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April 29, 2008
Austinites and their tax rebate
This weekend I went around town asking folks how they would spend their tax rebates.
For those not paying attention, these rebates range up to $600 for an individual and $1,200 for married couples plus $300 for eligible children younger than 17. They are designed to stimulate the ailing economy.
The answers ranged from putting it into savings, spending it on specific items, or investing in stocks.
Starting out at Seattle’s Best at Fifth and Lamar I encountered one woman, who didn’t want to be interviewed on video, who was a graduate student that didn’t make any money last year and therefore didn’t file a tax return. Guess she won’t get rebate.
Another undergraduate student said she had no idea if she would get money - her mother still does her taxes. One guy said he would invest in the stock market and another woman wanted to put it all toward her vacation.
Standing outside Anthropologie at Sixth and Lamar, I soon realized I had picked the wrong spot if I wanted to ask people how they were going to spend their rebate. Most of the people I stopped said they didn’t qualify — they made too much money.
At nearby BookPeople, folks said they wanted to spend it on home renovations, paying down credit card debt and one woman said she wanted to spend her entire rebate at Austin-based Santa Fe Optical.
Traveling across town to the Academy in Sunset Valley, I stumbled upon the Anthropologie phenomenon. Many people said they didn’t qualify, or they weren’t familiar with the rebate and didn’t want to comment.
Some folks who didn’t want to be on camera said they didn’t agree with the concept of rebates. They thought it was a lot of taxpayer money to spend on something that won’t make much of a dent in the economy.
View the video of how people will spend their tax rebates here:
How are you going to spend your tax rebate? Also, how do you think this will affect the U.S. economy?
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April 15, 2008
Here's the tax extension form for late filers
Out of time to file your taxes? You can get an automatic extension for six months to file your return by sending this form (PDF) to the IRS. It must be postmarked by midnight tonight.
Sorry — you don’t get extra time to pay. You must estimate what you owe and pay it along with the extension form. If you overpay, you’ll get a refund when you eventually file your return.
If you underpay, you may face penalties and interest.
If you are filing the extension form with no payment, send it to Department of the Treasury, IRS, Austin Texas, 73301-0002.
If you are making a payment, send it to IRS, PO Box 660575, Dallas, TX 75266-0575
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April 14, 2008
Post Office hours for filing income taxes Tuesday
The main Austin post office at 8225 Cross Park Drive will be open until midnight Tuesday to accept last-minute income tax returns. Customers will be able to get services such as certified mail through the automated postage center at that location.
Five other stations will have extended hours: Chimney Corners, 3575 Far West Blvd.; Mockingbird Station at 7310 Manchaca Road, and the Oak Hill Station at 6104 Old Fredericksburg Road will be open until 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The downtown post office at 510 Guadalupe and Balcones and the station at 11900 Jollyville Road will be open until 6:30 p.m.
Returns must be postmarked by midnight Tuesday.
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April 2, 2008
Sweet Leaf Tea raises a big kettle of cash
Sweet Leaf Tea of Austin has raised about $18 million from Catterton Partners, a private equity firm. The company said it will use the money to boost marketing and expand its distribution.
Catterton has invested in P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Odwalla Drinks, and Build-a-Bear Workshop, among other consumer retail companies.
A March 20 filing by Sweet Leaf Tea with the Texas State Securities Board said the company raised a total of $19.4 million, of which $17.9 would be dedicated to working capital.
“The ready-to-drink tea category is a $2.8 billion industry with the premium segment growing at an annual rate of 25%,” said Michael Farello, partner, Catterton Partners, in a statement. Farello will join Sweet Leaf Tea’s board of directors. “Our assessment shows that Sweet Leaf Tea has the greatest potential for growth of any company in the category.”
Sweet Leaf Tea was founded in 1998 by Clayton Christopher, who is CEO.
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March 25, 2008
Austin likes to procrastinate on taxes
Nobody likes to file tax returns, but Austin residents apparently dread it — and postpone it — more than anyone else, except for Chicagoans, New Yorkers and Houstonians.
That’s the news from Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, which tracks last-minute online tax filings to find out which American cities are the biggest procrastinators in filing federal taxes.
Overall, Texas gets three out of the top 10 positions, with Houston at No. 3 and San Antonio at No. 9. So Texans appear to have a thing about taxes.
The top 10 tax procrastinating cities in America, based on an analysis of 2007 data, are:
Chicago
New York
Houston
Austin
San Francisco
San Diego
Seattle
Las Vegas
San Antonio
Los Angeles
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March 6, 2008
Jobless rate steady
The five-county Central Texas region that includes Austin and Round Rock saw the jobless rate hold steady in January at a rate of 3.9 percent, the same figure the region posted the same month a year earlier, according to figures released Thursday by the Texas Workforce Commission.
