ATX-NCA: Impact 11/6/2025

Austin leaders are readying to adopt a downsized budget with potentially cuts to city services, after voters rejected a 20% tax rate increase to fund various public programs.

The impact: The failure of Proposition Q automatically lowers Austin's tax rate to $0.524017 per $100 property valuation—5 cents below the higher tax rate that was on the ballot, but still a nearly 10% increase over last year's $0.4776 rate. The owner of a median-valued home in Austin can now expect to pay just over $100 more in property taxes.

What's next: With less revenue coming in, City Council will now be tasked with reducing a budget they expanded by about $110 million this summer. Austin's final spending plan will now likely resemble the original fiscal year 2025-26 budget proposed by City Manager T.C. Broadnax in July, although changes are possible.

One more thing: The taxing proposition's defeat also prompted calls for a broad audit of city spending and service outcomes from both sides of the election debate.

Owner Abby Strite has a mixed career background from serving as an Air Force intelligence officer in Washington, D.C. to working for tech companies in the Austin area. After 20 years in the job force, she dreamt of starting a community-focused business. In 2024, she opened Birdhouse Books & Gifts on Burnet Road. 

What they offer: Readers of all genres can find at least one book to peak their interest with the storefront’s sections which include nonfiction, fiction, biography, memoir, cooking, sexuality, history of race, racism and colonization and books featuring cats.

Customers who aren’t readers can also check out the store’s gift options which range from bookmarks and unique candles to soaps, greeting cards and birdhouses.

“If they're not local, they have to be queer, women, people of color or some combination of those three things,” Strite said. “The focus is that we're lifting up artists and makers who are traditionally marginalized, who are maybe not the first ones on the distributors' websites and things that maybe everybody has.”

• 5925 Burnet Road, Austin

Building height limits for high-rise projects downtown are now in place as Austin responds to a new state law meant to spur housing development across Texas.

The update caps most buildings in the city core at 350 feet, unless new towers participate agree to provide public benefits like streetscape improvements and fee payments for affordable housing. The changes approved in October are expected to be temporary ahead of wider revisions to city development policies and Austin's long-range plans for the downtown area.

While moving forward with a 350-foot limit in response to SB 840 this fall, city planners report the change could hurt Austin's affordable housing efforts due to declining participation in the density bonus program. However, taller projects may not be on the horizon for now given wider economic conditions.

The city's new height cap was also questioned in public reviews ahead of council's October vote, with some community members stating the change could constrain new construction and hamper city goals.

Construction is underway on a major affordable housing project in Whisper Valley, a sustainable master-planned community just east of Austin.

What's happening? Austin Habitat for Humanity is building 25 homes this year as part of a multiyear effort to expand affordable homeownership across Central Texas. The project will ultimately include 48 Habitat homes in Whisper Valley, supported by $1.9 million in Travis County funding.

A closer look: County Judge Andy Brown called the community “the future of housing,” noting the homes are designed to stay affordable long term while reducing energy costs through efficient design and sustainable materials.

Whisper Valley features geothermal energy, solar panels, and a 600-acre park—offering residents both affordability and environmental benefits.

Looking ahead: Habitat leaders say the initiative marks a turning point for the nonprofit, which aims to build up to 100 homes annually. The first 25 homeowners are expected to move in by spring 2026.