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BG Reads 12.15.2023

BG Reads 12.15.2023

🗞️ BG Reads | News - December 15, 2023

December 15, 2023

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December 15, 2023

Today's BG Reads include:

✅ Austin City Hall warms up to incentives for big businesses

✅ Austin ISD board names Matias Segura as lone finalist for superintendent

✅ Six Flags, Schlitterbahn owners announce merger agreement

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

This week, Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham joined the board of Austin Ed Fund. Since 1993, the Austin Ed Fund has supported Austin ISD by raising public and private dollars for the district’s most innovative initiatives – often system-wide programs, impacting tens of thousands of students each and every day.

It was also announced that A.J. will serve as 2024 Chair of the 4ATX Foundation, the non-profit arm of Austin FC.

4ATX Foundation’s Verde Leaders program provides free afterschool soccer and social-emotional skills training to students from underserved backgrounds, with sessions often attended by Austin FC players, as well as a year-round intensive leadership development program for high school students called the Q2 Youth Leadership Academy.

[BG Podcast]

Welcome to BG Podcast Episode 226.

On this episode the Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia wrap up the week of December 4 in Austin politics.

TOPIC: ✅ The Austin Council's passage (9-2) of the Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment (HOME) Initiative.

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[AUSTIN COUNCIL NEWS]

The Austin Council met yesterday for its final regular meeting of 2023, see agenda here.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin City Hall warms up to incentives for big businesses (Austin Business Journal)

There appears to be a big change materializing within Austin’s government.

City Hall has shied away in recent years from offering subsidies to big corporations, instead focusing on small local businesses primarily in the arts and entertainment.

But, City Council appears to be warming up to the idea of offering tax-related incentive packages for major business investments.

The shift, recently highlighted by the approval of a $1 million incentives agreement for Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV, indicates that there could be more opportunities for big businesses to tap Austin leaders for deals similar to the ones previously given to Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for capital investment and job creation. But it’s not a purely financial decision anymore — things like day care facilities and workforce training are negotiating points now, whereas capital investments and job pledges were superior before.

“Economic incentive deals with the City of Austin have been few and far between in recent years, but they can be a useful tool,” Mayor Kirk Watson said. “If utilized strategically, they can address more than just job creation.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin looks into plan that would give residents financial help to build backyard apartments (KUT)

Austin is trying to make it easier for more families to be able to build additional homes in their backyards, or what are sometimes referred to as accessory dwelling units or ADUs. The prospect can be costly and daunting.

On Thursday, the Austin City Council took the first step in creating a financial assistance program to help low- and moderate-income residents with a down payment to build these homes.

Some residents have used backyard apartments for their parents or children. But the homes are also used to generate income for families as rentals.

Council Member José Velásquez told KUT thatthe need for more affordable housing is one of the city's most pressing issues.

The hope is this program will help create more diverse and affordable options, therefore preventing displacement... (LINK TO FULL REPORT)

Austin ISD board names Matias Segura as lone finalist for superintendent (Community Impact)

The Austin ISD board of trustees named interim superintendent Matias Segura as the lone finalist for superintendent Dec. 14, after the district has been without a permanent superintendent for over a year.

Trustees discussed the six applications they received behind closed doors on Dec. 7. The position was posted from Nov. 17 until 5 p.m. on Dec. 7.Segura was named interim superintendent December 2022 following a November announcement that former interim Superintendent Anthony Mays would leave the district for a position in Houston.

Public forums will be held in 2024 with Segura to allow the community to provide feedback. The board anticipates voting on a contract for the superintendent in January… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Ken Paxton’s impeachment cost Texas taxpayers more than $4 million (Texas Tribune)

The impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton cost Texas taxpayers at least $4.2 million, most of it spent on lawyers the House hired to prosecute Paxton, according to newly released figures and records.

The House released a new batch of records Wednesday that included invoices from the law firms of the two renowned Houston attorneys who led the case against Paxton, Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin. Those invoices topped $3.5 million and represented by far the biggest expenses the House has disclosed so far in response to public information requests. The House had about $200,000 in other expenses, most of which had been previously disclosed.

On Thursday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the Senate had spent "roughly $435,000" total related to Paxton's impeachment, bringing the known total between the two chambers to over $4 million. The actual total is likely higher given that the House has still not disclosed invoices from other lawyers that helped with the case against Paxton… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Six Flags, Schlitterbahn owners announce merger agreement (Community Impact)

Cedar Fair, the company that owns Schlitterbahn parks in New Braunfels and Galveston, has entered a merger agreement with Six Flags.The two companies would form an enterprise value of approximately $8 billion with 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties combined. The properties stretch across 17 states and in Mexico and Canada, according to a news release.“Our merger with Six Flags will bring together two of North America’s iconic amusement park companies to establish a highly diversified footprint and a more robust operating model to enhance park offerings and performance,” Cedar Fair President and CEO Richard Zimmerman said in the news release… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

The average long-term US mortgage rate dips below 7% to its lowest level since early August (Associated Press)

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 6.95% from 7.03% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.31%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, edged up this week, lifting the average rate to 6.38% from 6.29% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.54%, Freddie Mac said.

The latest drop in rates is the seventh in as many weeks. Mortgage rates have been easing since late October, when they reached 7.79%, the highest level since late 2000… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

How a bunch of retirees in Arizona became the unlikeliest owners in pro sports (Wall Street Journal)

The cranberry bogs, funeral homes and the Napa vineyard were just the start. But strange as they may sound as investments for Arizona’s police and firefighter pension system, they weren’t the most exotic acquisition made in recent years by the fund and its investment chief, Mark Steed.

That distinction belongs to a down-on-its-luck English soccer team called Ipswich Town. Based a couple of hours from London, the club played in the deeply unglamorous third tier of the game. Its prospects for success on or off the field were dim. Yet two years after he tied Arizona pensioners to the fortunes of a team nicknamed the Tractor Boys, it might be the best investment Steed has ever made.

The reason: Ipswich Town is now on track for promotion to the Premier League, the richest, most prestigious soccer league in the world.

“We’re not in it to make three times or four times our money,” Steed said. “We just needed to be better than the S&P 500.”

That index is up only 14% since his fund bought Ipswich. But the club, which the fund bought for less than $30 million in 2021, has likely at least doubled in value, according to people familiar with the deal.

Ipswich, however, is a rare case of seemingly stable growth in soccer. Nearly halfway through the season, it sits in second place, one point behind Leicester City in the second tier. Should Ipswich hold on to that spot, it would be automatically promoted to the Premier League next May and would find itself hobnobbing with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City. Not only that, it would also be guaranteed to earn more than $150 million in prize money and its slice of the league’s lavish broadcast deal…

(LINK TO FULL STORY)

How the US keeps funding Ukraine’s military — even as it says it’s out of money (Associated Press)

The White House has been increasingly pressuring Congress to pass stalled legislation to support Ukraine’s war against Russia, saying that funding has run out.

On Tuesday, however, President Joe Biden touted a new military aid package worth $200 million for Ukraine.

Money is dwindling. But the announcement of more weapons being sent to Kyiv just underscores the complexity of the funding. So has the money run out? Or are there still a few billion dollars floating around?… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[2024 Austin City Council Race Watch]

Next fall will see elections for the following Council positions, District 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, and Mayor. Candidates can’t file for a place on the ballot until July 22, 2024.

Declared candidates so far are:

District 2