Austin, Texas: Voters Reject Prop I, the Outside Audit Charter Amendment

Austin voters rejected Proposition I on Tuesday, Nov. 3, turning down the charter amendment that would have forced the city to hire an outside auditor to examine its finances at least once every five years. Travis County's unofficial results showed the measure failing 56.24 percent to 43.76 percent, with 175,881 votes against and 136,861 for. A tally with all 318 precincts reporting put the margin at 56.4 percent to 43.6 percent, and the Associated Press count also showed the measure behind.

What Prop I would have done

Prop I was the signature initiative of Save Austin Now, the political action committee that collected more than 21,000 signatures to put it on the ballot. Former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire drafted the amendment. It would have required the city to complete an outside audit of its finances at least every five years, with a consultant chosen within 120 days of passage, and it would have barred the city from asking voters to approve a tax increase unless an audit had been completed within the previous 12 months.

Opponents, among them Mayor Kirk Watson, six City Council members and U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, argued that the city already audits its finances every year and had started its own outside efficiency review. The city charter already requires an independent certified public accountant to audit city finances at the end of every fiscal year, and the council voted earlier this year to begin recurring third-party efficiency assessments, work that started in August. At a rally in October, in the Austin American-Statesman's account, Casar said: "Prop I did not come from Austin."

The night and the pattern

Save Austin Now's leaders acknowledged defeat early in the evening. Prop I was one of eight charter amendments on an Austin ballot that also carried two bond propositions. Voters approved the parks bond and the library bond, and they rejected Props D and E, two council procedure changes, along with Prop I.

Austin has seen this vote before. In 2018, voters rejected Proposition K, a similar resident-initiated outside efficiency study, by more than 15 points.

What happens now

Because Prop I failed, the city charter does not gain a standing audit requirement. The council's own audit ordinance stays in place, and unlike a charter amendment, an ordinance can be changed or repealed by a future council vote. The efficiency assessment the council ordered continues under that ordinance. Results are unofficial until the city canvasses them.