“If we cut anything more it’s going to affect street plowing, streets being repaired, streets being replaced. It’s going to come down to services,” he said. “We can cut more if that’s what the citizens want.”

Mayor Stiehm said the future of the city budget still depends on what happens with Local Government Aid (LGA).

“Everybody on the city council is absolutely against raising taxes unless we absolutely have to,” he said. “We’ll see what happens with LGA.”

But Austin can’t rely on LGA forever, Enright said.

“I think (the budget) is pretty slim now but we’re going to have to cut more,” Enright said. “We can’t rely on LGA. We have to keep our core services. We always find a way.”

Austin city staff have applied for different forms of funding, mostly in the form of grants, to lessen the need for LGA, according to Stiehm. One such grant is the $5 million federal flood mitigation grant the city was recently awarded.

Stiehm said more flood mitigation projects are in the works for the future, including a study on Turtle Creek to help determine mitigation tactics for areas along the creek. The mayor said the Turtle Creek project could cost up to $6 million.

Austin residents also voted to pass three amendments to the city charter Tuesday night, two of which will lengthen the mayor’s term and the council members-at-large term to four years from two years. Stiehm said this change will allow more continuity in government, especially when it comes to long-standing projects like the city’s flood mitigation efforts.

“I’m glad (the amendments) passed,” Stiehm said. “It gives more continuity to the governing process when you’re not always running for re-election.”

Anderson agreed that the longer term limits will be a positive change.

“It’s more productive for city council work,” she said. “It takes a while to get into the rhythm of it and understand all the processes of what you’re doing, so that will help.”

Residents also voted to pass an amendment allowing the mayor to vote in the event of a council deadlock. Although deadlock has been rare in the past, Anderson said the change will be good.

“(Ties don’t) come up a lot but it’s another tool in the toolbox that is able to be used to keep something moving forward or to make it stop if it’s a vote against a project,” Anderson said.

Stiehm said that overall he is pleased with the election results and looks forward to working with a couple of new faces on the council in the near future.

“It’s going to be a good council,” he said. “Our council is a little bit fractured now, and I think it’ll be a little less fractured come January.”