Austin's new city manager will make roughly $470k, according to documents

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- T.C. Broadnax, the man Austin City Council has picked to be the next city manager, will make a base salary of $470,017.60, according to council documents. The council voted unanimously to execute that employment agreement Thursday morning.

Mayor Kirk Watson said Broadnax will start May 6, 2024.

Broadnax will also be given a cell phone allowance, executive allowance and a housing allowance of $5,000 per month for 6 months "to offset costs of a temporary residence," documents said. That shakes out to $30,000 for housing.

It's more than Austin's former city manager, Spencer Cronk, made. In late 2022, City Council voted to give Cronk a $38,000 raise (or just under 11%), putting him at a base salary of $388,190.40, as we previously reported.

According to salary information KXAN received through a Texas Public Information Act request late last month, interim city manager Jesús Garza is being paid a base salary of $350,001.60.

It will make Broadnax the second highest-paid employee in Austin. Robert Kahn, Austin Energy's general manager, makes a base salary of $475,009.60, according to that same information request.

Who is T.C. Broadnax?

In a Q&A session with members of Austin's media last week, Broadnax talked about his priorities for his first 100 days in office, including hiring a permanent police chief and making that process open to the public. He also talked about early work on homelessness.

"Going back to the table to figure out the appropriate scope of services that everybody can agree to for the diagnostic that was supposed to be done on our homeless ecosystem to make sure we get that right," he said.

Broadnax has served as the city manager of Dallas for the last seven years, according to the City of Dallas’ website. He announced he was stepping down from the role last month. His last day will be June 3, according to Dallas City Council documents. 

Several Dallas City Council members pushed for Broadnax’s resignation last month citing his tense relationship with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune.

"I think collectively the decision that they wanted to go and have a reset, and go in a different direction with a new manager that could coalesce and work with them in a manner similar to when they hired me," Broadnax told Austin reporters Thursday. "I think, gotta respect that and so I think my time there has been good."

Prior to landing in Dallas, he was the city manager of Tacoma, Washington.