- Election day is next week.

Will Austin voters approve a new property tax increase?

We'll hear from Mayor Kirk Watson and from voters who support it and oppose it, coming up on "Austin InSight."

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally & James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(uplifting music) (uplifting music continues) - Hello, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

With early voting ending soon and election day next week, Austin voters are deciding whether to increase property taxes to help fund programs that address homelessness, public health, parks, and other needs.

It's called Proposition Q. And later in the show, we'll have two voters making a case for and against the tax hike.

But first, some context.

Voters and policymakers have approved several tax increases in recent years.

Here's a list: a 2023 Travis County Bond issue, adding about $57 in annual property taxes to the average homeowner; a 2024 Austin ISD tax increase of about $400 per year per homeowner.

Last year, voters approved a Travis County affordable childcare tax, adding another $126 per year in taxes.

Meanwhile, a new Travis County tax increase to pay for this year's flood damage will mean $200 more per year in property taxes for the average homeowner.

And now finally, the City of Austin's tax rate election would add about $300 per year for a home valued at $500,000.

We sat down with Mayor Kirk Watson to talk about the city's budget challenges and this tax rate election.

Mayor Watson, thanks so much for being here.

- My pleasure.

Thanks for having me.

- So, Mayor, the campaign for and against Proposition Q has been vigorous, with several business and real estate development groups in opposition.

How confident are you that it will pass?

- Oh, I, years ago, quit setting odds on outcomes of elections like this.

I think it's been good that there's been a vigorous campaign.

I'm always pleased when there's a level of discussion, regardless of how I feel about what I want the outcome to be.

We'll get this last little week and a little bit more behind us and then have election day.

And as I said, the night that we passed the budget that would create the opportunity for a TRE, I said, it's now time to trust our voters.

And I feel very strongly about that.

And so I'm real pleased that the voters have a chance to weigh in on this.

- And voters in this area have historically approved a number of tax increases in recent years, but this time, are you concerned that voters may just be tired of them?

- Well, there is that.

And in addition to that, as I said all during the budget process, I feel strongly that people right now, they feel the affordability issues in our community.

They want us to be looking at it through that lens, if you will.

So I feel very strongly that part of what people are looking for is how do we balance the affordability concerns that we have in our community with the need to be able to pay for the services that we also want at the same time.

So it's with everything else going on with what happened last year with tax rate elections, with inflation, all of those extra costs, it's legitimate for people to be considering all of those ramifications.

- And the city is facing a $33 million budget shortfall.

And city leaders have blamed sales and property tax revenues not recovering from the pandemic, as well as federal budget cuts as reasons for this.

Why raise taxes now?

- Well, because we are a growing city, and we're a city that has real significant needs, and we need to be able to cover those needs.

For example, in this tax rate election, one of the key parts for me on wanting to have a tax rate election is we have an issue that I consider to be a humanitarian crisis in our community, and that's addressing homelessness.

One of the things that's very important in all of that is that when I came into office, I felt like the system was broken.

So one of the things we did is we created an office, a standalone office to deal with homeless strategy.

We put a really great person in that position, and they've done a good job.

And as part of that good job, what they did is they've created a plan for how we address homelessness in our community.

This would fully fund that homeless strategy office.

That is something we really need.

About around half of the TRE would go to fully funding the homeless strategy office and getting that plan put in place.

Another 10% is related to emergency medical services and needs there.

Another 10% is related to wildfire prevention and firefighters.

A little over 20%, or right at 20%, deals with public health.

So we have very real needs that this would address.

And even, you know, so it goes back to my point a minute ago, this is an effort to try to balance the issues of affordability, which I take very seriously, with the needs that our growing community has, and they're very real needs.

- And it is though important to note that property taxes will go up regardless of this election, but the increase will be much smaller if voters say no to Proposition Q. If voters do indeed say no, what are you most concerned about losing momentum in?

