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A review of this month's indicators shows that although the unemployment rate remains higher than at any time in the last 10 years, the economy in Travis County is beginning a slow recovery. Unemployment decreased slightly again this month, and although job loss has slowed when compared to last year, large layoffs are occurring this month. At the same time, we still see an increased demand for social services when compared to last year. Those hardest hit by the economic downturn have not begun to see an improvement in their personal financial conditions.
Items highlighted with blue text are new for this month.
ECONOMY:
- During January, February and March of 2002, Austin’s sales tax receipts dropped by at least 9% each month when compared to the same months of the previous year. In April, however, receipts were 0.6 percent higher compared to figures a year ago. The City’s forecast had projected that the revenue would fall 7% in April, so this small rise in sales tax receipts shows that the local economy may be stabilizing (Austin American-Statesman).
- According to the latest study by Capitol Market Research, the occupancy rate for Austin is 90.3%. Rents declined 10.4% through June compared to the first half of 2001 (Austin American-Statesman).
- Although the local housing market has cooled from the frenzied pace of recent years, sales are still healthy. In Central Texas, real estate agents sold 1,697 houses in May, up 2 percent from the same month last year, according to the Austin Board of Realtors (Austin American-Statesman).
- According to the 2000 Census and a newly released study by the Mumford Center, no other large U.S. metropolitan area saw a greater rise in median household income than Austin- San Marcos or a sharper drop in the proportion of residents living in poverty. Of the 50 largest metro areas in the country, Austin climbed up the index’s ratings to 15th most prosperous in the nation from 40th in 1990 (Austin American-Statesman).
- Charitable giving is down for 2001. Americans gave $212 billion to charity in 2001, or 2.3 percent less than in 2000, when inflation is taken into account. This decline is somewhat sharper than in typical recession years, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University (American Association of Fundraising Counsel Trust for Philanthropy).
- Despite a projected increase in demand for services this summer, the City of Austin will be closing each branch library for one day each week beginning June 3rd. This is projected to save the city $323,000 over the year, part of efforts to offset a $72 million projected shortfall in next year’s city budget. Property tax rates are also projected to increase to help cover the shortfall (Austin American-Statesman).
- The state is facing more than $300 million in unexpected social service and health-care costs in 2002-2003 because of the weakening economy and growing demand for public services (Austin American-Statesman). More than 31% of the state’s $113.8 billion budget goes to social services, more than any other area except education. However, Texas ranks near the bottom in the nation in per-capita social service spending.
- Builders started construction on 2,231 new homes in Central Texas from January through March, 2002, a 26% drop from the same months last year.
EMPLOYMENT:
- Austin telecommunications startup General Bandwidth, Inc. announced June 19th that it would cut 117 jobs, or roughly 60 percent of its work force. The three-year-old company now has fewer than 100 workers, down from 285 last July (Austin American-Statesman).
- New Census figures released show that the median family income in the Austin area (including Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties) rose 22% to $59,426, the largest increase of any metro area in Texas. The statewide median family income is $45,861.
- According to an Economic Outlook Survey released on May 14th, 47% of Central Texas employers plan to increase their workforces during the third quarter of 2002, and none of the companies responding to the survey forecast reductions (Austin Business Journal).
- Although job creation has exceeded layoffs, Angelou Economic Advisors reported 23,000 layoffs in 2001.
- The Travis County unemployment rate remained steady from 5.5% in April to 5.5% in May. The May Travis County unemployment rate was better than the State’s May unemployment rate of 6.2%.
- Between January 1 and June 19, 2002, 4,484 people were laid off in the greater Austin area (WorkSource).
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COST OF LIVING:
- According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the hourly wage (at 40 hours per week) needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the current Fair Market Rent is $17.06 in Travis County.
- The Travis Central Appraisal District reported that property appraisals in East Austin rose faster than in any other part of town. On average,valuations of single-family homes in Travis County rose 8% to $212,798 during 2001 (Austin American-Statesman).
- In the Austin-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), 28.8% of the jobs (186,360) have a median hourly wage of less than $10. The Center for Public Policy Priorities indicates that a single adult with no children needs to earn at least $10/hour in order to secure basic necessities. However, a single parent with one child needs to earn a minimum of $17/hour ($33,819/yr). For a family of two parents and two children, the Austin-San Marcos MSA is the most expensive metropolitan area in the state in which to live.