The region, composed of Travis, Williamson, Hays, Caldwell and Bastrop counties, posted an annual job growth rate of 4.2 percent in January, a jump from recent months. That represents the addition of 30,500 jobs since January 2007 for a total workforce of 762,200.
In December, the job growth rate was 3 percent.
Overall, the region has seen professional and business services, which include temporary staffing agencies, and construction and leisure and hospitality sectors adding jobs at a brisk pace compared to a year ago. All other sectors except for manufacturing and information services are showing gains.
Statewide, the state posted a jobless rate of 4.3 percent in January, up slightly from 4.2 percent in December. By comparison, the U.S. jobless rate was 4.9 percent in January, down from 5 percent a month before.
Labor experts have said the state is outperforming the rest of the country because it hasn’t been hit as hard by the sluggish economy.
“Banner job gains in January indicate a resilient Texas labor market,” said Diane Rath, chair of the Texas Workforce Commission.
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March 4, 2008
Frost Bank chairman: Texas is escaping the worst of the slowdown
Why is Texas escaping the harshest effects of the sluggish economy and housing meltdown that is being seen in other parts of the country?
Frost Bank chairman and CEO Dick Evans contends the vast supply of Texas land has given builders more flexibility on where they add homes. For example, many farms throughout the state have been replaced by subdivisions.
Meanwhile, other regions such as the San Francisco Bay area are short on developable land, which helped spur some wild price increases in he housing market.
But Texas isn’t completely immune, Evans said Tuesday during an Austin visit.
“There is no question we are going through what I call an adjustment period,” said Evans, who also is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. However, in Texas, “home prices did not increase as rapidly. Also, the state continues to have job growth.”
The five-county Central Texas region is adding jobs at about a 3 percent annual growth rate.
The statewire rate is lower, at about 2.1 percent, but still double the national average.
Evans says the continued optimism for Texas is one reason the financial services industry is still growth. For example, San Antonio-based Frost added two locations in the second half of last year in Central and North Austin. The bank now has nine Austin locations.
Statewide, Frost, founded as a small downtown San Antonio bank in 1868, has more than 100 branches.
“Banking in Texas is a hot market. Large banks that aren’t here are on their way,” Evans said. As for Frost, “we’ll continue to grow in our own way.”
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If you don't have a SXSW Interactive badge...
…Try the third-annual BarCamp Austin. Sponsored by GSD&M Idea City, among others, this free event will be held Saturday at the advertising agency.
So what is BarCamp Austin?
I’m still trying to figure that out.
But my best guess is that it is a conference that its founders don’t want to call a conference.
So instead it’s an “all-day collaboration extravaganza.”
According to BarCamp’s Wiki, here are some of the event’s rules:
“Attendees must give a demo, a session, or help with one, or otherwise volunteer/contribute in some way to support the event. All presentations are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall. The people present at the event will select the demos or presentations they want to see.”
So the attendees determine what topics will be discussed and are expected to be active participants. Suggested topics include “White House 2.0” and “On Twitter.”
This is all expected to take place in an informal setting, instead of sitting in a meeting room watching PowerPoint presentations.
Check out the wide-open schedule page.
GSD&M spokeswoman Melanie Mahaffey said the organizers of BarCamp Austin, which are listed here, wanted to take advantage of the creative energy that SXSW Interactive brings.
I wonder, though, if folks in town for Interactive would rather be at the Austin Convention Center since they shelled out the big bucks to attend that conference? But Mahaffey said there are 400 people that have signed up for Saturday’s BarCamp.
Also, BarCamp is organized so that it runs late in the day, giving SXSW folks a chance to head over after Interactive panels wrap up.
What say you, readers? Are you attending SXSW Interactive or BarCamp Austin? Have you been to either before and what did you think of the events?
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May 8, 2007
Attorney general sues EZCorp over identity theft issues
A news release from the Texas Attorney General’s Office
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott took legal action Tuesday against Texas-based EZCORP Inc., and its subsidiary, EZPAWN, for systematically exposing its customers to identity theft. According to documents filed by the Attorney General, EZCORP violated the law by repeatedly failing to protect customer records that contain sensitive personal information.
Investigators with the Office of the Attorney General discovered that several San Antonio EZPAWN stores exposed customers’ personal identifying information by discarding business records in easily accessible trash cans behind the stores. According to investigators, the records included promissory notes and bank statements that contained names, addresses, Social Security and driver’s license numbers, and checking account information.