Addressing the homelessness crisis?

Something else?

- Yeah, sure.

There's two things that jump in my mind when you ask that question.

One is, we will not be able to fully fund the homeless strategy office.

We will not be able to fully fund our plan for how we address people living homeless in our community.

And I will tell you that that's probably the number one thing I hear about from people in terms of what they want to see the city do.

Unfortunately, it's very expensive in order to meet those needs.

The second thing I'm concerned about is right now, 100% of all of our property taxes go to public safety.

70% of our sales tax goes to public safety.

But if all of your property taxes go to public safety right now, and we're not able to make incremental increases, then we're in a position where it makes it even difficult to do more in public safety.

So we're in a position where it's important.

I think you're gonna start seeing more and more around the state communities that are growing like we are and have needs like we do, having tax rate elections.

And I worry that if we don't do this, then we will be in a situation where we're gonna regret it because we're not paying for things that people want us to pay for.

- And these are certainly very thorny issues that Austin voters are facing and have been dealing with.

And issues not unique to Austin, but major cities across the nation are facing.

Mayor Watson, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the tax questions facing Austin voters.

- My pleasure.

Appreciate y'all doing this.

- Some of the programs to be funded by the Austin tax increase impact low-income families or other underserved communities.

Our Decibel team has been looking into how TRE funding would reach into the Rundberg area.

Senior multimedia journalist Blair Waltman-Alexin explains.

- Next month, Austin voters will head to the polls, but we're not picking a candidate.

We're voting on our wallets.

But what will it potentially buy residents and what will it cost?

Let's get into it.

(lively music) How much will it cost?

So the TRE will increase property taxes by 5 cents per $100 of property value.

If you have a home worth about $500,000, which is the average in Austin, you're gonna pay about $300 more per year in property taxes.

In Rundberg, property values are a little bit lower, around $350,000 on average.

So residents in Rundberg are gonna pay about $180 more in property taxes per year.

If the TRE passes, the City of Austin is gonna collect $110 million in additional revenue.

What if you rent?

You're not entirely off the hook.

Landlords may increase your rent to make up for the new taxes, but City Council Member Chito Vela says he's not worried about skyrocketing rents.

- 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.

- What does this increase get you?

The big-ticket item is homelessness services.

(playful music) Some funds would go towards operating and maintaining shelters like the Marshalling Yard and the Eighth Street shelter.

- How long ago was that?

- [Blair] It would also let the city hire 12 more homelessness intervention specialists to help with outreach efforts.

Funds would also go to what they call midstream interventions, emergency shelters, and short-term housing.

- And then this part is for your income part.

So I put your income information right there.

- 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 calls from the Rundberg area were people looking for assistance with housing.

And of that, 61% were looking for assistance with rent, fees and motel costs.

The other big investment is for emergency mental health services.

- Looks like we got a call.

- Since 2021, you could call 911 for a mental health emergency, but specialized responders weren't available all the time.

This budget asks for an additional $3 million to expand that program 24/7.

What if this TRE doesn't pass?

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

(energetic music) The City Council will pass a new budget at the 3.5% cap.

That's the amount they can raise taxes without triggering an election per state law.

Other costs are going up, whether 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 for too much.

- Basically, a lot of people in the district, in the city as a whole, are struggling.

- It's a scam to tell Austin residents if they want basic social and/or essential services, they need to vote for higher tax rates.

- Why does the city need this money?

So there's two big reasons.

One of them, according to Council Member Vela, is the law that's triggering this election right now.

In 2019, SB 2 capped property tax increases at 3.5%.

Anything above that requires voter approval.

Vela says that has stymied the city's budget.

- 3.5% property tax cap is just not feasible for a Texas city.

- [Blair] The other problem, Vela says, is a drastic drop in federal funding.

- We're losing very important grants left and right.

- Austin has already lost over $105 million for the I-35 expansion, $32 million for solar energy programs, and $15 million for public health initiatives, just to name a few.

