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November 2019 Election - Austin Metro Edition

Pasken

By Pasken
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Pasken

Pasken 1309

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Early Voting starts Monday! I would try to vote early this year because there are new voting machines that bring back paper into the process so there is likely going to be a learning curve and take people longer to vote.

Early Voting runs from Monday, October 21, 2019 - Friday, November 1, 2019

Early Vote Locations You can vote anywhere in the county including the Fiesta and Randals grocery stores. Link to all Early Voting Locations: http://bit.ly/2BdYIut

 

-Link to League of Women Austin Voter Guide: http://bit.ly/33DskgN

-Link to Austin Chronicle Guide: http://bit.ly/2VMXSxY

-Link to Austin Chronicle Endorsements: http://bit.ly/33ASXms

--Link to Austin Chamber of Commerce Endorsements: http://bit.ly/2MROOUD

 

Major Items: (None raise property tax rates) 


Austin Prop A: Funded by COTA to kill the Austin FC stadium. Would also require many non-profit youth sports and arts groups (YMCA, Zach Scott Theater etc.) to start paying taxes. Strongly recommend voting No/against

 

Austin Prop B: Petition funded by small group of rich anti-growth layers and investors who misled petition signers by saying they wanted to support the arts when their petition would not change the percentage of hotel taxes going to the arts. In fact, the only way to get more to the arts is to raise the hotel tax which can only be done to fund an entertainment venue like a convention center or a sports arena. Prop attempts to gut existing convention center budget and move hotel money to historical preservation pet projects that a few rich laywyers in town want funded. Would expose Austin to another state lawsuit as it would violate how hotel taxes can be used. Expansion of the Austin Convention Center is a great project for the city. I can expand in comments if anyone is interested. STRONGLY URGE TO VOTE NO/AGAINST

Travis County Prop A: The county wants to use future hotel money to presumedly build a new arena and expo center at the Expo grounds at Loyola/Decker. I say presume because they don’t actually have a plan yet so they don’t know what the plan/cost would be. Despite terrible preparation, an investment in the expo center would be an investment in our area. I would recommend voting for it.

Manor ISD expansion bond: Does not raise taxes, helps provide for exploding enrollment including new facilities and renovating old facilities. It seems like a reasonable response to a rapidly growing area and can help improve the rising quality of the school District. Recommend Approval.

 

Texas Props

 

Prop 1 would allow elected municipal judges to serve in more than one city at the same time. (Appointed municipal judges can already do this.)

Prop 2 would allow the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to issue up to $200 million in bonds to fund water and sewer projects in economically distressed areas. (This program already exists but needs more funds to continue.) (http://bit.ly/2MnpYwR)

Prop 3 would allow the Legislature to temporarily exempt from property tax properties damaged in disasters, according to rules to be created by lawmakers in the future. (http://bit.ly/2MjmknJ)

Prop 4 would prohibit the state from imposing or collecting an individual income tax. (This has been a third-rail issue in Texas politics for decades, and the Legislature wants to make sure it stays that way.) (http://bit.ly/2IWqeB0)

Prop 5 would automatically appropriate the state’s sales taxes on sporting goods to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Historical Commission to provide a dedicated funding stream for parks and historic sites. Currently this revenue goes into the state’s general fund; the Legislature would still prescribe how this money is used (and shared between the two agencies) in each biennial budget. (http://bit.ly/32joCZG)

Prop 6 would extend the life of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) – created by an earlier amendment in 2007 – by increasing the bond funding available to the agency to $6 billion. (CPRIT, which survived a major scandal in 2011, has largely spent its original $3 billion in funding.) http://bit.ly/2MLGXrF

Prop 7 would allow up to $600 million a year in proceeds from the Permanent School Fund (the revenue from the state’s land and investments) to be distributed annually to schools. This doubles the current constitutional maximum of $300 million. (http://bit.ly/2oR3WJZ)

Prop 8 would create a special flood infrastructure fund for TWDB to use to finance local projects – as it does now with drinking water supply projects (see Proposition 2). Revenues from the state rainy day fund, appropriately enough, would flow into this new fund.

Prop 9 would allow the Legislature to exempt precious metals held in a Texas depository from property taxes. There is, in fact, a state-run vault where you can store your gold and silver, open for business since 2018. (texasbulliondepository.gov)

Prop 10 would allow police dogs (or any “law enforcement animals”) to be transferred to their handlers or others – for example, upon their retirement – at no cost. Right now, since such animals are considered public property, state and local agencies are not allowed to give them away.

