Proposed Austin, Travis County tax hikes could cost residents $1,200 extra per year

If you live in Austin and Travis County, your taxes may go up by around $1,200 next year.

The City of Austin's biennial budget, approved today by the City Council, raised the budget by just under a billion dollars ($5.5B to $6.3B) for 2025-26, meanwhile Travis County Commissioners are mulling a $2B budget and an estimated 9.12% tax hike.

If these numbers seem high it's because they are. According to City Council member Marc Duchen, the proposed tax rate election will ask voters to decide on a tax increase of "almost 19%, the biggest hike in 35 years."

"When combined with utility-fee increases and other new costs, the average Austin household would pay nearly $1,000 more than last year," Duchen wrote in an email to constituents earlier this week. "All of our neighbors – including retirees, families, renters, teachers, and locally-owned businesses – will be impacted."

This would be in addition to the approximately $1,123 increase from last year, plus a cumulative inflation increase of 25% over the last five years -- compounded by recent, ballooning insurance premiums, increasing grocery costs, and other economic factors putting the squeeze on your average resident.

The county hike is steep because of the July Fourth flooding event disaster declaration. The flooding affected Travis County residents along Cow Creek, Sandy Creek, and some other areas, taking multiple lives, and giving Commissioners temporary power to exceed the usual 3.5% per year property tax cap without triggering a tax rate election. While the budget did not increase by much, the additional tax revenue is intended to pull in over $40 million for disaster relief funding.

Commissioners have until early October to decide on the 9.12% tax hike, according to Shane Saum, Lago Vista Council member and mayoral candidate. 

"If approved, the average Travis County homeowner can expect to pay $200 more than what they paid the previous year, according to the county's preliminary 2026 budget," Saum said. 

Saum spoke to the Travis County Commissioners Court on Thursday ruding a budget hearing. He asked that they look to the state legislature for funding or within the county budget before raising taxes. The Texas Senate approved a bill this year that had $200M for FEMA matching funds in addition to other funding programs that included a $50M grant program for local jurisdictions, Saum noted. 

County staff said they had already trimmed $15M to address the $15M they have spent on the disaster recovery so far.

"And, yes, I asked them not to take a raise," Saum added.

Back on the city front: Duchen pointed out the city's "spending problem" but also noted "difficult funding choices" to be faced due to federal cuts to many programs in Austin. "Sadly, I believe the budget my colleagues passed this afternoon is little more than a band-aid," and that longstanding problems will persist if "smarter ways of managing public dollars" are not agreed upon. He called for a third-party audit of the city's finances.

Duchen said there was a mix of residents at the hearing: those concerned about social programs being cut and and others squeezed by the "skyrocketing cost of living." He told the press a thousand-dollar-plus hike could decimate any benefit recieved by those living on Social Security and other federal entitlements.

WHAT'S NEXT:

• The City of Austin's tax increase proposal will likely appear on the November Constitutional Amendment Election ballot. Early voting will take place Oct. 20-31, with Election Day being Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.
  
  
• The Travis County Commissioners Court is scheduled to host a public hearing on the tax rate starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. The measure will not require an election due to the disaster declaration. Submit email comments regarding the development of the FY 2026 Budget: budget-feedback@traviscountytx.gov