Latest news with #KirkWatson
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How much could the city of Austin raise your property tax bill this year?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday, Austin City Council is set to declare a maximum property tax rate, which it will use as a cap during its ongoing budget process. The tax rate that's ultimately adopted by city council may end up being lower than that cap. Much of that discussion Thursday is likely to be centered around declaring a maximum tax rate higher than what is allowed by state law without ultimately triggering a tax rate election. In 2019, Texas lawmakers made it so that local governing bodies cannot raise the property tax rate year-over-year more than 3.5% without taking that hike to voters. 'Band-Aid budget': Council members concerned proposed budget cuts too much from community needs 'Because our community has raised important issues and questions about Austin's needs–and the potential need for a tax rate election to meet those needs–it is likely that the maximum tax rate we declare on July 31st, will be a tax rate that, if ultimately adopted, would trigger an election. This is because, if we don't declare the possibility of such a rate, then we preclude a TRE. I believe we will want to keep our options open as we go through the budget process. It is possible (more likely, probable) that the maximum rate we declare on July 31st is higher than what we will finally adopt when we pass a budget.' Austin Mayor Kirk Watson What would the proposed budget cost you without a tax rate election? Right now, the city manager's proposed budget sits at the 3.5% limit set by state law. Still, that proposed budget would cost the average ratepayer and homeowner $268.23 more per year. That breaks down to a proposed property tax rate of $0.5276 cents per $100 assessed property valuation. So the 'typical' Austin homeowner would see an increase of $12.90 per month, or $154.83 per year, in the city's portion of their annual property tax bill. The city's rates and fees, including for electricity, trash service, water, drainage, and the transportation user fee, would also rise under the proposed budget. Add those in and the projected increase for the typical Austin tax and ratepayer is $22.35 per month, or $268.23 per year. Austin city manager proposes $6B+ budget, as mayor floats tax rate change The city of Austin accounts for roughly a quarter of your property tax bill. Austin Independent School District (AISD) takes the largest chunk. Travis County, the Austin-Travis County health district (Central Health) and Austin Community College also take property taxes from you. How much would it cost if Austin votes to go above that 3.5% rate? According to Watson, every one cent the tax rate increases, the typical taxpayer's bill will go up by another $40.26 per year. But it would also generate roughly $21.6 million in city services. Austin budget building: Your council member's concerns, priorities heading into work sessions While some homeowners can declare property tax exemptions — like homestead, senior or disability exemptions — those only apply to homeowners, not landlords. Watson expressed concern that those rate increases would be passed from landlords to renters. 'Austin is too unaffordable. There's an inherent tension between collecting the public's money to pay for our needs and adding to our affordability challenges. We have to be balanced, disciplined, and stable in this difficult process. We don't want to inappropriately contribute to the problem we say we're trying to solve,' Watson said. But some city council members have expressed concern about the cuts made in the current budget and what it will mean for services if the city doesn't ask voters for more money. Austin City Council Member Mike Siegel said in his newsletter that his plan is to advocate for a $0.07 cent tax rate increase, which would trigger a tax rate election. 'I know it is painful to increase taxation, but the alternatives are worse. We want pools open in summer, parks and roads maintained, health programs to promote immunizations, and housing programs to provide shelter,' Siegel wrote. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LIVE BLOG: ‘No Kings' protests across Central Texas
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hundreds of protests will happen across the country Saturday, including in Austin, Bastrop, Pflugerville and Taylor. The 'No Kings' day of action happened the same day as, and in opposition to, a Washington, D.C. military parade on President Donald Trump's birthday. Planning for the parade began two years ago and was intended to commemorate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary. Watch the DC military parade here Earlier in the week, Trump ordered the California National Guard and Marines to assist the law enforcement response to protests in Los Angeles. Those began after Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to step up arrests in that city. After an anti-ICE protest in Austin on Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers to be on standby around the state ahead of Saturday's protests. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a Thursday press conference that they support the rights of protesters, but that action would be taken to remove instigators. Activist coalition Hands Off Central Texas (HOCTX) organized the local protests. HOCTX President Sophia Mirto told KXAN Wednesday that the group routinely holds events at the Capitol and cooperates with DPS when making protest plans. 'The group organizing Saturday's protest has a well-established record of peaceful advocacy and responsible civic engagement, and the event was approved by the State Preservation Board (of which Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick both are members) with the expectation of a safe, respectful gathering,' said State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, who sponsored the Saturday Capitol rally. Information below comes from KXAN journalists on scene at the protests. 10 a.m. KXAN reporter Mercedez Hernandez said there were at least 100 people present in Taylor for the protest. Texas DPS, Taylor Police and Williamson County Sheriff's Office deputies have routinely been circling the block, but there has been no obvious law enforcement presence or counter-protesters. 9:57 a.m. KXAN found at least 63 Texas locations listed online where anti-Trump demonstrations are advertised to take place this weekend, fueled by recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting undocumented immigrants. In Central Texas, that includes Austin, Dripping Springs, Fredericksburg, Lockhart, Pflugerville and Taylor. Protests began in Bastrop and Taylor, Texas. KXAN crews are monitoring these protests. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mayor: TX National Guard on standby to assist DPS during protests in Austin