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

- There's not gonna be a federal program that's gonna sweep in and kind of deal with this problem for us.

We have to take care of ourselves.

(gentle music) - Sticking with the topic of Proposition Q, we've asked people on both sides to share top reasons to vote for and against the tax hike.

Our commentary segment is called "Op-Ed."

First, favoring the TRE is Ivanna Neri, Senior Director of Partnerships with UpTogether, a nonprofit that provides financial aid to low-income families.

(keyboard clicking) - Hello, I'm Ivanna Neri, Senior Director of Partnerships at UpTogether, an organization that partners with families across Austin to build economic and social mobility.

Every day I meet families who are working hard to stay housed, care for their children, and contribute to this city.

They don't need charity, they need stability.

And that is exactly what the tax rate election, Proposition Q, helps make possible.

After nearly $200 million in federal cuts, this measure restores local funding for the essentials that keep us running: housing, public health, emergency response, and neighborhood services.

Importantly, it provides permanent funding for the Family Stabilization Grant Program, a people-centered investment that helps families avoid falling into homelessness.

When families can cover rent, childcare, or an unexpected expense, they stay employed, kids stay in school, and our neighborhoods stay strong.

The cost of doing nothing is higher for families and for the city.

When we prevent a crisis, we protect stability, dignity, and opportunity.

Proposition Q helps our team do both: respond to emergencies and reduce how often they happen.

This is a choice about the kind of city we want to be, one that turns compassion into policy and ensures everyone has a chance to move forward.

I'm Ivanna Neri with UpTogether, and I support Proposition Q because when Austin invests in its people, our whole city thrives.

- For the opposing view on the tax hike, we hear from Mark Ramseur, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

- Hi, I'm Mark Ramseur, Chairman of the Austin Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

As Austinites get ready to vote on November 4th, we want to help our community understand what the tax rate election means for residences and businesses.

Proposition Q asks voters to approve a 16.9% property tax increase, the largest in nearly 20 years.

While we all value strong city services, the Austin Chamber does not support Proposition Q and encourages voters to vote no on this measure.

Here are three key reasons why.

First, affordability.

Property taxes in Austin have gone up more than 300% since 2004.

This new increase could add hundreds of more dollars a year to the typical homeowner's bill, raise rents for tenants, and increase operational costs for local employers, making Austin less affordable for families.

Second, economic context.

This proposal comes at a time when local indicators like housing, office demand, and sales tax revenues are showing slower growth.

Families, renters, and businesses are already having to manage higher costs for everyday expenses.

And third, fiscal responsibility.

Before asking taxpayers for such a large increase, the city should first look internally for cost savings and operational efficiencies.

The proposed $6.3 billion budget already includes $415 million in new spending and more than a hundred new city positions.

As you head to the polls, we urge you to vote no on Proposition Q. Together, we can keep Austin affordable and ensure the city uses its resources responsibly for the good of residences, businesses, and our community's future.

(keyboard clicking) - Looking more broadly at this year's election, there are 17 constitutional amendments on the ballot this year.

Several focus on tax relief for homeowners and for businesses.

Also, voters can decide whether to spend $3 billion in tax dollars on dementia prevention and research, but one of the most important amendments with significant long-term consequences would create a $20 billion water infrastructure fund.

That seems fairly important if you combine our state's growth with our dwindling water availability.

For more on the many choices on the ballot, Scott Braddock from the "Quorum Report" joins us now.

Thanks so much for being with us again, Scott.

- Good to see you, Laura.

- So Scott, a mixed bag of amendments for sure, but let's first talk about that water infrastructure.

Can you break down this amendment?

Who's backing it and why?

- Well, what the amendment would do is it's a huge plan, $20 billion over the next 20 years to fund water projects, which are desperately needed.

As you said, we have an exploding population.