DEMAND INDICATORS:
Housing, Homelessness, Basic Needs:
- In the last five years, the monthly distribution of food by the Capital Area Food Bank has increased 220%. Since April 2001, there has been a 17% increase in the number of families seeking emergency food relief from the Capital Area Food Bank (2002 Central Texas Hunger Report).
- Since receiving additional funding from the City of Austin and Travis County, Caritas’ Community Support Program has provided rent/utility assistance to nearly 200 individuals and families from April to June of 2002. Of these 200 individuals, 58% had lost their jobs in the past 6 months.
- According to the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project Blacks and Hispanics continue to be 30 percent to 50 percent less likely to be approved for a home loan.
- As of March 2002, the number of Texas families on TANF, is 129,433. This is a decrease of 2.5% from January 2002 to March 2002 (Center for Law and Social Policy).
- The official child poverty rate for the United States is at 16 percent. Child poverty for blacks and Hispanics is 30 percent and 28 percent, respectively (Coalition for Human Needs). The most recent child poverty rate for Travis County is 13.9%, according to the 2000 Census.
- 2000 Census data shows that the Austin area has the highest median rent ($721) of any metropolitan area in the state. 41% of Travis County renters spend more than 30% of their gross income on rent. In comparison, 20.6% of homeowners spend more than 30% of their gross income on monthly owner costs. According to HUD, housing costing more than 30% of gross income is unaffordable.
- Census data also shows that 1,590 households lack complete plumbing facilities, 2,317 lack complete kitchen facilities, and 6,426 do not have telephone service.
- On May 13th, President Bush signed the 2002 Farm Bill, which includes significant improvements in the Food Stamp Program. The Bill simplifies enrollment in the Food Stamp Program, increases benefits for larger families, restores benefits to many legal immigrants, reforms the Quality Control system by which state performance is evaluated, and authorizes an increase in funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (Center for Public Policy Priorities).
Physical and Mental Health:
- According to the Travis County sheriff’s office, about 20 percent of the inmates at any given time in the Travis County jail suffers from some form of mental illness. Austin’s certified mental health police officers book about 100 patients a month into mental health care facilities, which fill up quickly, leaving jail as the only option (Austin American-Statesman).
- Austin/Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center handles more than 3,000 continuing clients a month and only has 25 employees to make house calls to about 400 clients- usually those with the most severe problems (Austin American-Statesman).
- According to the Technical Advisory Committee Report, Central Texas lacks enough primary-care doctors to serve its growing population, and not enough is spent on indigent health care. The report also found that almost one-quarter of Central Texas residents don’t have health insurance, contributing to a 26.4% increase in emergency room usage in Travis County in the past four years (Report prepared by Morningside Research & Consulting for the Technical Advisory Committee, June 2002).
- The Texas Association of Business released findings indicating that 75% of the 4.5 million uninsured Texans have full-time jobs. When children of those workers are counted, 80% of uninsured Texans are in working families. The association also reported that Texas businesses offering health care benefits spent $39 billion in 2000 and face a 25% increase this year, compared to 15% nationally (San Antonio Express-News).
- The Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation reports that only 39,000 (or 26%) of the 150,000 emotionally disturbed children qualifying for state assistance are served (Dallas Morning News).
- There are an estimated 29,000 mentally ill inmates in the state prison system and another estimated 15,000 in Texas jails, according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. NAMI also reports that 400,000 Texas adults and 150,000 Texas children need some type of mental health treatment (San Antonio Express-News).
- Survey results released on May 14th show that Americans are much more likely to report problems securing access to healthcare due to cost, in comparison to four other industrialized nations, including the UK, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia (Reuters).
- In the first three months of 2002, Travis County emergency rooms were closed 1,447 hours to at least some ambulance patients – an increase of more than 100% from 2001 and the worst year on record. At the area’s only level 2 Trauma Center, the Brackenridge ER, about 20% of patients come from outside Travis County. Brackenridge Emergency serves an average of 350 patients a day. Since 1995, the number of patients being served by the ER has gone up about 80% (KXAN-TV).
- A nationwide shortage of nurses that has existed since the late 1990s is expected to worsen over the next 20 years (Austin American-Statesman). While Texas is growing more than twice as fast as the rest of the nation. We rank 46th in the nation in registered nurses per 100,000 residents, making the shortage especially problematic.
