Austin Tax Rate
Election
Austin City Council has adopted the FY2026 budget and plans to call a special Tax Rate Election (TRE) for November. This page explains what a TRE is, what a "for" or "against" vote means, and shares recent budget trends so you can make an informed choice.
What is a TRE?
- A Tax Rate Election asks voters to approve a property tax rate above the state's voter-approval rate.
- If approved, the higher rate applies this year and becomes the base for future years.
- If rejected, the rate defaults to the voter-approval rate and the City must align spending to that lower revenue.
This concerns the city portion of your property tax bill (separate from county, school district, hospital, community college, and special districts).
Key Things to Know
Budget growth vs. population
City budget grew from roughly $3.5B (2015) to $6.3B (2025); population rose ~10% while total budget rose ~80%.
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Per-resident spending
Increased from about $3,800 (2015) to about $6,300 (2025).
That means the city is spending $2,500 more per resident than before (per capita basis).
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Debt service
General Office debt service roughly doubled from about $149M to ~$288M yearly.
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Internal services
"Internal Services & Transfers" totals $500M+ per year—larger than Parks, Libraries, and Public Health combined.
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Internal services vs parks, libraries, public health
In FY2026, "Internal Services & Transfers" is larger than Parks, Libraries, and Public Health combined, highlighting tradeoffs in support vs. frontline services.
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Austin Energy context
Austin Energy's budget is up ~67% since 2015, while electricity delivered is up ~30%.
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Figures rounded; derived from City of Austin budget documents (2015–2026) and compiled analyses.
Perspectives
Supporters claim:
Even though the budget has been outpacing both inflation and population growth for years.
While police staffing and response times have lagged despite record spending.
Which really means no pressure to trim bloated departments or fix inefficiencies, even after approving an additional $100 million for homeless services on top of last budget's $550 million, with little visible improvement.
Vote No — Opponents say:
The various NGOs — especially those in the homelessness industry — are unaccountable and now getting even more taxpayer money (+$100M on top of last year's $550M), with few results.
Police and core public services should be prioritized before expanding bureaucracy and pet projects.
City Council has lost touch with residents, ignoring the realities of a rapidly deteriorating civic life.
City spending is growing far faster than the city itself, with little to show in improved services.
Bureaucratic overhead and rising debt service crowd out dollars that should be going to frontline needs.
Higher city taxes pile onto rising housing costs, pushing both homeowners and renters closer to the breaking point.
How a TRE could affect you
Homeowners
City tax rate × taxable value = city bill. Homestead exemptions help, but higher rates generally raise most bills.
Renters
Property taxes are a major landlord expense; rate increases are often passed through to rents over time.
Small businesses
Commercial properties don't have a homestead cap; rate changes flow directly into operating costs.
Election timeline & voting
- Election Day: TBD
- Early Voting: TBD
- Voter Registration Deadline: TBD
- Where to vote: TBD
Ballot language and the exact rate will be posted once the City finalizes the election order.
Sources & Methodology
- Primary sources: City of Austin Approved Budget Books and CAFRs, FY2015–FY2026; Austin Energy financial and operating reports.
- Figures are rounded for clarity. Where departments were reorganized, series were stitched using City notes to keep apples-to-apples.
- Charts reflect publicly available numbers. If you spot an error, please share a correction with a citation and page number.