AUSTIN, Texas — Austin voters have said yes to spending $460 million on transportation infrastructure.
Early totals show that voters have chosen to approve the City of Austin’s Proposition B. The proposition approves $460 million in property tax-supported general obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure like sidewalks, bikeways, urban trails, safe routes to schools, substandard streets and transportation safety projects such as Vision Zero.
According to the City, Proposition B will allocate:
- $102 million for Major Capital Improvements, including Longhorn Dam Bridge improvements, the Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative, the creation of a preliminary engineering report for Barton Springs Road, South Pleasant Valley corridor improvements and up to $5 million to build additional pedestrian infrastructure as part of the 2016 Mobility Bond Corridor Mobility Programs
- $80 million for sidewalks, including $50 million for approximately 78 miles of new sidewalks and $30 million for the rehabilitation of existing sidewalks
- $80 million for transportation-related urban trails
- $65 million for safety/Vision Zero funding, addressing intersection reconstruction projects at 25 major intersections, system-wide pedestrian crossing projects, speed mitigation projects at approximately 70 street segments and a variety of rapid response projects on the High-Injury Network
- $53 million for substandard streets including improvements to Johnny Morris Road and Ross Road as well as others if funding remains
- $40 million for transportation-related bikeways
- $20 million for safe routes to schools
- $19 million to the local Transit Enhancement Program, including projects not delivered by Project Connect
- $1 million to the Neighborhood Partnering Program, including active transportation mobility projects built through community-led partnerships
Proposition B will increase the debt service tax rate portion of the City’s tax rate in future years, according to the City. The 2020/2021 Fiscal Year debt service tax rate wouldn’t be impacted.
Under current assumptions, the City anticipates that once issued, Proposition B will require a two-cent increase to the debt service tax rate. The tax rate increase will be phased in over a few years, and the full two-cent and tax bill increase will not be fully levied until 2026.
The estimated tax bill impact of passing Proposition B is an approximation based on the Fiscal Year 2020/2021 property tax rate, as well as assumptions about market and economic conditions that could change. The anticipated annual tax bill impact is based on taxable home value.
According to the City, if you own a home with a median value of:
- $250,000, you can expect a monthly impact of $4.17 and an annual impact of $50 by 2026
- $325,000 you can expect a monthly impact of $5.42 and an annual impact of $65 by 2026
- $500,000 you can expect a monthly impact of $8.33 and an annual impact of $100 by 2026
- $750,000 you can expect a monthly impact of $12.50 and an annual impact of $150 by 2026