“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Texans expect their personal information to remain confidential. The Office of the Attorney General will take all necessary steps to protect consumers from identity thieves.”
Investigators also found evidence of similar instances of improper document dumping at a dozen other EZPAWN locations around the state, including stores in Austin, Houston, Lubbock and the Rio Grande Valley.
The defendants are accused of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) and the 2005 Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, which requires the safeguarding and proper destruction of clients’ sensitive personal information. Under the law, the Office of the Attorney General has the authority to seek penalties of up to $25,000 per violation of the DTPA and $50,000 per violation of the Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act.
The Attorney General also charged EZCORP and EZPAWN with violating Chapter 35 of the Business and Commerce Code, which requires businesses to develop retention and disposal procedures for their clients’ personal information. The law provides for civil penalties of up to $500 for each abandoned record.
The Office of the Attorney General is investigating whether any exposed data has been used illegally. Consumers who interacted with EZPAWN stores should carefully monitor bank, credit card and any similar statements for evidence of suspicious activity. Customers should also obtain free copies of their credit reports.
Consumers who wish to file a complaint may contact the Office of the Attorney General at (800) 252-8011 or do so online at www.oag.state.tx.us, where they can also obtain information on identity theft detection and prevention.
Today’s legal action against EZCORP is the Office of the Attorney General’s fifth identity theft enforcement action in recent weeks. In April, Attorney General Abbott took legal action against CVS/pharmacy and RadioShack Corporation for exposing hundreds of customers to identity theft by failing to properly dispose of records that contained sensitive information. In March, the Attorney General filed an enforcement action against Jones Beauty College in Dallas for improperly discarding student financial aid forms with Social Security numbers and other personal information. Also in March, Attorney General Abbott took legal action against On Track Modeling, a North Carolina-based talent agency that abruptly shut down its Grand Prairie office and abandoned more than 60 boxes containing hundreds of confidential client records.
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April 24, 2007
Weather postpones KLRU event at Seaholm
A news release from the Downtown Austin Alliance.
The Downtown Austin Alliance, Action Figure and KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, co-producers of DOWNTOWN, Austin’s only three-time LoneStar Emmy Award-winning series, have rescheduled their special kick-off and launch party at the historic Seaholm Power Plant due to the threat of inclement weather this evening. The community event, a celebration of the April 26th Premiere of Season 3 of the television series “Downtown” has been rescheduled for tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 25. “Downtown” is a series that tells the stories of the people and places that make DOWNTOWN: As Austin As It Gets.™ Prior to an advance screening of Episode #301: Urban Transportation, Downtown’s “Wilder” Side, The “Rite” Playhouse, the evening’s activities will also include performers from several of the segments featured in the upcoming season. The rescheduled event will be from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the Seaholm Power Plant, Third Street and West Avenue. The VIP reception will start at 6 p.m.
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3M's Austin division acquires two companies
A news release from 3M
3M announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the business of Innovative Paper Technologies LLC, a manufacturer of inorganic-based technical papers, boards and laminates for a wide variety of high temperature applications; and Powell LLC, a supplier of non-woven polyester mats for the electrical industry. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
Innovative Paper Technologies LLCand Powell complement 3M’s well-known line of electrical products, including insulating and foil tapes, vinyl and rubber tapes, power cable accessories and electrical supplies. “The addition of these businesses will help us to broaden our core product offering, as well as expand into adjacent markets,” said Paul D. Steece, division vice president of Austin-based 3M Electrical Markets Division.
The acquisition allows 3M to enter into the adjacent market of flexible insulation materials, which are used for electrical insulation and thermal transfer applications, serving key customer segments such as motor manufacturers, transformer manufacturers, appliance original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and wire and cable manufacturers.
“Our products will be a wonderful complement to 3M and will broaden the options of our combined customers,” said Paul Kingsbury, chairman and CEO, IPT and Powell. “This will provide our customers with a supplier that is world renowned and able to respond to the growing requirement for a worldwide distribution network. The 3M name brings even more credibility to our strong market position in the transformer, electric motor and filtration industries.”
IPT and Powell employ about 90 people at its operations in Tilton, N.H. and Haverhill, Mass. The transaction is expected to close in May, subject to customary closing conditions.