Not only do we have about a thousand people moving to Texas every day from other places, but we also have these data centers that are chugging water like it's going outta style and all of that.

We need water.

And as they say, you know, in the old West, water is what you fight over.

Whiskey is what you drink.

Right?

- Yep.

- And so look, this is something that couldn't be more important.

There are some arguments about the specific funding mechanism, and this is running into opposition from conservative groups all across the state.

Some county Republican parties, as well as some influential conservative newsletters and talk show hosts, coming out against this and saying that it's a slush fund, that it's, you know, funding the Austin Swamp and a bunch of that kind of talk.

And we've seen polling on this that shows that if Texans know what this does, up to 75% of Texans agree with it, Texas voters.

But the problem is a lot of those voters don't know exactly what it does because there's no campaign telling them about it.

So this could come down to the wire, no predictions, but I can tell you that some of the people with a vested interest in it expect it to be a close result.

- But interestingly though, wasn't this approved by a very conservative legislature?

- Absolutely.

Republicans joined with Democrats on this, of course.

And for all these amendments, two-thirds of both the House and Senate had to vote for that thing.

That'd be mostly Republicans, but some Democrats had to join in as well.

And so all of these amendments that we're talking about had broad bipartisan support.

That's how they get on the ballot in the first place.

- Hmm, and earlier in our show, we talked about the proposed tax increase, but there are several tax amendments, mainly property tax reductions for some.

Why was that a priority for the legislature?

- This has been a long-running priority of Republican leadership to try to buy down and create, you know, a lower property tax burden for Texans all across the state.

The issue with it is, and it's complicated on purpose, because that's what leads to so much finger-pointing.

You know, the mayor of Austin will point at the state, they'll point back at him.

But bottom line is people are paying more in property taxes, right?

And so it's never the case that the vast majority of Texans, even people in Travis County, wanna pay more in property taxes.

What's happening on the ballot now with this, the main thing is an amendment that I would expect to easily pass that would increase the homestead exemption from where it is right now at $100,000 up to $140,000.

People aren't gonna vote against that.

At the same time, you might have local governments move to have their taxes increased at the local level.

And so the reason that we talk about it in terms of relief versus a cut is if you say this'll be a tax cut, people expect that to happen, then they would be mad at whoever didn't make the cut happen, right, if it had been promised.

The reason that Republicans use the word relief instead is because very often they'll try to make the argument to voters that your taxes would have been even higher if we hadn't done this thing at the state capitol.

It all becomes very amorphous and has become a big finger-pointing game.

- And there is one amendment that seems a bit redundant this time.

It seems to make illegal something that is already illegal, and that is requiring only US citizens to be allowed to vote.

What's the impetus for this?

- Mostly conservative grandstanding and placating the base that supports President Trump.

Even some Democrats, of course, voted for this because no officeholder is going to argue that undocumented people should be voting.

So this is a layup, it's something that's easily gonna pass, but it's all politics.

And I will tell you that a lot of the amendments that make their way to the ballot now to change the Texas Constitution in various ways really do amount to just political games.

- Indeed.

Well, there's a lot to wrap our minds around here with 17 amendments, a lot for voters to consider.

And I know this is a low turnout election, so we'll stay tuned for the results.

Scott with the "Quorum Report," thank you so much for sharing your insight with us.

- My pleasure.

Thank you.

(uplifting music) - Meanwhile, the idea of higher taxes is just one of probably many things that might be causing you more stress these days.

But enough about government.

Let's talk about a new PBS show that wants to help you with your mental health.

It's called "How Are We Today?"

And it's a project from local actor-director Tyler Coe.

We previously spoke with Tyler about his very personal inspiration for the series.

(gentle music) - Hey, how are we today?

I hope you're doing okay.

Mental health, it's what we're here to talk about.

It's kind of what everybody's talking about nowadays, but just 'cause all of us are, doesn't make it any easier to figure out what's going on.

- And Tyler Coe joins us now.