- 152,709 people in Travis County do not have health insurance, approximately 23.6% of the total population. Nationally, 14% of the population does not have health insurance. 21.4% of the Texas population does not have health insurance, tying with New Mexico as the states with the highest percentage of uninsured people in the nation (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2001). According to the Austin/ Travis County Health and Human Services, Indigent Care Collaboration CHIP Outreach Coalition, Travis County has 20,081 children under age 19 who are uninsured.
Transportation:
- According to a new national traffic study, Austin rush-hour drivers spent 61 hours in traffic in 2000. 31 percent of all daily trips are made in congested traffic and Austin’s “rush hour” is 7.2 hours each day, up from 5 hours in 1994 (Austin American-Statesman).
- According to new Census figures, 3.7% of Travis County residents use public transportation, fewer than in Harris County where 4.1% use public transportation, but higher than the Texas average of 1.9%. 13.6% of Travis County residents carpool, remaining relatively unchanged since the 1990 census. The average commute time in Travis County was 23.6 minutes, the third longest time in the State, only surpassed by Houston and Dallas.
- In Travis County there are 21,840 (6.8%) households where no vehicles are available (U.S. Census Bureau).
Education:
- The dropout rate for AISD has declined by 37 percent in school year 2000-01, compared to the year before. Rates decreased in each subgroup- including African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged. Reagan and Johnston high schools saw significant improvement; Reagan’s rate dropped from 7.1 percent to 3.1 percent, while Johnston’s rate dropped fell from 5 percent to 1.4 percent (Austin American-Statesman).
- Truancy rates have dropped by 52 percent at Mendez Middle School and by 47 percent at Travis High School since the implementation of a pilot truancy court by AISD, City of Austin, and Travis County (Austin American-Statesman).
- According to the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project, in 2001, only 6.4 percent of black students and 8.2 percent of Hispanic students attended exemplary schools as defined by the State of Texas. In contrast, 31.2 percent of Anglo students attend such schools (Austin American-Statesman).
- “ The Condition of Education 2002”, an annual report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, reports that while high school students have enrolled in more advanced courses since the 1980s, the performance of twelfth-graders in math and science has stagnated in recent years. U.S. ninth-graders have relatively good civic knowledge while reading literacy scores of 15-year-olds are average among industrialized countries (U.S. Department of Education ED Review).
- 2000 Census data shows that 37% of Austin area residents age 25 and older hold bachelor’s degrees, tying with Bryan-College Station for the greatest proportion in the state. The Austin area also has the greatest proportion (85%) of high school graduates among those age 25 and older, compared with 76% statewide.
- Although the teacher shortage appears to be worsening statewide, the Austin and Round Rock school districts say that except for special and bilingual education teachers, they have plenty of applicants this year (Austin American-Statesman).
- Lamar Middle School earned the National Blue Ribbon Award, an honor shared by only 25 schools in Texas and 172 campuses nationwide.
- Nationwide, about 31% of special education students 14 or older drop out each year. In Texas, about 6% drop out, 5% drop out in the Round Rock Independent School District, and 14% drop out annually in the Austin Independent School District (Education Department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services).
- Blackshear Elementary School showed favorable state test results, with 80% of its students passing this spring’s Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. Passing rates increased from 15 to 46 percentage points in reading, writing, and math (Austin American-Statesman).
Childcare:
- The 2000 Census shows that there are 6,230 households in Travis County where a grandparent is responsible for caring for their grandchildren.
Public Safety:
- According to the 2001 Austin Police Department’s Preliminary FBI Uniform Crime Report released in May of 2002, the Index Crime rate for 2001 increased 5% compared to 2000. Violent crimes are up 5% from last year and property crimes are up 13% from 2000. Auto theft (+24%), burglaries (+16%), robberies (+17%), and property thefts (+11%) all increased in Austin from 2000.
- The number of crimes around the Travis County Central Booking Facility has dropped 16 percent since the facility opened in April 2001. From October to April, 2002, 30,080 people were booked (Austin American-Statesman).
- The Austin Children’s Shelter is experiencing a significant increase in demand for services. Currently, they turn away 2 out of 3 requests for admission. To date in 2002, they have sent 121 children to out of county shelters and foster homes, solely due to lack of space at Austin Children’s Shelter. This capacity issue is occurring along with decreased donations from individual donors (Austin Children’s Shelter staff).
- There is an estimated $35,738, 057 spent each year in Travis County on abused children, including funding from Federal, State, and local government as well as Private sources, and Grants (Travis County Domestic Relations Office).