The 3M Electrical Markets Division, based in Austin, Texas, designs, manufactures and markets products for electrical construction, industrial maintenance, utility and industrial power businesses, and electrical/electronic devices produced by original equipment manufacturers. Products include electrical and electronic specialty insulating tapes; power cable splices and terminations (featuring cold- and heat-shrink technologies); connectors; electrical wire connectors, terminals and tools; wire marking products, underground/underwater electrical system products, and electrical diagnostic and detection products.
Innovative Paper Technologies LLC (IPT) is an organization of specialists who research, design and manufacture high quality inorganic papers and boards for industrial applications. At the manufacturing and R&D facilities in Tilton, N.H., IPT has pioneered the development and production of a new generation of products which are performance engineered to meet the most rigorous applications at temperatures ranging from sub-zero to more than 250°C. These state-of-the-art materials have been refined, tested and proven in a wide variety of applications - including use as high temperature electrical insulation in transformers, motors and generators; and as flame barriers in household appliances.
Powell LLC, headquartered in Haverhill, Mass., has 30 years of experience in nonwoven technology. It produces nonwoven substrates, reinforcements and casting surfaces for electrical insulation, pressure sensitive tapes and filtration membranes. Its substrates provide smooth casting surfaces and reinforcement for membranes used in reverse osmosis and nano- and ultra- filtration. It also offers custom lamination and calandering services for composite materials used in air and water filtration, decorative fabrics and elsewhere.
About 3M A Global, Diversified Technology Company Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company’s customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M’s brands include Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti. Serving customers around the world, the people of 3M use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation.
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April 19, 2007
New Round Rock-based jewelry channel starts
The Austin and Round Rock Chambers of Commerce announce the launch of The Jewelry Channel, a new live, 24-seven, sales-driven jewelry channel, which began its programming on April 18 through DirectTV, channel 226, and local Austin carrier Time Warner on channel 277. The nationally-broadcast channel’s new facility is in Round Rock and houses a new corporate office and a live studio.
This development represents a big gain for the digital media, warehousing and call center industries in the Austin region. The Jewelry Channel (TJC) is expected to make a capital investment of $3 million during its first year at Round Rock and an investment of $20 million over the next five years. Round Rock will also benefit from this large-scale project in terms of new jobs and construction.
The new channel is expected to create 135 jobs in the first year of operations and 700 by the fifth year. Positions in call center, warehousing, management, administration, and shipping and receiving will be created. The live studio is also hiring on-air talent, studio engineers and other technical positions.
The channel is leasing 30,000 square feet in Round Rock and plans to expand to 100,000 square feet through new construction projects. Two other highly successful jewelry channels were launched in the UK and Germany in 2006. All the channels are owned by VGL Group, a publicly traded parent company based in India.
Besides live programming, the channel will also run short documentaries about jewelry setting and different aspects of the jewelry business. Sales through the channel will be in the “price drop auction format,” which means the longer the customer waits, the lower the price falls.
This announcement marks the fourteenth relocation announcement in 2007 for Opportunity Austin, the Austin Chamber’s five-year initiative aimed at creating 72,000 jobs and a $2.9 billion increase in payroll to the five-county region by the end of 2008. Opportunity Austin surpassed the program’s goals for job creation and payroll two years ahead of schedule, announcing a total of 80,900 jobs and an increase of $3.5 billion in payroll for 2004-2006 at their annual meeting in March.
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April 12, 2007
EZCorp buys Colorado pawn chain
A news release from EZCORP
EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ: EZPW) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of the 15 Colorado pawnshops operated by Pawn One, Inc. under the trade name Jumping Jack Cash.
The purchase price will be approximately $23 million cash and the closing is expected in early June 2007.
EZCORP’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Rotunda, stated, “We are very excited about this opportunity. Jumping Jack Cash is the second largest pawn operator in Colorado, second only to EZPAWN’s 24 locations. This acquisition will give us a dominant position in the market and the opportunity to enhance the combined results of both groups of stores.”
EZCORP is primarily a lender or provider of credit services to individuals who do not have cash resources or access to credit to meet their short-term cash needs. The Company offers non-recourse loans collateralized by tangible personal property, commonly known as pawn loans, in 280 U.S. and two Mexico EZPAWN locations open at March 31, 2007. At these locations, the Company also sells merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from its pawn lending operations, to consumers looking for good value. In 369 EZMONEY locations and 80 EZPAWN locations open at March 31, 2007, the Company offers short-term non- collateralized loans, often referred to as payday loans, or fee based credit services to customers seeking loans.
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April 10, 2007
Save Our Springs files for bankruptcy
A news release from the Save Our Springs Alliance
Following the Texas Supreme Court’s refusal to hear its petition for review in the case Save Our Springs Alliance v. Lazy Nine Municipal Utility District, the Austin-based non-profit conservation group today filed for reorganization in federal bankruptcy court.
