Arclight Action · Austin

Arclight AustinHolding local government and its contractors accountable.

An arc light casts a warm beam across Austin’s skyline and the Texas Capitol.

We file public records requests on how City and County dollars flow to contractors and publish the records we receive, so taxpayers can see it for themselves. By coordinating with other Austin residents, we can avoid duplicate requests, share information, and help keep local government and its contractors accountable to the taxpayer.

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Arclight Austin · Follow the money

City of Austin pays $5.51 million for sickle cell-related services; reviewer flags contract funding at ‘3-4X’ the rate of comparable services

Austin's public checkbook records $5,512,013.29 paid to the Sickle Cell Texas Marc Thomas Foundation across fiscal years 2009–2026. That is money paid, across multiple City agreements, from October 2008 onward. The City has contracted with the organization since 2003; earlier payments are outside this checkbook window.

The cost criticism comes from the City's own contract reviewer. On the April 2023 claim, the reviewer wrote:

“This contract is funded at 3-4X the rate that contracts providing comparable services are funded.”

It wasn't the only warning. Across 16 claim records from April 2022 through July 2023, the reviewer criticized the cost five times. All 16 records are marked paid.

Austin Insight

Commentary & proposals

What a Challenge-Prize Audit Could Look Like

How could Austin residents help find savings while maintaining or improving City services? Lance McNeill proposes a challenge-prize approach to the audit contemplated by Prop I.

Lance McNeill · October 21, 2026

Read the insight →

View Arclight Austin Insights

Austin spending · October 2023–August 2026

The Taxpayer-Funded Race to Leave Austin

From October 2023 through August 2026, Austin’s Mayor, City Manager, and ten council offices recorded $269,635 in identified out-of-town travel and related conference fees on city purchasing cards. Airfare, hotels, cab rides, Chamber of Commerce trip packages, and conference registrations took officials and staff to Tampa, Denver, Boston, Washington, London, Dublin, Paris, Singapore, and beyond.

The Mayor’s Office leads at $64,612. The City Manager’s Office follows at $42,543, with only about ten months of records in its tab. District 2 is third at $35,488.

A few trips stand out. The Mayor’s 2026 sister-city visit to England and Ireland accounts for $18,771 across two offices’ cards. District 9’s six-person Boston trip accounts for $9,786. Individual Chamber trip packages ran about $3,300 to $3,800.

Taxpayers deserve to see what these trips cost and what Austin gets in return.

Read the source records at Rise Up Austin →

About the figures and date coverage

Arclight’s analysis of City of Austin P-card expense reports published by Rise Up Austin. The exact net total is $269,634.63. Totals deduct recorded refunds and exclude overlapping duplicate entries, charges marked reimbursed or personal, Austin events, the $10,000 Harvard course fee, and two registrations without an identified out-of-town destination.

The animation follows purchase dates, including advance payments for later trips. Coverage varies by office: the City Manager tab runs from September 30, 2025 through July 31, 2026; Districts 6, 7, and 10 begin in January 2025. Other tabs extend from October 2023 into August 2026. These figures cover identified travel in the supplied purchasing-card records.

A 34-second silent animation of cumulative spending by purchase date. Office totals reflect different periods of available records.

Download the video (MP4, 6.5 MB)

Follow the requests

Public records request tracker

Read published records

Browse all campaigns in one table. Search for a campaign, contractor, agency, or request number. Each entry shows the request’s scope, current status, fees paid, and links to published records.

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8 of 8 requests

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Public information requests — campaigns, status, costs, and published documents
Campaign	Subject	Request #	Date filed	Status	Cost paid	Records published
Sickle Cell Task Force funding Scope: Related City records held by Austin Public Health (other departments' estimates pending)	Sickle Cell Association of Texas Marc Thomas Foundation	X026937-092526	Sep 25, 2026	Published	$108.00 Paid Oct 8, 2026	Sickle Cell Navigation Services selected records (Exhibits A-K)
Sickle Cell Task Force funding Scope: City of Austin agreements, funding, payments, and monitoring records (held by Austin Public Health)	Sickle Cell Association of Texas Marc Thomas Foundation	X026936-092526	Sep 25, 2026	Narrowed; awaiting revised estimate	$0.00	Not yet
Branch Library Renovation Delays Scope: Branch library renovation contracts, payments, schedules, changes, design records, and Hampton at Oak Hill plans, held by the City of Austin (Austin Public Library). Request details MWM's design contract for the 2018-bond branch library renovations started at $657,792 in 2020, then grew by $334,199 in 2023; Old Quarry and Willie Mae Kirk remain closed, and the City cites "Architectural and MEP Design Revisions." This request asks for the contract, invoices, schedules, change orders, design inputs, and Hampton at Oak Hill plans. Records requested (8 items) The MWM contract and amendments MWM invoices and payments Old Quarry and Willie Mae Kirk schedules Construction awards and change orders Delay, cure, or performance notices Design scope and condition assessments Old Quarry electrical issue records Hampton at Oak Hill plans and assessments	MWM DesignGroup (Martinez, Wright & Mendez, Inc.)	C339042-101326	Oct 13, 2026	Partially fulfilled	$0.00	Library records (partial response)
Contractor oversight Scope: City of Austin agreements, invoices, payments, and monitoring records (held by Austin Public Health)	ASA / Vivent Health Texas	X026957-092826	Sep 28, 2026	Narrowed; awaiting revised estimate	$0.00	Not yet
Contractor oversight Scope: City of Austin agreements, budgets, invoices, and monitoring records (held by Austin Public Health)	ASHwell	X026958-092826	Sep 28, 2026	Narrowed; awaiting revised estimate	$0.00	Not yet
Contractor oversight Scope: City of Austin contract, invoice, and payment records (Economic Development and other departments)	Nineveh Ministries (Jail to Jobs)	X026959-092826	Sep 28, 2026	Estimate accepted; payment pending	$0.00	Not yet
Contractor oversight Scope: City of Austin agreements, invoices, and payment records, FY2023 to present	El Buen Samaritano	C338724-101226	Oct 12, 2026	Paid; awaiting records	$56.00 Paid Oct 21, 2026	Not yet
City of Austin multilingual climate ad campaign (EPA grant) Scope: Records related to City Council Item 36 (October 22, 2026), which proposes up to $2.34 million in advertising agreements with media outlets, funded mostly by an EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. This Texas Public Information Act request (PIR) asks for vendor selection documents, signed agreements, the campaign plan and deliverables, the grant budget and EPA approvals for this activity, and related correspondence. Records held by City of Austin, Transportation & Public Works (ATPW).	Media outlets in City Council Item 36	C340169-102026	Oct 20, 2026	Submitted; confirmed by the City City response expected about Nov 3, 2026 (estimated)	$0.00	Not yet

Read the source documents

Published records

Branch Library Renovation Delays

Library records (partial response)

Combined City-provided MWM agreement, supplemental amendments, delivery-order records, invoices, payment list, and attachments. 19 PDFs; 506 pages. Partial response to request C339042-101326.

Agency: City of Austin (Austin Public Library)
Request #: C339042-101326
Received: Oct 27, 2026

Download Library records (partial response) (PDF)

For civically engaged Austin residents

Coordinate with us.

Interested in an agency, a contractor, or how local dollars are being spent? Let’s coordinate the records requests so we can cover more ground and avoid duplicating work.

Texas law allows agencies to track staff time by requester. Coordinating distinct requests among residents can spread the workload across those limits. Fees may still apply to individual requests.

Texas Public Information Act · § 552.275

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