How much money is Austin spending on homeless camp clean up?
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — On May 1, 2021, Austin voters approved Proposition B, making it a criminal offense for anyone to sit, lie down or camp in public areas. Since that time the city has been cleaning up and moving hundreds of camps across the city, but it comes at a cost.
Many of the people experiencing homelessness usually just move to another area when they are forced out of a camp site, which means more clean ups in the future.
KXAN requested a breakdown of each department involved in the clean ups and how much money the department has spent.
There are three departments that sent over information: The Public Works Department, Parks and Recreation Department and Watershed Protection Department.
The Parks and Recreation Department has spent $1,301,462 on homeless encampment clean up from 2021 to June 16, 2023.
The Public Works Department has spent $1,478,046.51 on underpass cleanup from May 2021 to May 2023.
Watershed Protection has spent $756, 029.50 on homeless encampment cleanups since May 2021.
Overall, all three of these departments have spent $3,535,538.01 on homeless cleanups.
KXAN also received the City of Austin/Texas Department of Transportation underpass clean up contract which shows the number of clean ups and tons of trash removed.
Starting in May 2020 to the end of that year, 413.2 tons of trash were removed. That decreased in 2022, when there were 468 cleanups at underpasses and 63.81 tons of trash cleaned up.
As of June 2023, cleanups have removed 85.21 tons of trash so far this year.
KXAN Reporter Nabil Remadna will have reaction and details of cleanup efforts tonight at 6 p.m. and will update this story.