Back on the Ballot: More Subsidized Housing

Austin voters will be asked to consider a $350 million housing bond as Proposition A on the Nov. 8 ballot. With funds from the $250 million package approved in 2018 (and earlier ones in 2006 and 2012) nearly exhausted, a new round of bond dollars will allow the city to continue to subsidize income-restricted housing – which is increasingly difficult to finance privately, as land values and labor-and-materials costs in Austin continue to spiral up – through its Austin Housing Finance Corporation. The funds can also be used to acquire land, bolstering the city's nascent community land trust program, or to pay for home repairs for owners facing displacement. If voters approve the bond, the owner of a median-value home in Austin ($358,400) would pay an extra $46.59 in property taxes on their next bill.

[Editor's note: The headline of this article was changed to better reflect the nature of the story.]