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Texas Jeff

Texas Jeff 1945

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I plan to vote no on Austin Prop A and yes on Austin Prop B.  I predict neither will win.  The city council turned both of these petitions into word salad for the ballot that makes it impossible to understand what you're voting for or against.  The wording is designed to convince you to vote against it.  At some point a citizen proposition needs to make it past this city council or we need to give up on the idea that we have actual citizen petitions.

For example, here's the wording that was used to create the 10-1 council, pretty easy to understand:

Shall the city charter be amended to provide for the election of council members from 10 geographical single-member districts, with the mayor to be elected from the city at large, and to provide for an independent citizens redistricting commission?

The city council is now asking you to vote on this Prop B wording:

Shall an ordinance be adopted that prioritizes the use of Austin's Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue by continuing the City practice to spend 15% of the Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue on cultural arts and 15% on historic preservation, limiting the City's spending to construct, operate, maintain, or promote the Austin Convention Center to 34% of Austin's Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, and requiring all remaining Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue to support and enhance Austin's Cultural Tourism Industry to the potential exclusion of other allowable uses under the Tax code; and requires the City to obtain voter approval and public oversight for convention-center improvement and expansion costing more than $20,000,000?

If you want to limit hotel tax used for the convention center to 34% of the HOT and require voter approval for an expansion that exceeds $20,000,000, then vote for Prop B.  If you are OK with not requiring those limits, then vote against it.  This is coming up now because the city is proposing to demolish the existing convention center and build a $1,200,000,000 larger replacement in the same area of town, on a bigger footprint, as part of an overall redo of that area.

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45750

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On 10/18/2019 at 10:03 AM, Pasken said:

Prop 5 would automatically appropriate the state’s sales taxes on sporting goods to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Historical Commission to provide a dedicated funding stream for parks and historic sites. Currently this revenue goes into the state’s general fund; the Legislature would still prescribe how this money is used (and shared between the two agencies) in each biennial budget. (http://bit.ly/32joCZG)

This is my biggest issue.  This would be huge for State Parks, considering they have only once or twice ever actually had the full amount of funds allocated to them.

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Pasken

Pasken 1309

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13 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

I plan to vote no on Austin Prop A and yes on Austin Prop B.  I predict neither will win.  The city council turned both of these petitions into word salad for the ballot that makes it impossible to understand what you're voting for or against.  The wording is designed to convince you to vote against it.  At some point a citizen proposition needs to make it past this city council or we need to give up on the idea that we have actual citizen petitions.

For example, here's the wording that was used to create the 10-1 council, pretty easy to understand:

Shall the city charter be amended to provide for the election of council members from 10 geographical single-member districts, with the mayor to be elected from the city at large, and to provide for an independent citizens redistricting commission?

The city council is now asking you to vote on this Prop B wording:

Shall an ordinance be adopted that prioritizes the use of Austin's Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue by continuing the City practice to spend 15% of the Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue on cultural arts and 15% on historic preservation, limiting the City's spending to construct, operate, maintain, or promote the Austin Convention Center to 34% of Austin's Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, and requiring all remaining Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue to support and enhance Austin's Cultural Tourism Industry to the potential exclusion of other allowable uses under the Tax code; and requires the City to obtain voter approval and public oversight for convention-center improvement and expansion costing more than $20,000,000?

If you want to limit hotel tax used for the convention center to 34% of the HOT and require voter approval for an expansion that exceeds $20,000,000, then vote for Prop B.  If you are OK with not requiring those limits, then vote against it.  This is coming up now because the city is proposing to demolish the existing convention center and build a $1,200,000,000 larger replacement in the same area of town, on a bigger footprint, as part of an overall redo of that area.

The final build out of the convention center would actually be on the same number of blocks that it currently is now but have much more expo, ballroom and meeting space and open up 2 blocks for public use.  It would also restore the street grid for pedestrians. 

 

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40920

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2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

This is my biggest issue.  This would be huge for State Parks, considering they have only once or twice ever actually had the full amount of funds allocated to them.

And If a similar mandate for the gas tax revenue - both state & federal - were to be enacted, TexDot would be pretty flush. Something like 35% of said revenues have been diverted from highway projects & maintenance for several decades.

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Pasken

Pasken 1309

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36 minutes ago, Paper_jam said:

I haven't tried the new system yet but it seems there is more potential for things to go wrong, with the whole ballot printing and scanning process. I hope these machines are engineered to be hella reliable, and easy to use.

 

 

I can't speak to the engineering but it was easy to use.  The touch screen was nice. 

 

After 2 early voting days, 0.75% of registered Travis County voters have voted. 

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