First, Tyler, I think you can see this coming.

We wanna ask, how are you today?

- I'm doing good.

How are you today?

- I am doing well.

Even better now that we're having this conversation.

You've said you hope the show helps change the conversation about mental health.

But first, what would you say is wrong with the conversation about mental health and how can the show help fix that?

- Well, there's a couple things wrong.

There's a couple things right.

I think the thing when it comes to mental health is that it's very nuanced.

And that's what we talk about on the show is the nuance of all of these different things that we deal with.

Whether you're somebody that actually deals with a mental condition, or more importantly, somebody that loves, deals, has a friend, colleague that has a mental condition, we know how hard that can be.

And that brings up compassion fatigue, right?

There are a lot of bad actors in the mental health crisis right now, and there's people that are trying to help.

But there's these pitfalls that a lot of folks can fall into, especially our young people when we're talking about social media and kind of the dangers of what they're seeing, what they're digesting.

And that's where the show kind of looks to illuminate all of that.

- And as Stefon from "SNL" might say, this show has everything, including a large brown beaver puppet.

I don't know, seeing that puppet cures my mental health on the spot.

Can you tell us what that's all about?

- Yes, I can.

His name is Barry the Beaver.

- Oh, perfect.

- And Barry deals with ADHD.

So he's a very busy beaver, and he gets lost sometimes trying to do these different tasks, and it gets very overwhelming for him that I'm sure a lot of people can relate to, right?

So on the show, almost every character that you see is dealing with a mental health condition that we hope that you can relate to.

So I myself am actually bipolar.

My character on the show is as well.

We have people that suffer from severe clinical depression, people that suffer from panic attacks, and then Barry the Beaver with that very familiar ADHD.

- And I'm sure this show is gonna be a life preserver for many.

And thank you for the courage to share your own journey.

- Thank you so much, Laura.

- "How Are We Today?"

airs on Austin PBS at 6:00 PM on Saturdays.

It's also available in the PBS app, and you can see more of our interview with Tyler Coe on the Austin PBS YouTube channel.

Speaking of TV and film, the 2025 Austin Film Festival has just wrapped up and we were there for the highlights, like movies made by local filmmakers, including one made almost entirely by Texas State staff, students, and alums, and a biopic of a historic female boxer, as well as the new "Knives Out" whodunit featuring a star from Kerrville.

We'll have a full recap in our show next week, but before we go, we want to mark a special birthday.

This is actually the one-year anniversary of the first episode of "Austin InSight," and now we've done 42.

We've covered a lot of ground in one year, from homelessness, education issues, women's health, local icons, barbecue trends, South by Southwest, Film Festival red carpets, and much more.

We wanted to introduce you to the core team that helps bring "Austin InSight" to you each week.

Here's our family photo.

Sarah Robertson, the COO at Austin PBS, Ed Bryson, our News and Public Affairs Director.

Next up, videographer editor Morganne Bailey, television director and show editor Alex Wolff.

Of course, yours truly.

And then the Decibel team: Blair Waltman-Alexin and Jackie Ibarra, and our news graphic designer and data reporter Meredith Roberts.

Also not pictured, producer Carolyn Krawczyk recently joined the team.

And part of the reason our smiles are so big here is that we have been nominated for six Lone Star Emmy Awards this year for best public affairs show, along with four nominations for news and feature stories and for graphic design.

And there are so many other people behind the camera, dozens behind the camera, that we could not do this show without.

Of course, it goes without saying.

Our first year has fallen during arguably the hardest year in recent history for PBS and the media in general.

But it's an honor to be doing this.

And as we say at PBS, we couldn't have done it without viewers like you.

Here's to hopefully many more years of "Austin InSight," more stories and conversations that help you see and better understand our community.

Thank you again for watching.

We'll see you next time.

(uplifting music) (uplifting music continues) (uplifting music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally & James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(bright music)