Yesterday, I attended AURA's panel on the proposed Travis County Civil and Family Complex. This project is commonly referred to as the "new Courthouse". What follows is my transcription of the panel's discussion.
Susan Somers, an AURA Board member, started the panel discussion by introducing AURA and its history.
Dan …
[MORE]The percentage-based homestead exemption is an unfair tax shift that will disproportionately benefit the wealthiest homeowners. More effective affordability alternatives should be pursued instead.
The "Save our Mansions" homestead exemption reduces taxes based on a percentage of a homestead's value. Therefore, a $2,000,000 homestead value would get ten …
[MORE]I asked a dozen of the most policy-minded critics of the "mansion exemption" for alternative ways of spending approximately $30 million annually to boost Austin's affordability. Here are the four main themes that came across in their responses.
Important changes are coming to MoPac. But they won't help you safely get places faster. For real improvement, we need a shift away from car-centric, low-density policies.
"What's happening to MoPac?"
Metro Austin's regional transportation planning agency wants more highway lanes. On MoPac, new "Express Lanes" will feature "congestion pricing …
[MORE]There are better tools to solve the 'affordability' problem than a 20% homestead exemption (HEx). Here's what progressive, fiscally-responsible Austinites must argue.
"It's just a tax cut for mansions."
The benefits of a percentage-based homestead exemption disproportionately flow to those with the most property wealth and income. The chart below …
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