Save Our Springs Alliance executive director Bill Bunch says, “SOS Alliance will continue to advocate in the court of public opinion and the courts for preserving our Hill Country water and wildlife for today and for future generations. This will include protecting Bee Creek, Barton Creek, and Lake Travis from the misnamed ‘Sweetwater’ development. And we need the community’s continued support to resolve this financial challenge. ”
SOS Alliance Board Member Karin Ascot, a member of the City of Austin Environmental Board says, “We have not been afraid to challenge powerful interests that pose the greatest threat to the natural and cultural heritage of the Hill Country. At a time when governments at every level are failing to protect our most essential life support systems from even the worst kinds of development, our work is more important than ever.”
The Texas Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling requiring the Alliance to pay $294,000 in attorney fees to the Lazy Nine Municipal Utility District (“MUD”), a special government district created by the Texas Legislature at the request of Austin developers Bill Gunn and Ed Horne (of Wilshire Homes) and their partner, Forest City Properties of Cleveland, Ohio.
In 2004, the developers began seeking approvals for a massive development in the Hill Country west of Austin. With thousands of homes proposed for steep hills draining into Bee Creek and Lake Travis, and sewage dispersal draining to Barton Creek, the so-called “Sweetwater” development will pollute local waterways and drastically increase traffic on a dangerous stretch of Highway 71. The planned development is next door to the notorious West Cypress Hills development, which was cited for dumping massive amounts of construction debris into nearby Lick Creek.
SOS Alliance sued the developers’ Municipal Utility District, claiming that the Legislature created the District without first providing notice to Travis County and the public as required by the Texas Constitution. SOS Alliance also claimed that the legislation delegated public, governmental powers to a private developer in violation of the state constitution.
An unelected visiting judge was appointed to hear the case, over SOS Alliance’s objection. The trial court refused to decide whether the MUD was created in violation of the Texas Constitution, instead holding that the Alliance lacked legal standing to bring the challenges and ordering the non-profit charity to pay the MUD’s attorney fees. The Sixth Court of Appeals adjusted the trial court ruling in SOS Alliance’s favor, but left the central rulings intact.
Lazy Nine MUD’s lawyers admitted at least one of the constitutional violations occurred, but the Supreme Court refused to hear the case even though it had specifically reviewed the adequacy of the constitutionally required notice when the Legislature reconfigured the Edwards Aquifer Authority in 1995.
Bunch adds, “Special districts are replicating across the state with virtually no oversight. They have become the engines of hyper-sprawl and are undermining our basic concepts of representative democracy. Most of the public and media are unaware that today, private developers are allowed to own their own government. The Dallas Morning News, in a major series, called it ‘government by developer.’ The Lazy Nine MUD is perhaps the worst example. But judicial review will have to come another time.”
“Lazy Nine MUD’s settlement offer demanded that we say and do nothing while Gunn, Wilshire Homes and Forest City build their massive project above Bee Creek and Lake Travis. But the Alliance Board was not willing to betray our mission to protect our vulnerable Hill Country watersheds. To do so would have only compounded the injustice of the courts’ refusal to exercise judicial review. We will not disappear, and our advocacy for the environment will continue,” says Board Vice Chair Kirk Mitchell.
There are more than 1,500 special districts (MUDs, water control improvement districts, etc.) in Texas created by the Legislature and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under Article 16, Section 59 of the Texas Constitution. Many of these districts are controlled by a single developer for years, even decades, after they are formed.
“For the Texas Supreme Court to allow these privately-controlled governments to spread like weeds across the state with no judicial oversight is a severe blow to representative democracy, the rule of law, and the Texas environment,” Bunch says.
SOS Alliance’s appellate attorney, Renea Hicks, comments, “It is not easy to pick out the worst thing about what’s happened in this case, but I’d nominate the court decision forcing a non-profit group, which has been instrumental in protecting the Hill Country and Austin from the ravages of money-driven private development, to fork over three hundred thousand dollars to cover the attorney fees of the MUD’s developers.”
Weldon Ponder, the Alliance’s bankruptcy attorney adds, “The reorganization case we have filed today in the Austin Bankruptcy Court will enable the Alliance to carry on with its important work while we seek court approval of a financial plan that will give equitable treatment to all parties having an interest in this matter. We are confident we will be able to accomplish that goal and exit the bankruptcy process in a few months with an approved plan that will be fair to everyone involved, including the judgment creditor.”
