Letters to Austin

The EC wishes to share our concerns about this permanent tax increase with the membership. We have examined statements by the mayor, council, and staff and believe they have not shared important context with citizens about how they intend to spend this money.

The language of Proposition Q states that the tax increase is "for the purpose of funding or expanding programs intended to increase housing affordability and reduce homelessness; improve parks and recreation facilities and services; enhance public health services and public safety; ensure financial stability; and provide for other general fund maintenance and operation expenditures included in the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget as approved or amended by City Council."

The ANC Executive Committee fully supports public spending that directly serves citizens' vital interests—responsible governance demands no less. However, City Hall must own up to its choices on other massive expenditures entirely left out of this proposition. Why is the city pouring $1.6 billion into a vastly expanded convention center? Why has it committed $104 million to the I-35 Cap and Stitch project this year? City leaders are also pushing other nonessential projects ahead while they leave essential needs underfunded.

Prop Q's wording is fundamentally deceptive and tries to coerce taxpayers, falsely suggesting that a failed vote will gut basic city services. That isn't responsible budgeting—it's intimidation. This budget and the Tax Rate Election that supports it appear deliberately structured to shelter discretionary pet projects while demanding more from residents for the core services our communities cannot go without. That's backward and unacceptable.

We are acutely aware that these are unsettled times: longstanding federal funding will likely be cut or eliminated, the economy is unstable, the job market is flat, and the housing market is unpredictable. Enormous post-flood cleanup costs confront Travis County, and the county will almost certainly increase taxes. The State of Texas has limited local governments' ability to levy taxes. The source of these funds, property taxes and usage fees, is regressive and impacts working families at a greater rate than the wealthy.

What Council refuses to acknowledge is how many of our neighbors already live close to the edge. This measure will increase the displacement of longtime residents because rising taxes will push homeowners to sell their properties and landlords to raise their rents. Many Austinites are already struggling to pay taxes and increased utility costs. The passage of Prop Q may mean the difference between a household making mortgage/rent payments or losing a home.

We have concluded that the mayor and council have focused on projects best characterized as "wants" at the expense of what we know to be "needs," meaning the benefits and services that we believe are most essential for Austin citizens. The wording of this proposition is fundamentally deceptive, as it implies that the only way for the city to pay for these essential services is to increase the existing tax rate in perpetuity.

We call on our membership to review this statement carefully and share it with their neighbors. A vote in favor of Proposition Q is a mistake. Before asking the citizens to pay more, the city must thoroughly audit existing programs and entitlements and cut everything that doesn't serve all of its citizens, has no proven results, or fails in its intended purpose. We ask that the mayor and council return to their spreadsheets and create an honest, clear budget proposal that we can all support.

Dear Fellow Austinites,

I'm writing to share some disturbing facts about the upcoming Tax Rate Election that I discussed on KLBJ today. After reviewing the city budget and recent interviews with city officials, it's become crystal clear that this "crisis" is completely manufactured.

"If you look over this, the glaring issue is that we had funding increased on many non-essential programs, and funding decreased on some of the very programs that they're now taking to the TRE. It's 100% manufactured."

The Numbers Don't Lie

The city claims they have a $33M shortfall next year. Their solution? A Tax Rate Election that will bring in $110M in revenue. That's $77 million MORE than they claim to need!

But here's where it gets interesting. While they're crying poor and threatening to cut essential services, look at what they're actually doing with our money:

Where Your Tax Dollars Are Really Going

Brand New Spending:

• Created the ACME office (Arts, Culture, Music, Entertainment) with a $70M budget - $24M of which is completely new spending
• Management Services budget exploding from $36M to $59M (a $23M increase!)
• Communications & Engagement getting a $9M increase
• Government Relations receiving a $1M increase
• Equity Office getting an $800K increase
• Climate Action receiving a $500K increase

How Close Are We to the Limit?

Here's what makes this truly frustrating: The city is so close to the voter-approval tax rate limit that avoiding this entire Tax Rate Election would have been incredibly easy. We're talking about being just a fraction of a penny away from the threshold.

With a $6.3 billion budget, the city could have easily stayed under the limit by making minor adjustments - trimming a tiny percentage here and there. Instead, they chose to blow past the limit with all this new spending, forcing us into this unnecessary election.

