Ben Suddaby, a member of AFSCME Local 1624, left, and Brydan Summers, president of AFSCME Local 1624, chant during the Don’t DOGE Our Austin rally opposing Proposition I at Austin City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The political action committee launched its campaign urging voters to reject the city charter amendment in the November election.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Austin voters will soon be asked whether they want to require regular audits of city spending in the Austin charter — and bar the city from calling a tax rate election, such as last year’s Proposition Q, unless an audit has been completed within the previous year. The proposal has become the latest flashpoint in Austin politics.
The city workers’ union, joined by U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and several Austin City Council members, rallied Wednesday against the citizen-led ballot proposal. They described Proposition I as a Republican-backed measure that would threaten public services and could force city budget cuts.
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Hours later, the Save Austin Now political action committee, which proposed and petitioned for the ballot measure, held its own news conference in support of the charter amendment. Supporters said the proposition had broad political support and would promote efficiency and accountability in city government.
Prop I would require an outside audit of city spending every five years, with the results used to identify potential cost savings.
The Save Austin Now PAC, which was co-founded by former Travis County Republican Party Chairman Matt Mackowiak, petitioned for the measure after last year’s failure of Proposition Q, a ballot measure that would have increased city property taxes by more than 20%. The PAC led the campaign against Prop Q and previously used a similar petition strategy in 2021 to force a citywide vote that reinstated a public camping ban repealed by the City Council.
Austin City Council adopted its own citywide audit ordinance in February in the wake of Prop Q’s failure. Save Austin Now has argued that the ordinance does not go far enough because council members can amend or repeal ordinances at any time, unlike the city charter, which can be amended only through an election.
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U.S. Rep. Greg Casar speaks during the Don’t DOGE Our Austin rally opposing Proposition I at Austin City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The political action committee launched its campaign urging voters to reject the city charter amendment in the November election.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Critics of Prop I, including Mayor Kirk Watson, have said the city ordinance accomplishes what the PAC is asking for and that Prop I would force the city to find savings to justify the audit and its fees.
About 90 city workers’ union members and Prop I critics — including council members Vanessa Fuentes, Mike Siegel, Chito Vela, Zo Qadri, Ryan Alter and Jose Velasquez — rallied against the measure on the steps of City Hall Wednesday. Casar, who formerly served on the Austin City Council, also spoke against Prop I, comparing it to the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under Elon Musk.
“Efficiency in the right-wing billionaire context is code for cuts,” he said. “It makes the city hire outside consultants who will make more money if they cut more public services.”
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Fuentes said the proposition’s audit deadline would drive up its cost. She also said the requirement that consultants identify enough cuts to cover their fees creates an “inherent conflict of interest.”
Austin City Council candidate Misael Ramos listens during the Don’t DOGE Our Austin rally opposing Proposition I at Austin City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The political action committee launched its campaign urging voters to reject the city charter amendment in the November election.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Austin attorney Bill Aleshire, a former county judge and tax collector who helped draft the amendment, said Prop I focuses on affordability by tying city taxes to different levels of household and business income. Speaking at Save Austin Now’s news conference, he added that the charter amendment cannot be repealed without Austin voters’ approval.
“If the charter amendment passes, it is a command from the people of Austin to perform this audit, and they must do it,” Aleshire said. “They can’t change it unless they get the voters to agree to do it.”
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He also said he does not expect it would be difficult for auditors to find savings larger than their fees given the size of city government.
Mackowiak said 21,100 Austinites signed the PAC’s petition to get Prop I on the November ballot and that 40% of them were Democratic primary voters, adding that the proposition was not a partisan endeavor.
The American-Statesman wasn’t immediately able to independently verify the petition’s demographics; the Statesman previously reported that city clerk Erika Brady estimated that the petition included 20,051 valid signatures out of the 21,131 names submitted after her office checked a random sample of 5,283 lines.
“We are going to pass it,” he said. “The people who oppose it the loudest are the ones who are the most afraid of transparency, accountability and efficiency finally coming to City Hall for the benefit of taxpayers.”
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Aleshire also pointed to last year’s tax rate election, saying the same people who supported the failed measure are now opposing Proposition I.
Aleshire said that if the charter amendment passes, it will override the ordinance council approved and the city will have to align its audit with the charter’s requirements.
Austin voters will decide Prop I’s fate in the Nov. 3 election.
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