ON THE BALLOT · NOVEMBER 3, 2026
Last November 63% of us told City Hall No Thank Q on a tax hike, and nine months later Council adopted a rate higher than the one we voted down, without an election this time. Prop I writes the independent audit we asked for into the city charter, so Council can’t hold another tax-rate election until an outside firm has been through the books. Vote YES.
01 / THE NUMBERS
These come straight from the City’s adopted budgets and tax-rate ordinances, which you can open from the links under the boxes.
Per $100 of taxable value, before any of this started.
Higher than the 57.40¢ voters rejected in Prop Q, and adopted at the voter-approval rate so no election was needed.
On a $500,000 home before exemptions, or about $102 per $100k of value. The City’s own median-homestead example is up $113.76 this year alone.
Up from $3.5B in 2015, while population grew about 10%. The budget grew about 90%.
Rates: FY 2026-27 adopted record and 2025 election record, both linked to the City’s ordinances and taxpayer-impact statements. Dollar figures use the raw rate change so you can do your own math. Your bill depends on your City taxable value and exemptions. Council also took the full voter-approval increase in 2025 (47.76¢ to 52.40¢) even after Prop Q failed, which is why the two-year jump is closer to ten cents than five.
02 / WHAT PROP I DOES
Prop I doesn’t set a tax rate; it sets a rule that City Hall has to put an outside firm through the books before it asks voters for a tax-rate increase.
Creates an Independent Affordability and Efficiency Initiative: an outside firm reviews City operations every five years, and a review has to be finished within the year before any maintenance-and-operations tax-rate election. The contractor commits to finding more in savings than it charges, and Council can’t repeal any of it without going back to voters.
Rejects the charter amendment and leaves you with the ordinance Council passed for itself in February 2026: reviews at least three years apart, no requirement to audit before a tax election, and nine council votes to amend or repeal it whenever they like.
Basis: official election notice, Proposition I, Council’s ordinance 20260226-050, and the full petition text. The ballot summary is shorter than the amendment, so read the amendment.
Council wrote its own audit ordinance after Prop Q failed; here’s how it stacks up against the one voters petitioned for.
| The rule | Council’s ordinance (Feb 2026) | Prop I charter amendment |
|---|---|---|
| How often | “Recurring,” with at least three years between cycles. No hard deadline. | Every five years, plus whenever the tax-election trigger applies. |
| Before a tax election | Nothing. Council can call a tax-rate election without any audit, which is what it did in 2025. | A completed review within the year before the election. No audit, no election. |
| Savings | “Identify cost savings and performance improvements.” No floor. | Contractor commits to finding savings greater than what it is paid. |
| Who can undo it | Nine council members, any time. | Only voters, through another charter election. |
On the same July 30, 2026 agenda where Council advanced the audit item, it also approved the maximum proposed tax rate for this year, and on August 12 it adopted that rate. The audit is for next time; the increase is for now. Council action record ↗
03 / WHY YES
What the opposition says, and what we say back.
Mayor Kirk Watson and Council Member Marc Duchen say Prop I duplicates Council’s February ordinance and that requiring savings above the consultant’s fee could distort what the consultant recommends. What they’d prefer is the version they control, with no tax-election trigger and a nine-vote repeal switch, and that ordinance only exists because the petition forced the issue.
Read Austin Current’s comparison ↗This site asked for an independent efficiency audit the morning after Prop Q lost. Council answered with a soft ordinance and then adopted a higher rate than the one voters rejected, so if City Hall wants to go back to the ballot for more money, an outside review first is the bare minimum. A contractor that has to find more in savings than it costs isn’t a distortion; that’s the job description. Prop I is the follow-through on the No Thank Q vote.
Save Austin Now led the petition ↗04 / QUESTIONS
Not by itself, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Prop I doesn’t set a rate; it makes the next tax-rate election harder to call until an outside audit is on the table. Lower bills come from Council spending less, and this is how you make them look at where the money goes. Read the ballot notice.
Council passed an ordinance in February 2026, after the petition was already circulating. It has no requirement to audit before a tax election and nine council votes can repeal it. If Prop I fails that ordinance stays; if Prop I passes, the requirement goes into the charter where Council can’t touch it without asking you. See the comparison.
Austin Current reported the City could end up running two processes, which Council can fix in an afternoon by lining its ordinance up with the charter. A city with a $6.6 billion budget complaining about the cost of one outside review isn’t a serious objection. Read the reporting.
State law lets the City adopt up to the “voter-approval rate” each year without an election, and that rate gets recalculated annually. In 2026 it came out at 57.99¢, above the 57.40¢ voters rejected in 2025, and Council took all of it, 8 to 2. Legal, yes. Also a pretty clear answer to what voters said last November. See the FY 2026-27 record.
Prop Q asked for five cents above the cap, and 109,375 Austinites said no against 62,952 who said yes. This site said the next step was an independent efficiency audit; Prop I is that step, with the added rule that it happens before City Hall comes back for more. Read the certified 2025 record.
05 / THE ARCHIVE
The signs, the charts, the myths-vs-facts page, the letters from your neighbors: all of it stays up, along with the certified result and what Council did after.
FROM THE 2025 CAMPAIGNThe original Prop Q campaign site lives on exactly as published, along with numbers that were true then and are worse now.
Take me back ↗Preserved as published. Old election dates and estimates are historical, not current guidance.
The result, the five cents, and the budget Council amended afterward.
Open the election record ↗2026-27 · BUDGET RECORDThe proposal, the adopted rate, the vote count, and the source documents.
Follow the money ↗HISTORICAL · CAMPAIGN MATERIALAnalysis, letters, yard signs, myths vs. facts, and the get-out-the-vote kit.
Enter the campaign archive ↗06 / MAKE YOUR PLAN
Check your registration, sample ballot, and polling locations with your county election office. Prop I is a City of Austin measure, and charter propositions come after the candidate races, so read to the end of the ballot.
Official election resources ↗Dates: Austin City Clerk. Confirm hours and locations with your county.
THE SOURCE DESK