Think about it: They found $23M for Management Services increases, $9M for Communications, and millions more for new offices. But they couldn't find a way to stay under the tax rate limit? This election was entirely avoidable.

Don't Fall for It

This is about expanding bureaucracy while claiming they need more money for essential services. They're funding $38M in public health grants and millions in new administrative positions while pushing for a tax increase.

When you vote this November, remember: they had the money. They chose to spend it on new offices, expanded management, and increased bureaucracy instead of the services we actually use and need.

Vote NO on Prop Q. Don't reward manufactured crises with higher taxes.

Sincerely,
A Fed-Up Taxpayer

To Austin Taxpayers & Residents:

A one-page brief on the city's homelessness spending and why accountability matters.

The Homeless NGO Complex in Austin

Austin spends tens of millions each year on homelessness response, and most of that funding is outsourced to nonprofits through Social Services Contracts—creating a "shadow city council" of organizations that shape priorities without being elected or directly accountable to voters.

Key Numbers

• ~$88M planned for Homelessness & Housing in FY 2026
• $51.5M Homeless Strategies & Operations (FY 2025–26), of which ~71% is Social Services Contracts (outsourced)
• Social Service Contract funding grew over 5× since 2015, while Austin's population grew ~10%

Who Receives City Contracts

Examples from recent budgets include SAFE Alliance, Salvation Army, Casa Marianella, the 8th Street Shelter operator, Permanent Supportive Housing providers, and one-time shelter operations for the Marshalling Yard.

Why Residents Are Concerned

• Perverse incentives: worsening street conditions often lead to bigger budgets.
• Accountability gap: nonprofits influence priorities but aren't accountable to voters.
• Overhead first: significant dollars are absorbed by admin and executive costs before services.
• Duplication: overlapping contracts across Public Health, Housing, and the Homeless Strategy Office.
• Results vs. spending: record outlays alongside persistently visible encampments.

Case study: The city ended its contract with Urban Alchemy after data-handling and oversight issues—one example of why tighter vetting and performance enforcement are needed.

Bottom Line

Austin outsources roughly 70–75% of its homelessness operating budget to outside providers each year. Taxpayers deserve clear metrics—units built, treatment beds opened, and people permanently housed—plus regular audits and public reporting. Fund core services, measure outcomes, and tie renewals to results.

Prepared for Austin taxpayers and residents. Data summarized from City of Austin budget books and public documents. This message is not affiliated with any PAC.

Dear Austin Neighbors,

Just when you thought City Hall couldn't get more tone-deaf, they've outdone themselves. While asking us to approve a massive tax increase through Prop Q, Austin just unveiled their brand new logo—a $1.1 MILLION masterpiece that took SEVEN YEARS to create.

"I have rarely seen Republicans and Democrats united on any issue quite like this, but there is outright condemnation of this logo because the logo stinks." - Local Attorney Adam Loewy

The Numbers That Will Make You Sick

• $1,117,558 - Total cost of the rebrand
• $200,000 - Just for the design
• $640,000 - For vendors and implementation
• $115,000 - For "public awareness campaigns"
• 7 YEARS - How long this "process" took

What Did We Get for Our Million Dollars?

A green and violet "A" that residents are calling everything from "outdated grocery store" design to looking like a "woke band emblem." Even better? It looks suspiciously similar to Dallas's logo from 1972. Yes, we spent over a million dollars to copy Dallas.

The Perfect Symbol of Austin's Priorities

While City Hall was spending 7 years and $1.1 million on a logo makeover, here's what was happening in the real Austin:

• We're 300 police officers short
• 911 calls go unanswered
• Crime rates continue rising
• $101 million set aside for homelessness with no measurable results
• Now they want to raise your taxes because they're "broke"

The Timing Couldn't Be Worse

This logo debacle came out just weeks after:

• City Council approved a $6.3 billion budget
• Gave themselves a 4% pay raise
• Warned homeowners about property tax hikes in November
• Started pushing Prop Q to raise even more revenue

Even Rep. Chip Roy Gets It

Representative Chip Roy called out the absurdity: "We have people in Austin who don't get their 911 calls answered. You have people that have seen an increase in crime in Austin because they were going after, gutting and cutting the police force... [but] they want to go spend a million dollars on a rebrand."

