![]() ![]() ![]() “Parks and Recreation has four staff members and $500,000 of their budget goes to graffiti abatement every year in the parks,” Harris said. In addition, the city’s abatement program has a hefty price tag of its own. On a local level, each department has to deal with graffiti tagging on its designated properties. Harris cited data reporting that graffiti removal costs our nation up to $12 billion in cleanup expenses every year. ![]() But the problem remains a costly one, not only to private businesses, but to city departments as well. “What happens is somebody reports it to the city, the city comes and they cite the business, and then the business has to get rid of it under a certain amount of time, otherwise you get some sort of fine,” Lavigne said.Ī city spokesperson told the Austin Monitor that, while city ordinance does require property owners to get rid of graffiti within 30 days, the city does not levy fines for unremoved graffiti. 18, members agreed to form a working group to address what Chair August Harris deemed a “rapid increase in graffiti around our community.”ĭuring a sprawling discussion of the topic, commissioners debated the negative effects of graffiti, the actors and reasons behind why it exists, and how a working group would approach its removal.Ĭommissioner Mike Lavigne commented that, as a small-business owner, the current process the city uses to remove graffiti is tedious and expensive. At the most recent Downtown Commission meeting on Jan. ![]()
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