Fiscal transparency is on the ballot in Texas’ capital city.
The ballot measure, Proposition I, would amend the city charter to require independent audits of municipal finances every five years.
Additionally, if the city council wants to pursue a future tax rate election, the proposed charter amendment would require the municipal government to complete such an audit before calling the election.
The City of Austin currently conducts various internal audits. The proposed charter amendment would supplement this process with regular external reviews.
The proposition comes amid fresh concerns about city billing practices.
As first reported by KXAN, the city of Austin recently fired an employee who reported discrepancies in city payments to a supervisor. The former employee alleges that the city fired her in retaliation.
That former employee, Katie Kam, is now running for city council in a district based in Central Austin (District 9).
The referendum follows the landslide defeat of Proposition Q last year, which could have enshrined hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal spending.
Proposition Q’s failure was the culmination of a series of record-setting municipal budgets.
The city council approved its most recent record-setting $6.6 billion budget in August 2026.
This represented a nearly five percent increase from 2025’s previous record of $6.3 billion, a nearly 11 percent increase from 2024’s record of $5.9 billion, and a nearly 17 percent increase from 2023’s record of $5.5 billion.
For perspective, Austin’s budget was $4.5 billion in 2021 and $3.3 billion in 2013.
Austin’s municipal spending has long been a subject of criticism. This criticism has grown following an explosion of spending for vagrancy services in recent years.
A recent Texas Scorecard investigation also uncovered millions of dollars in public subsidies for groups that promote dangerous sexual activity.
A similar effort to require a municipal audit fell short in 2018. At the time, Austin’s municipal budget was $4.1 billion.
Save Austin Now, an activist group, spearheaded this initiative. The group previously led a 2021 effort to restore a ban on vagrants camping in public places. The council had repealed this prohibition in 2019, which begat a rash of consequences in terms of fire hazards, health, and public safety.
The Democratic Socialists of America and a series of public sector unions oppose the audit.
The audit referendum will appear at the bottom of the ballot, after federal, state, and local offices.
Legislation that would have abolished the Austin City Council received a committee hearing from state lawmakers in 2025 and is expected to return in 2027.
