AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin residents went to the polls Tuesday and overwhelmingly voted against Proposition Q — a tax rate hike that some city leaders said would pay for "core services."
At 11 p.m. Tuesday, KXAN projected the proposition had failed.
Even though the proposition failed, the city's portion of your property tax bill will go up either way. The question is: How much?
Your property tax bill is expected to go up by $104.76 annually. If voters would've approved that proposition, the average homeowner’s property tax bill would have gone up by $302.14 annually.
The city calculated the "average homeowner" at an assessed home value of $494,803.
Prop Q would have gone toward services like homelessness services, parks, public safety programs and public health. Here are some of the line items:
The largest chunk of that funding would go toward the city’s homeless strategy office, including: $12 million for rapid rehousing services $8 million for emergency shelter operations and services like housing navigation $2 million for street outreach Money would also go toward dozens of sworn EMS positions More than $8 million to restore the Austin Fire Department’s overtime budget And $1.6 million “in one-time funding to provide stability to core public health grants at risk of reduced grant funding”You can find the full breakdown of where that funding could go here.
What happens now?
While the city isn't saying exactly which services would be cut, we do know city council and city of Austin executive staff will have to come back to revisit their budget, which went into effect Oct. 1.
PREVIOUS: What is Proposition Q? Austin’s tax rate election explainedDuring the budget process, city council discussed several options, including a proportional cut across all departments or returning to the city manager’s base proposed budget.
City council members have said they believe extreme cuts would need to be made across significant swaths of the current budget should the proposition fail.
As for how it would change your property tax bill, the city of Austin told us: “If the voters reject Proposition Q, the property tax rate will be reduced to the voter-approval tax rate of 52.4017 cents per $100 value. At that tax rate, the City estimates it will collect $109.5 million less revenue than the amount budgeted for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 General Fund revenue, and the typical Austin property owner’s 2026 tax bill would see an annual increase of $104.76 from the previous tax year, based on a median homestead assessed value of $494,803."
City leaders respond to Tuesday's results
On Tuesday night, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Council members Marc Duchen (District 10) and Mike Siegel (District 7) released statements on Prop Q. As of 9:15 p.m., 67% of the vote is against Austin's Prop Q. KXAN hasn't projected an official result.
“When the Council put Proposition Q on the ballot, I said, 'It’s time to trust the voters.' Tonight, the voters spoke by rejecting Prop Q. Austin voters made their decision, and they did so clearly. I trust their decision. And I hear them. The voters have told us they want us to do more, and they want us to not add to the problem of affordability. We should hear them, learn from this election, and trust our voters,” Watson's statement said in part.
“I feel the pain of this measure failing but remain optimistic that our diverse Austin communities can come together in the days ahead. Fundamentally, in this moment of history, we need a local government that works for all of us," Siegel said.
“Prop Q wasn’t just a vote on affordability. It was a referendum on trust. My colleagues and I have an opportunity to restore our constituents’ faith in local government, and I hope we seize it. Austin’s growth as a community was made possible by prior managers and councils, including our current mayor. They spent efficiently, brought stakeholders into decision-making processes, and balanced budgets. It’s time to reflect on those achievements, arm ourselves with data, and move forward. Austinites deserve a local government that operates in a responsible, transparent way, and I intend to fight for it,” Duchen said.
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