What This Really Tells Us

The logo isn't just ugly—it's a perfect symbol of everything wrong with Austin's government:

• Misplaced priorities: Branding over basic services
• Wasteful spending: $1.1M for something nobody wanted
• Tone deafness: Massive spending while claiming poverty
• Process over results: 7 years to design what a high schooler could do in a weekend

"This logo is exactly what is wrong with this city. Completely unnecessary, ugly and diverts money away from necessary projects." - Austin Resident

The Bottom Line

If Austin can blow $1.1 million on a logo while claiming they need a massive tax increase to fund basic services, what do you think they'll do with the extra $110 million from Prop Q?

They had the money. They spent it on logos, consultants, and bureaucracy instead of police, parks, and public safety. Now they want MORE.

The logo is the perfect reason to vote NO on Prop Q.

Don't reward this kind of wasteful spending with a blank check. Make them prove they can spend your existing tax dollars wisely before giving them more.

Sincerely,
A Taxpayer Who Deserves Better

P.S. - Former City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly started a petition to stop the logo rollout. Maybe we need a petition to stop wasteful spending entirely.

Dear Austin,

I'm a proud Longhorn who grew up in McKinney, went to UT, and then spent the last decade and a half working in the Bay Area. Born in California, I watched my home state slowly destroy itself with bad policies and worse priorities. Now I'm back in Austin—my adopted home that I love—and I'm watching the same movie play out again.

I came back to Austin two years ago, excited to be home. But let me tell you, it ain't looking good.

"The trails are a mess. Vagrants everywhere. The friendly vibe we all love is on high alert because we don't know what some crazy person is going to do if we let our guard down."

The Simplest Question

Let's ask ourselves the simplest question possible: Is Austin better or worse off with the decisions the current city council is making?

If you've been here more than five minutes, you know the answer. This isn't the Austin we love. This isn't the Austin I went to school in. This isn't even the Austin from three years ago.

Let Me Put This in Terms Everyone Understands

• Would you be super excited to renew the lease of a tenant who totally trashed your house?
• Would you give millions more dollars to an executive who is tanking the stock price and killing company morale?
• Would you give a $100M contract renewal to a quarterback who is only losing games?

So WHY THE HELL would we give these people MORE money?

I've Seen This Movie Before

In California, they always had a reason why they needed just a little more money. Just one more tax. Just one more bond. Just one more fee. And every single time, things got worse, not better.

The homeless problem? Worse.
Crime? Worse.
Quality of life? Worse.
Cost of living? Through the roof.

I watched San Francisco—one of the most beautiful cities in the world—turn into an open-air asylum. I watched companies flee. I watched friends move away. I watched my home state commit slow-motion suicide by compassion.

Austin Is at a Crossroads

We're standing at the exact same crossroads California faced 20 years ago. We can either:

Option A: Keep rewarding failure with more money, hoping that THIS time it'll be different (spoiler: it won't)

Option B: Say NO, hold them accountable, and demand better

They Don't Deserve a Single Penny More

This city council hasn't earned our trust, much less our money. They've:

• Let our parks and trails deteriorate while spending $1.1M on a logo
• Allowed homeless camps to destroy our greenbelts
• Made downtown unsafe while cutting police funding
• Raised our cost of living while degrading our quality of life
• Turned "Keep Austin Weird" into "Keep Austin Dangerous"

The Solution Is Simple

We don't need to give them more money to fix problems they created. We need to:

1. Vote NO on Prop Q - Don't reward failure
2. Vote them OUT - Replace the council with people who actually care about Austin
3. Fix this mess - With competent leadership that puts residents first

A Warning from Someone Who's Lived This

I'm not some right-wing ideologue. I'm not anti-government. I'm just someone who watched my home state destroy itself and desperately doesn't want to see it happen again.

The same consultants, the same NGOs, the same failed policies that ruined California are here now, selling the same snake oil to a new audience. They'll use compassion as a weapon, call you heartless for demanding results, and gaslight you into thinking that somehow THIS time, if you just give them a little more money, they'll finally fix everything.

They won't. They never do. They'll just get richer while Austin gets worse.

Austin, We're Better Than This

This is still our city. We can still save it. But not by rewarding the very people who are destroying it.

Vote NO on Prop Q. Not because you're against funding city services, but because you're against rewarding failure. Not because you don't care about Austin, but because you love it too much to watch it die the same death as San Francisco.

Don't California my Texas. Please.

Hook 'em and God Bless,
A Longhorn Who Refuses to Give Up on Austin 🤘