What Does Prop Q 'Buy' Rundberg?

Next month Austin voters will head to the polls. But they’re not picking a candidate–they’re voting on their wallets.

Voters will decide on a Tax Rate Election, or a TRE. You’ve probably heard it referred to as Prop Q. It will increase property taxes to help fund a host of city programs. But what will it potentially buy residents, and what will it cost?

How much will it cost?

The TRE will increase property taxes by five cents per $100 of property value. The average Austin homeowner with a house worth 500,000 will pay about $300 more per year, according to the City of Austin. In Rundberg, property values are a little lower, closer to 350,000 on average, so average Rundberg homeowners would pay about $180 per year more in taxes. But incomes are also a little lower in Rundberg compared to the rest of Austin. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the median income in Austin is just over $91,000, while the median income in Rundberg is roughly $65,000. That means some families in Rundberg may have a more difficult time weathering potential property tax increases.

If it passes the city will bring in an additional $110 million dollars.

What if you rent?

There are a lot of rental properties in Rundberg. But renters not entirely off the hook. Landlords may increase rent to make up for the new taxes, but District 4 Council Member Chito Vela says he’s not worried about price gouging.

"This rental market and in district four in particular has softened a lot," Vela says. "Right now, I don't expect landlords to be able to pass any kind of increase down to their renters on a dollar for dollar basis. There's just too many good deals out there right now on apartments."

There are few barriers that keep a landlord from raising your rent in Texas once someone's lease is up. You can check your lease for details on rent increases for your apartment

So what does this increase get you?

The big ticket item is homelessness services. Just over half of the new funds would go towards different homelessness intervention programs. City leaders are hoping to tackle the issue at every level, with services for folks who have been homeless for a while, and others who are on the verge of becoming homeless.

Some funds would go towards operating and maintaining shelters like the Marshalling Yard and the 8th Street Shelter. Funds would also go to what they call ‘midstream interventions,' like emergency shelters and short-term housing.

The last piece would be ‘upstream interventions’ meant to keep people from becoming homeless in the first place, like providing funds for utility hookups or emergency bills.

This could have a huge impact on Rundberg residents. According to 211 call data, 42% of all Rundberg area calls last year were for housing assistance. Of those, 61% were looking for help with rent, fees, or motel costs.

The other big investment is for emergency mental health services.

Since 2021, residents could call 911 for a mental health emergency. But specialized responders weren’t available all the time. With this funding, the program would now be available 24/7.

It’s a program that’s already had tangible results. According to early reports, if clinicians went with police to a call, the officer’s time on that call was cut in half. The odds they would arrest or involuntarily detain someone also dropped about 50%

Some funds would address people’s physical safety as well.

$850,000 would be used to help people dealing with domestic abuse, stalking, or human trafficking. If funded, this could have a big impact in Rundberg, which deals with high domestic abuse case numbers.

Additional funds would go towards park and pool maintenance, public safety and health services.

So what if this TRE doesn’t pass?

Your property taxes will still go up, just not as much.

The city council will pass a new budget at 3.5% per $100 of property value. That’s the amount they can raise taxes without triggering an election, per state law.

Other fees will also be going up if the TRE passes or not. Utilities are expected to be about $400 higher on average. And Travis County is increasing their tax rate by 8% to pay for flood damage repairs from July. This has been opponents’ biggest problem with the TRE. They say between rising costs and increasing taxes, Austinites are being asked to pay too much. During public comment on the budget in September, longtime Rundberg resident Monica Guzman voiced opposition to Prop Q because of how it would impact community members.

"A lot of people in the district and the city as a whole are struggling," Guzman said. "You've heard that, you're going to keep hearing that."

So why does the city need this money?

Two big reasons-Vela says one of them is the state law that’s triggering this vote right now. In 2019, SB 2 capped property tax increases at 3.5%. Anything above that required voter approval. Vela says that has stymied the city’s budget process for years.

"2020, 2021, 22, 23, 24, we held to that 3.5%, property tax revenue level," Vela says. "But it's just come to the point that we need additional revenues to just continue to provide the municipal services that Austinites have come to expect."

The other problem, Vela says, is a drastic drop in federal funding. Austin has lost over $105 million for the I-35 expansion, $32 million for solar energy programs, and $15 million for public health initiatives, to name a few.

"We're losing, very important grants left and right," Vela says. "The state continues to really just not participate in any meaningful way in trying to help cities tackle the problems that we're struggling with."

Vela and other council members have said that because of these cuts, it’s up to Austinites now to take care of each other.

"There's not going to be a state of Texas program that's going to sweep in and deal with this problem for us," Vela says. "We have to take care of ourselves."

Election day is November 4, and early voting goes through October 31. You can find more information on voting at votetravis.gov