AUSTIN (KXAN) — After Travis County residents overwhelmingly voted 'yes' on a tax rate hike to help the county create more affordable child care, Travis County Commissioners approved two contracts to get that voter-approved taxpayer money out the door Tuesday.
What’s happening with the money Travis County approved for affordable child care?"The contracts will make a transformative $21+ million investment in Travis County’s child care infrastructure. They will expand child care scholarships and provide gap funding for sustained support," a statement from the county said.
According to county staff, the first contract for child care scholarships will help 1,000 kids.
"An additional few kids will also be served through the gap funding on the second contract," Pilar Sanchez, county executive of Health and Human Services, said. "Last month we approved funding for over 2,000 kids to get child care and out of school time services."
The gap funding, which will help providers meet the need of providing affordable child care, will start being paid next month. And the funding for child care scholarships, which the county says will create the 1,000 new child care slots, will be available in January, leaders said during a Tuesday news conference.
"The cost of child care has gone up and the reimbursement rates that we are receiving have not really gone up to meet the cost of quality child care," Tamitha Blackmon, owner and operator of Nehemiah Christian School, said.
Tuesday, County leaders also announced newly-appointed members of the Community Advisory Council to help guide future investments. The council includes parents, youth, providers, policy experts and community leaders, according to the county.
They also revealed the new branding for the program -- called Raising Travis County -- which was done for free by GSD&M.
The newly unveiled brand for Travis County's child care initiative (KXAN photo)"It was an easy, easy request and response for us to get into the middle of something that we care about deeply, our community and of course the upbringing of our children," David Rockwood, vice-president of community at GSD&M, said.
In November 2024, voters overwhelmingly voted to approve a tax hike to help pay for affordable child care. The 2.5-cent property tax rate increase, which costs the average Travis County homeowner $125 annually, will generate roughly $75 million for the county in the first year.
What is Travis County Proposition A? The affordable childcare tax rate proposalTravis County has previously said the program's goal would be the following:
Create roughly 1,900 child care slots for babies and toddlers of low-income households Create nearly 3,900 after school and summer school slots for elementary-age students Create incentives for businesses to create or expand childcare options for employeesKXAN previously reported that Travis County ranked No. 1 in 2023 when it comes to costly care for children in the state.
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