All too often citizens of Austin are force fed information about why we should smile and wave when it comes to the inconvenience of large festivals – citing that the city takes in X number of dollars per event. My question is simple, Where is the Money going. My property taxes are not decreasing, our school budgets are not increasing, utilities are not decreasing, however, during these huge events, ie. ACL, SXSW and Formula 1 racing, Gas prices are increased. According to the SXSW Analysis of Economic Benefit to the City of Austin, 2014, the impact of SXSW was 315.3 Million Dollars, with direct impact dollars listed as 208.6 Million.
The story I am interested in telling is the dispersement of the monies coming into Austin, in other words, what was the ACTUAL financial impact of SXSW, being what is the difference between what was received versus what the city spent by way of security, waste disposal and management, post SXSW trash cleanup and so on…
The interesting lead is to follow the money, with the best way to tell this story is through a combination of infographics, MAPS!!! (hahaha), and straight numbers and interactive graph in order to provide a complete picture of the story. My users would be financially responsible concerned citizens in Austin Texas, in which I will attempt to answer questions such as, How much revenue was injected into our economy from which sources, Alcohol, Tobacco, Room Taxes, etc. and how much money did the City of Austin Spend, not only during but in front of the festivals. I believe the story will be successful as Austin would disclose the budget, which will include theSXSW impact. The amount of data is a bit daunting as it will entail not only liquor receipts, room tax receipts, but will encompass rising gas prices, parking fees, and will include expenditures for security (APD overtime), Court costs for DUI/DWI etc. The sketch will be a multi-layer website design. with a home screen, a initial information interactive graphic, with follow on in depth information on the remainder of the screens.
