Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott called on state lawmakers to make a “Texas-sized” investment in water.
Legislators responded by proposing a constitutional amendment that would direct up to $1 billion of sales tax revenue a year to the recently established Texas Water Fund. Now, voters have the chance to approve the funding plan that policy experts say is a step toward avoiding a water crisis.
Voters will decide this fall on 17 amendments to the state constitution. It’s important to understand how the amendments will impact day-to-day life in Texas before votes are cast. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, early voting opens Monday, Oct.
How Proposition 4 will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the revenue derived from state sales and use taxes to the Texas water fund and to provide for the allocation and use of that revenue.”
A variety of factors, including population growth, aging infrastructure and longer, hotter days, has left Texas facing an imminent water shortage problem unless something’s done.
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The plan is one of 17 constitutional amendments on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election. Early voting opens on Oct. 20.
If passed, this amendment would funnel the first $1 billion in sales tax revenue exceeding $46.5 billion annually to the Texas Water Fund from 2027 to 2047. The fund finances water and wastewater projects, including fixing infrastructure, developing new sources of water and conservation efforts.
A Texas 2036 report determined the state needs to invest $154 billion over then next half century to upgrade aging water systems and meet the needs brought on by population growth.
Jeremy Mazur, Texas 2036’s director of infrastructure and natural resources policy, said this amendment would provide reliable funding for water infrastructure, pay for water projects without raising taxes and solve water problems that matter most, such as expanding reliable supplies and fixing leaky pipes.
Mazur said this amendment would put “the state on a path toward addressing our long-term water infrastructure needs” and establish reliable, predictable funding over the next 20 years.
“Proposition 4 represents an opportunity to pull [Texas’] water infrastructure up by our own bootstraps and invest what we need,” he said.
Some critics of the proposition have said the funds should be mostly dedicated to developing new water supplies, saying the state risks possible depletion of already-existing groundwater resources.
Others also worry funding through a constitutional amendment would “reduce transparency and allow taxpayer dollars to be spent automatically without being subject to a biennial vote by the Legislature during the budget process,” according to the House Research Organization.
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.