Austin voters to decide on tax hike known as Prop Q
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Austin voters will decide this election season whether to tax themselves more to pay for city services.
Why it matters: Supporters of Proposition Q, as the ballot measure is known, say it's necessary to underwrite city priorities such as battling homelessness, while opponents say it will exacerbate Austin's affordability issues.
Driving the news: Early voting starts Monday ahead of the Nov. 4 election.
State of play: Austin-area voters have largely been willing to support such tax rate elections. Last year, Travis County voters approved raising property taxes to pay for affordable child care.
- "I worry a lot about affordability," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, who supports the proposition, wrote in August in his Watson Wire newsletter. "I also worry about the ability for the city to deliver quality services."
- Paying for the budget "will make a world of difference in getting homeless people off the street in a very short period of time," he wrote — and help Austin continue to support local organizations amid federal spending cuts.
- The tax increase would also pay for parks and public safety and other city services.
Yes, but: After a string of bond approvals, some Austinites are sounding a weary note about essentially writing another check to the city.
- The Zilker Neighborhood Association, for example, is opposing the proposition. "The feeling was that people just can't afford this right now and that the council needed to do a better job cutting wasteful spending before asking for more taxes," Robin Rather, a member of the association's executive committee, wrote on Facebook.
- The American-Statesman editorial board is also opposed, noting since 2018, the typical homeowner's city tax bill has risen from $1,317 to $1,969 — and would rise to $2,272 should the proposition pass. (The Austin Chronicle endorsed the proposition.)
Catch up quick: In 2019, the state Legislature limited a city's tax revenue increase to no more than 3.5% above the previous year without a tax rate election.
- If voters approve the tax hike, the city will increase taxes 5 cents more than state law would otherwise allow on each $100 of property value.
- The typical Austin homeowner — with a home worth about $500,000 — will see an increase of $25.22 per month, or $302.64 per year, in the city's portion of their annual property tax bill.
Follow the money: Love Austin PAC, a group supporting the proposition, received contributions totaling just over $100,000 for the period covering Aug. 18 through Sept. 25, per city campaign finance records.
- Most of the money comes from organized labor and organizations that work with the homeless.
- Save Austin Now, the chief opposition group, run by former Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak, has raised about $63,500. Mailers paid for by the PAC call out "the radicals at Austin City Hall."
The bottom line: The proposition is shaping up as a referendum on voter confidence on City Hall's spending decisions.