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Mayor Kirk Watson confirmed the Texas National Guard may be called on to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety during protests in Austin this weekend. On Tuesday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would deploy the Texas National Guard to locations across the state as protests are planned throughout the week and into the weekend. Abbott calls to deploy Texas National Guard to locations across the state In a social media post, Abbott said the deployment was to 'ensure peace & order.' 'Peaceful protest is legal,' Abbott said. 'Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.' In response, Austin Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said deploying the National Guard was wrong. 'We've seen this playbook before, military force used to threaten and silence communities demanding justice. To every Texan exercising their constitutionally protected free speech: know your rights, stay vigilant, and protect one another,' Fuentes said. 'The City of Austin has been notified that the National Guard will be prepared to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety on Saturday, if deemed necessary. The City of Austin will continue to protect the right of people to peacefully assemble. We will continue to recognize the humanity and value of our immigrant community. I'm supportive of people exercising their right to engage in peaceful protest against politics and policies that they disagree with. However, destructive actions or efforts to hurt police is wrong. You are damaging your city. We are dealing with a very real situation right now that impacts the lives of very real people. Much of what we see out of Washington is to create fear and chaos— we should not play into these politics of fear. Adding to the chaos–through destruction of property, hurting other people, including police officers, or otherwise–adds to the problems for those people being targeted while empowering those in Washington who want more pain and chaos. The reality is that we should not feed into this politics of fear and pain and risk doing harm to those we want to help. We must continue to assert our first amendment rights to peacefully assemble without creating negative consequences for real people already living in fear.' Austin Mayor Kirk Watson This is a developing story and will be updated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Unintended consequences': Austin reworking affordable housing incentive program
AUSTIN (KXAN) — For months, residents at Acacia Cliffs Apartments — near MoPac and Far West Boulevard — have been fighting a rezoning request from the building's owners that would result in the demolition of the aging complex to rebuild a newer, taller apartment complex. For Eric Gomez, who has lived at Acacia Cliffs since 2016, it could mean he'll no longer be able to afford living in a spot that allows him to easily get to work, the grocery store, the library and a nearby hospital. He's one of the residents showing up at city hall regularly, asking city council members to shut down that rezoning request. But what the residents may not have known at first is that — for now — city council has tied its hands on what it can do in cases like this one. The options here: Approve the rezoning request under Austin's DB90 program, which only requires developers to commit to a certain number of affordable units in exchange for loosened height restrictions, or don't approve the rezoning request and allow the developer to demolish the complex anyways, rebuild it under the same zoning structure and commit no affordable units to the city's pipeline at all. 'DB90 has been an unhappy experience. Even with Council's well motivated goals for DB90, this density program, as currently created, is proving to be divisive, difficult to utilize, and ultimately too far from achieving the goal of Council to provide more housing by allowing more density,' Austin Mayor Kirk Watson wrote. He continued, 'The unintended consequences we're seeing need to be addressed.' That's why Austin City Council is voting on changes to DB90 Thursday in an attempt to close those loopholes. One group of council members — Jose Velasquez, Chito Vela, Zo Qadri, Mike Siegel — and the mayor are proposing the city's density bonus programs be reworked entirely. 'The main thrust of the resolution is creation of a hierarchy of density bonus paper districts that include both lower and higher heights than DB90. This is a critical necessity in our code, as this provides options that may allow for better outcomes,' Watson said. Meanwhile, Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said she wants the city to prioritize a one-for-one unit replacement. And Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen is looking to fund a new preservation program altogether — modeled after other cities like Dallas. 'This would give us another enormous tool in our arsenal that could start working in as little as three months to start buying down the affordability and making sure that we are extending the life of these properties,' he explained of his proposal. You can see all of the proposals from Austin City Council members on this message board heading into Thursday's council meeting. Gomez said he'll be there Thursday, asking for a solution that lets him stay where he is, at a price he can afford. 'Everyone needs to be made aware of it and make sure that the policies that the city council members create are actually indeed doing what they're supposed to be doing and not the opposite,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
04-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Austin apartment permits have plummeted since the pandemic
Permits for multifamily housing have dropped below pandemic -era levels across the country, according to Redfin, with Austin seeing among the most dramatic fall-offs. Why it matters: Apartment construction influences housing affordability in Austin, where a wave of new apartments ultimately helped curb rent hikes. The construction slowdown, which tariffs could prolong, risks reigniting rent inflation. The big picture: The rise of remote work during the pandemic allowed Americans to relocate to Austin and other cities, leading to a surge in rental demand. Builders ramped up construction in response — but now, rents are flattening and borrowing costs are high, making building less attractive. By the numbers: Developers got permits to build an average of 64.5 multifamily units per 10,000 people in greater Austin from April 2024 to March 2025, according to Redfin's analysis of Census Bureau data. That's down from the nearly 95 multifamily units per 10,000 people during the pandemic surge. Reality check: Austin is still issuing more multifamily permits — buildings with five or more units — than any other metro Redfin analyzed. The local rate of multifamily building permits granted outstrips the national rate of 12.4 multifamily units per 10,000 people in recent months. State of play: The median asking rent in Austin dropped 10.7% year over year to $1,420 in March — $379 below its record high. That was the largest decline in percentage among the 44 major U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed this spring. Zoom out: 63% of major metros are seeing fewer units approved per 10,000 people compared to the pandemic era. What they're saying: Builders nationwide are "pumping the brakes because elevated interest rates are making many projects prohibitively expensive," Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari wrote in the report. What's next: Mayor Kirk Watson is offering a resolution at Thursday's City Council meeting ordering city officials to re-examine incentive programs that allow developers to build taller buildings in exchange for affordable housing.
