Government
BY HALEY MCLEOD & BEN THOMPSON
Austin’s budget approved, tax rate election called Austin leaders approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year with a higher property tax increase that’ll require voter approval in a November election. What happened City Council voted to adopt a $6.3 billion Tax rate decision Austin voters will decide whether to fund a larger budget plan with a 20% tax rate increase this fall. $3K Annual tax bill
Austin to revamp hate crimes response Austin officials called to revamp the city’s response to hate crimes, and the resources available to victims and residents. The big picture Almost 300 hate crimes have been reported in Austin since 2017, more than half of which targeted Black, gay or Jewish people. With incidents and related concerns on the rise, City Council voted July 24 to pause the We All Belong public information and resource campaign, and recalibrate how bias incidents are addressed by local governments. The city will now move to reshape the public campaign and a hate crimes task force over the next year. Short-term reporting on other changes is expected in September.
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budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26 in a 10-1 vote Aug. 14, with council member Marc Duchen against. City Manager T.C. Broadnax proposed a bal- anced budget in July that closed a projected $30 million-plus shortfall. But most of the council agreed more money is needed going forward, and adopted an expanded spending plan backed by a larger tax hike—triggering the fall tax rate election, or TRE. “It is time for us to trust our voters,” Mayor Kirk Watson said. If passed, Austin’s tax rate will jump from $0.4776 to $0.574017 per $100 in property
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Fiscal Year
2024-25 (current)
2025-26 (TRE approved)
2025-26 (TRE rejected)
NOTE: BASED ON A TAXABLE HOME VALUE OF $500,000 SOURCE: CITY OF AUSTIN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
value—a more than 20% increase, or a $420 increase annually for residents with a medi- an-valued home and standard utility use. If a TRE fails, the base FY 2025-26 budget would cost the typical homeowner about $220 more.
Flooding poised to cause county tax rate increase Travis County officials approved a measure July 29 to implement a one-year 9.12% tax rate hike in order to pay for recent severe flooding damages.
The impact About $72 of the $200 increase would go toward recovery efforts.
property taxes without needing voter approval. The approved higher property tax rate for the fiscal year 2025-26 budget year is roughly three cents more per $100 of property value, at $0.375845 per $100 valuation. This tax increase is only a one-time disaster-re- lated increase and will raise around $42 million. The new tax rate will be adopted Sept. 23, with a final budget vote Sept. 30.
FY 2024-25 tax rate
Proposed FY 2025-26 tax rate
$0.344445
$0.375845
The average homeowner can expect to see a roughly $200 increase to their property tax bill. The breakdown Due to state and federal disaster declarations following the flood, the county is allowed to raise
Average taxable home value Annual property taxes
$503,929
$515,213
$1,735.76
$1,936.40
SOURCE: TRAVIS COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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