Austin City Council members have outlined a $925 million bond to pay for items such as affordable housing, park updates and road repairs that will be put to voters in November. The bond could be paid for, in part, by raising the property tax rate.
The bond includes $250 million for affordable housing which, if approved by voters, would be the city's largest affordable housing bond. In 2013, residents voted for $64 million in bond money to build and repair affordable housing.
“As we go around the city, the No. 1 place that this community wants us to invest in ourselves is in housing and affordability,” Mayor Steve Adler, who voted in support of the bond, said.
Council members Ellen Troxclair, Ora Houston and Jimmy Flannigan voted against the bond.
The bond would be split up across at seven categories:
- $250 million for affordable housing
- $38 million for public safety
- $16 million for health and human services
- $184 million for flood mitigation and open space
- $128 million for libraries and cultural centers
- $149 million for parks and recreation
- $160 million for transportation infrastructure
Council members could still tweak the bond – for example, by specifying what each category of money would pay for – before the end of August.
In November 2016, voters approved a $720 million bond to fund changes to some of Austin’s busiest roads.
