The committee wants the city to undergo an audit after voters failed to pass Proposition Q, which would have increased residential property taxes indefinitely.
AUSTIN, Texas — Action group Save Austin Now PAC wants the city to undergo an audit, and it’s asking for community support.
In a release sent Friday morning, the committee said it’s joining “a broad coalition of city leaders” in an effort to update the May 2026 ballot to include an audit requirement. It created a petition with the hopes of gathering 25,000 signatures by Feb. 1, 2026.
According to the memo, the group wants the audit to be conducted within one year of a contract, then every five years. It says an independent contractor would need to be chosen within a 120-day period, and that they would have to find savings “that exceed the cost” of their work.
If the city holds another tax rate election, the committee wants an audit to be finished at least one year prior to this vote.
Save Austin Now says while department audits have been completed in recent years, this would be the first time the city’s entire budget would be examined in this way.
The petition comes less than three weeks after Austin voters rejected Proposition Q in the Nov. 4 election. If passed, the proposition would’ve increased residents’ property tax rates indefinitely by five cents per every $100 in value.
It was created in an effort to minimize Austin’s $33 million budget deficit, facing a mixed reaction ahead of the November election.
“And I think this is probably the tip of the iceberg,” Save Austin Now co-chair Matt Mackowiak said in an announcement on Friday. “I don’t think we have any idea how much waste there is in the budget because all we’ve ever had done before is internal audits controlled by the people who are making the bad decisions in the first place.”
Fellow co-chair Steven Brown also shared his thoughts in the release.
“This isn’t about politics; it’s about accountability,” he stated in part. “We simply want the City of Austin and our city council to embrace an independent audit so we can finally see where we can be more efficient and make our city more affordable for the hard-working taxpayers who keep it running.”
On Thursday, Austin council members approved a revised city budget after Prop Q was rejected. The new version includes added funding for Permanent Supportive Housing, the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) and more.