Austin voters will decide on a Tax Rate Election (TRE) on November 4, 2025 — a decision that will shape property tax revenues and impact the cost of living and doing business in our region. Here’s what you should know and how it could affect your business.

State law requires voter approval for any increase over 3.5%. The City of Austin is asking voters to approve an increase of 16.9% to pay for their city budget. This means the average homeowner could see a 20% annual increase.

Key Facts about the proposed increase:

• $6.3B city budget with $415M in new spending and 100+ new city position.
• Property tax revenues are up by 329% since 2004 (last decline was 2005)
• Every $1,000 increase in costs is estimated to price out about 750 families

Why This Matters:

Austin businesses pay a significant share of property taxes, and increases can affect operating costs. Affordability challenges can impact your workforce, customers, and ability to grow. This TRE decision comes at a time when regional economic indicators — housing, office demand, and sales tax revenues — point to a slowdown.

What Happens Next:

• If Prop Q passes: Property tax revenues will increase by the full 16.9%.
• If Prop Q fails: Property tax revenues will still increase by 3.5%, the maximum allowed without voter approval.

More Context & Citywide Impact

How a TRE Works: First, the Austin City Council (or another local government) decides how much it wants to spend in its budget. Then the City Council adopts a property tax rate that will raise enough revenue to meet that budget. In short, your property tax bill is a direct result of the budget and spending choices made by local elected officials.

Typical Homeowner Comparison: A typical Austin homeowner would pay about $25.22 more per month (or $302.64 per year) in City property taxes under the TRE.

Overall Ratepayer Impact: When factoring in property tax, utilities, drainage, and fees, the average Austin ratepayer’s increase is $34.77/month (or $417.24/year).

Where TRE Money Goes: Revenue from the TRE is intended for core City services, including homelessness response, public safety, EMS, parks, youth programs, and maintenance.

Council Amendments: Additional funding under the TRE includes rapid rehousing, shelter operations, new EMS positions, wildfire risk management, parks upkeep, and public health.

Every Penny Counts: According to City of Austin analysis (CBQ #75), each penny added above the voter-approval rate yields ~$21,617,590 in additional property tax revenue for the City.

What You Can Do:
Make sure your voice is heard this November. Please share this information with your employees, family and friends.

• Check your registration status and register if needed through your official county elections office or state voter portal.
• Learn about early voting and Election Day polling locations from official election websites.
  • Bastrop County
  • Caldwell County
  • Hays County
  • Travis County
  • Williamson County

State Ballot Amendments:

There are critically important ballot initiativesthat will offer Texans the chance to keep our economy thriving and make keyinvestments that will support businesses and communities across the state.

From creating new targeted funds to bolster our workforce, water infrastructureand health care research, to cutting taxes for small businesses, these ballotinitiatives will have a positive impact on our way of life here in Central Texas.

See our full list of ballot endorsements here

Additional Resources:

• See our Board of Director's Statement -> [here]
• Business Coalition Joint Statement Letter -> [here]
• Learn more about Prop Q -> [here]
• One pager explainer sheet -> [here]
• Learn more about our advocacy work -> [here]

Notes & Sources

• Adopted FY 2025–26 tax rate: $0.574017 per $100 (City of Austin).
• Prior year rate (FY 2024–25): $0.4776 per $100 (City of Austin).
• The “each penny” revenue figure is drawn from the City’s CBQ #75 response.
• “Typical homeowner” and “overall ratepayer” impacts are calculated and published in the City’s FY 2025–26 budget release.
• Appraised value table is based on the difference between the adopted rate and the prior year’s rate.
• Opportunity Austin TRE webpage
• National Association of Home Builders