Texas Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit challenging Austin's tax rate election ballot language

The Texas Supreme Court has denied a petition in a lawsuit challenging Austin's ballot language for its upcoming tax rate election. The decision comes after Texas' Third Court of Appeals also dismissed the lawsuit.

The original lawsuit was filed in August by former Austin mayoral candidate Jeff Bowen. Bill Aleshire, Bowen’s attorney, said the ballot language doesn’t specify how much money the city is committing to each project, and that means it can use the money however it wishes. The ballot language also says the increase is for the 2025-26 fiscal year budget. Aleshire argues the increase would continue to affect tax bills going forward, and that is misleading to voters.

“Jeff Bowen and I have done everything we can in court to try to stop voters from being misled, and that is still a concern,” Aleshire said. “This is another huge tax increase coming on top of fee increases the City Council also adopted.... We all love Austin, but we want it to be affordable so people can stay here and keep the homes they’ve got.”

The Austin City Council approved its $6.3 billion budget last month, including a property tax rate hike that will require voter approval. The city approved a rate of 57.4 cents per $100 of taxable value, which is 5 cents above what is allowed by state law without triggering an election.



https://www.kut.org/austin/2025-09-15/texas-supreme-court-lawsuit-austin-property-tax-rate-election