AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After Austin City Council signed off on its Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget and tax rate, you'll head to the ballot box to give a thumbs up or down on a property tax hike -- called Proposition Q.
On Aug. 14, Austin City Council approved its Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget and said yes to a property tax rate high enough it triggers an election under state law.
If voters approve that proposition, the average homeowner’s property tax bill will go up by $302.14 annually. That does not include the increase Austinites will see in city rates.
The roughly $101 million that increase would generate for the city annually would go toward things like homelessness services, parks, public safety programs and public health.
Previous coverage
- Sept. 12: ‘The question is close’: Tax rate election lawsuit shut down by Texas Supreme Court
- Aug. 29: Advocates launch ‘Love Austin’ campaign in support of tax rate election proposition
- Aug. 14: Austin signs off on $6B+ budget, triggering property tax rate election
- July 15: Austin leaders concerned budget cuts too much from community needs
- July 12: Austin City Manager TC Broadnax releases proposed $6B+ budget
Who's for the proposition?
All but one Austin city council member voted in favor of the tax rate hike, and many say without that approval from voters, the city will struggle to provide core services.
“With this budget we get to put Austin’s values on the ballot. And Austinites are going to have an opportunity this November to approve what is a tax rate increase to fund these really vital programs like homelessness and our parks and affordable housing,” Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter said.
Earlier this year, advocates launched the “Love Austin” campaign. That group — spearheaded by Joe Cascino, who also ran Mayor Kirk Watson’s reelection campaign — pointed to what would be lost without the extra funding.
“This is a campaign about our values. This is a campaign about combating homelessness which is something that we know is a crisis…additionally this is about our quality of life. This about spending on our parks, on our libraries, our pools. The things that make Austin so great,” Cascino said.
There is also a coalition called the "Care not Cuts" group, which is also in support. That group is made up of union members, like the President of the Austin EMS Association, and community groups like VOCAL Texas and the Austin Area Urban League.
Who's against the proposition?
There is also strong opposition to the proposal. Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen voted no on the city's budget because he felt the tax rate ask was too unaffordable, and one former Austin mayoral candidate even filed a lawsuit over the proposition's ballot language.
The Texas Supreme Court denied an emergency petition tied to that lawsuit, but Justice Evan Young wrote in his decision: “The question is close. The City’s lengthy purpose statement includes a laundry list of programs and then tacks on a catchall provision.”
Ultimately, Young said the proposed tax increase must be decided not in court, but by the voters.
“The Supreme Court denied our petition, but Justice Young wrote separately showing the danger posed by the Council’s ballot language. We have now done all we can do in court to stop voters from being misled, a danger Justice Young recognized,” attorney Bill Aleshire, wrote.
