A coalition of citizens has submitted a petition calling for a ballot initiative that could mandate an independent audit of Austin’s municipal government. If validated, the election will be held concurrent with this fall’s General Election.
The petition drive was spearheaded by Save Austin Now, a non-partisan advocacy group.
Earlier this week, the group “submitted 20,514 signed and validated petitions to place a charter amendment on the November 2026 ballot that will require regular, outside, performance audits of the entire City of Austin budget for the first time in city history,” according to a message posted to Substack.
The petition calls for an amendment to the city charter requiring independent audits of municipal finances at least every five years.
In addition, in the event 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 the election could be called.
The city of Austin currently conducts various internal audits. The proposed charter amendment would supplement this process with regular external reviews.
The petition drive follows the landslide defeat of Proposition Q, a ballot measure that could have enshrined hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal spending, in November 2025.
Proposition Q’s failure was the culmination of a series of record-setting municipal budgets. The city council approved its most recent record-setting $6.3 billion budget in August 2025.
This represented a nearly seven percent increase from 2024’s previous record of $5.9 billion, and a nearly 15 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.
Save Austin Now previously spearheaded a 2021 effort to restore a ban on camping in public places by vagrants. The council had repealed this prohibition in 2019, which begat a rash of consequences in terms of fire hazards, health, and public safety.
A similar effort to require a municipal audit fell short in 2018. At the time, Austin’s municipal budget was $4.1 billion.
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.