- Since October 1999, the Downtown Austin Community Court has processed 8,877 offenders and 12,786 cases. The average monthly caseload is 550 and a total of 53,260 hours of community service has been contributed (City of Austin Community Court).
- According to a January 23rd Austin American-Statesman article, the total number of indexed crimes were 23% higher in December of 2001 than they were in December of 2000. Auto theft (+50%), burglaries (+35%), robberies (+24%), and property thefts (+19%) all increased in Austin over the past year. At the same time, the number of arrests fell 6%. There were five murders in Austin in December of 2001 compared to three in December of 2000.
Populations:
- The U.S. 2000 Census reflected a 59 percent increase in the number of people in the Austin-San Marcos region who speak only Spanish. During the 2000-01 school year, Austin ISD served 14,250 bilingual education and English as a second language students. The Austin Police Department operates a hotline that is staffed by Spanish-speaking officers and Spanish training is offered to recruits and veterans (Austin American-Statesman).
- According to Census Bureau estimates released on April 29th, Travis County's population increased by 2.6% (from 812,280 to 833,797) from April 2000 to July 2001. Williamson County was the fifth fastest-growing county in the nation, jumping 11.2% in the same time frame.
RESOURCES
RESPONSES TO COMMUNITY CONDITIONS:
- As part of SETON’s Centennial year, 786 employees in 51 teams took part in “March Mission Madness,” implementing projects to benefit clients and agencies with specific needs. 58% of participants worked on basic needs projects, 14% on public safety, and the remainder on various education, health, environmental, and homeless projects.
RESOURCE ISSUES IN THE COMMUNITY:
- The United Way/Capital Area raised $20 million this year, an all-time record. This year, however, it sent $1.3 million to the National September 11th disaster relief effort, and received $771,000 less in donor designations – which are earmarked for specific local charities. Some of the agencies receiving less designations include El Buen Samaritano (-71.3%), Habitat for Humanity (-26.8%), Any Baby Can (-26.3%), and AIDS Services of Austin (-24.9%). Some local agencies receiving an increase in donor desinations include People’s Community Clinic, up 57.1%, Children’s Advocacy Center up 66%, and Family Eldercare up 16.9% (Austin American-Statesman).
- Airport Fast Park donated $90,000 to the United Way/Capital Area, who sponsored a home recently built by Habitat for Humanity (Austin American-Statesman).
- The Austin Travis County MHMR Hotline, reports that in the first quarter of calendar year 2002, the Language Line interpreter service has been used 286 times to translate Spanish, Vietnamese and Croatian. Since ATCMHMR first contracted with Language Line in August of 1999, the Center has used the service 1801 times and the interpreters for 12 languages.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
- Choose a local social services agency to support financially.
- Give to the United Way Capital Area's Community Fund or the Austin Community Foundation's Urgent Issues Fund.
- Contact the United Way Capital Area's Volunteer Center at 512-323-1898 or search for volunteer opportunities on United Way Capital Area's website at www.uway-austin.org.
- Also see the 2001 CAN Urgent Issues Action Plan at caction.org for additional information about community-wide approaches to addressing these issues in our community.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Community Overview 2001 was researched and written by the Research & Planning Division of Travis County Health and Human Services & Veterans Services, with assistance from numerous individuals in the community. We attempted to include all those who had a part in this undertaking, but if we have inadvertently omitted anyone, we apologize and ask that you inform us so that we may recognize you appropriately as the process continues.
TRAVIS COUNTY HHS & VS RESEARCH AND PLANNING DIVISION:
Blanca Leahy, Director
Joy Stollings, Charlotte Brooks, Judy Cortez, Sheila Hughes, Lawrence Lyman, Susan Mathis, &
Ellen Richards
CONTRIBUTORS:
Fred Butler & Sam Woollard - Community Action Network
Annette Gula & Frank Almarez & Sherri Trebus - WorkSource
Mildred Vuris – ATCMHMR
Susan Andersen – Seton
COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK PARTNERS:
| Austin Area Human Services Association |
Health Partnership 2010 |
| Austin Independent School District |
United Way Capital Area |
| City of Austin |
Austin Area Research Organization, Inc. |
| The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce |
WorkSource - Greater Austin Area Workforce Board |
| Austin Area Interreligious Ministries |
Capital Metro |
| Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center |
Travis County |
| Community Justice Council |
Higher Education Coalition |
Top Of Page
July, 2002
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