Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) Austin, AISD and Travis County should institute a process of suing commercial property owners who sue to lower tax appraisals and then sell their properties for substantially more than the lowered assessments. At the very least, any negotiated lowered assessments should include a clawback provision to recapture the lost property tax revenue if the property is sold for a higher price within some window of time.  AAS Large Companies Turn to Courts for Tax Relief. 

Last year, for example, through a protest to the appraisal district, Advanced Micro Devices got its valuation lowered for a third consecutive year by about $13 million, and its appraised “market value” now stands at $127.5 million. Yet in April, the company sold its complex for $164 million — $37.5 million more than the taxable value that AMD was disputing as too high.

in an email from our health insurance broker: I expect the renewal for EF to arrive in 30 days which will let us know if cost is going up or down for EF as a result of reform [Obamacare]. I had a preliminary estimate several months ago that indicated price for EF would go down dramatically.

update: Eddie Carter (our broker) saw my posting and wrote me. We’ve got to do a bit more analysis to make sure everything is apples to apples but appears our premiums are going down 43%.

As I’m looking at the various plans and premiums, appears there’s substantial incentive toward accountability. Plans with copays and deductibles are significantly discounted. Also appears costs for pay-everything-plans (no incentive to monitor or minimize costs) are increasing rather than decreasing. What the heck, set up a Health Savings Account (HSA), adopt a plan with at least a $1k deductible, help ensure good stewardship of health dollars, and bank the savings in your HSA – you can even invest those savings within the HSA, tax free!

(Community Matters) . . . unfortunately, turned into a trip around Central Texas. Tana and I detected car trouble after stopping at the Dollar General Store in Fredericksburg. MBrace told us we should head to the nearest dealership (Boerne, Tx) to have the situation further evaluated. They were spectacular to us – bumped us ahead of 13 other jobs and detected a fix that would take only 30 minutes. Unfortunately, it’d be Tuesday before they could have the part. We drove back to Austin, not without some car performance issues. Since I had a hard stop of returning home Tuesday for our Annual Entrepreneurs Poker Tournament on Wednesday and have a MPR board meeting in Marfa on Saturday, I’m out of the picture. Outside the 72 hours cancellation window, there’s a free room at the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel (Four Seasons) on Monday night. Also bummed we missed last night at El Capitan in Van Horne.

(Community Matters) from Politico Playbook: 

SNEAK PEEK at “Double Down,” by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, out Tuesday from the Penguin Press – Some of James Hohmann’s favorite nuggets:

–“Obama had little patience for the ‘professional left,’ and vanishingly close to zero for what one of his senior African American aides, Michael Strautmanis, referred to as ‘professional blacks’ (as opposed to black professionals). Apart from Georgia congressman John Lewis and Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Obama had nearly as much contempt for the CBC as he did for the Tea Party Caucus. New York’s Charlie Rangel he derided as a hack; Jesse Jackson Sr. was effectively banned from the White House. Obama remembered all too well a conversation with [Cornell] West in 2009, in which the professor used the precious time to complain about his seating at the inauguration.” (39)

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(Community Matters) Tana & Joe Christie are moving to Santa Barbara for an undetermined amount of time – we’re hoping for a shorter period than longer but wish them much rest and relaxation along the Pacific. Last night we hosted a bon voyage party for family and friends. I’m driving with Tana to Santa Barbara, leaving today. We’ll meet Joe there on Monday, fly back Tuesday in time for Wednesday’s EF Annual Poker Tournament.

(Community Matters) I love this. Two men were married in Oklahoma under the authority of their tribes. Currently, both people being married must be members of an Oklahoma resident tribe and one must live within the tribe’s jurisdiction. Steven’s part Cherokee but, obviously, doesn’t live within the jurisdiction. Nevertheless, seems to me activists should work on the Cherokees to join the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in allowing marriage equality. Protests from silly women like Sally Kern notwithstanding. Tribal lands are under federal jurisdiction and the federal law is for equality under our constitution.

(Community Matters) NSA Broke into Google & Yahoo Data Centers – I don’t begrudge the spooks, nor even the President for trying. I can’t imagine the enormity of worry and challenge fighting terrorism. And, this is why standards and laws must reign in their ambitions. Of course they are going to go overboard in trying to keep Americans safe. I know Congress and the Courts are feeling the same challenges. The former need to step back into their roles as policy/law makers, representatives of the people, and the latter in protecting the rights guaranteed in the constitution and articulated in our laws.

We’ll know we’re on the right path when Edward Snowden is granted a pardon and invited back. I’m hoping President Obama will be this enlightened and generous.

(Community Matters) Shocked this has been filed and I’m just now reading about it. Need to learn more. 

(Community Matters) What do Teen Wolf‘s Carver twins Max and Charlie do for Halloween? (below the fold)

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(Community Matters) Seriously? Best ice cream parlours in the world? hmm, I don’t see a single Berthillon so list suspect to start. Nevertheless, why must I find these sort of lists?  I’m a bull; they’re my red flag.

Daily Meal‘s May post:

1. Fenocchio, Nice, France

2. Bar Gelateria Ercole, Pizzo, Italy

3. Vipiteno Gelateria, Sao Paulo, Brazil

4. Antico Caffè Spinnato, Palermo, Italy

5. Big Gay Ice Cream, New York City

6. Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, Seattle

7. Perché No!, Florence, Italy

8. Murphy’s, Dingle, Ireland

9. Bi-Rite Creamery, San Francisco

10. Vaffelbageriet, Copenhagen, Denmark

I’ve only been to Bi-Rite, 9 left to go.

HT: Towelroad

(Community Matters)  Thanks Diane & Steve for the great pic

Wadi Rum Desert (aka The Valley of the Moon), Jordan

(Community Matters) Wow, week moved too fast. Almost forgot all about a fun Thursday night.

We’re long time, enthusiastic supporters of People Fund (formerly Austin CDC). They hosted a successful casino fundraiser at their E MLK site Thursday night. The Entrepreneurs Foundation served as their underwriter, Steven and I as their honorary chairs. Well attended and well supported. Thanks to CapitalOne Bank for coming in as a second underwriter. Loved seeing lots of friends including Cloteal, Adrian, Bryan & Shannon Jones and tons more.

Bill Wood, Morgan Flagger and Kip McClanahan host Silverton Partner’s Open House every year, this year at the Belmont where we saw every Austin entrepreneur and investor. First chance to congratulate our friend Heather Brunner on her new role as CEO of one of Austin’s hottest startups, WP Engine.