgetting you or that we are forgetting the crisis at hand," Flannigan said.