Her takeaway, she told the Chronicle, is that the city\u2019s numbers seem about right. And people who are angry about the cost of Prop Q should be even more angry about Texas\u2019 recapture process, which takes taxpayer dollars from wealthier school districts like Austin\u2019s to fund poorer districts across the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family paid $1,518 in recapture last year, and Prop Q would have cost us $181,\u201d Duce said. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t we Austinites talking about this massive amount of money Texas takes from us every year? Most people glaze over when I say that word \u2018recapture,\u2019 but it\u2019s huge \u2013 on my taxes, it is about eight times the amount that Prop Q would be. I\u2019m for Prop Q but, for or against, we should all be looking at real numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duce emphasized that she created her website to \u201ccall out the completely false amounts in those anti-Prop Q mailers and texts.\u201d Those amounts include the $482 per year on a $500,000 home, publicized by austintaxrateelection.com<\/a>, another homemade website<\/a>. And they include the numbers cited by Save Austin Now<\/a>, the group that has fought for higher police budgets and against homelessness initiatives. According to one of Save Austin Now\u2019s graphics, approval of Prop Q would cost each Austinite an additional $1,661 a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jack Craver, the independent City Hall reporter, called that number \u201ca flat out lie\u201d in a recent\u00a0 post to X He examined Save Austin Now\u2019s calculations in his Austin Politics Newsletter, which is usually behind a paywall, with Prop Q supporters sharing the newsletter far and wide on social media. Craver pointed out that \u201cpeople don\u2019t even seem to know how much they\u2019re currently paying for city government.\u201d He highlighted Save Austin Now\u2019s claim that the owner of a $500,000 home would have to pay $13,312 in \u201cAustin city tax\u201d if Prop Q passes. Craver said the correct figure for city taxes on such a home would be $2,296, and the total combined tax bill for the city, county, school district, and ACC would be $8,001.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI think a lot of people have gotten to where they don\u2019t trust the Council, and so they don\u2019t trust them to spend the money wisely, and so they\u2019re basing their decision on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Daryl Slusher, The Austin Independent<\/p>\n Craver also subtly criticized the pro-Prop Q \u201cLove Austin\u201d campaign being run by allies of Mayor Kirk Watson. The campaign has urged Austinites to vote yes on Prop Q as a rebuke to Donald Trump, saying the city needs to replace millions of dollars in federal funding cuts. Daryl Slusher, former City Council member and Chronicle editor, made the same critique earlier this month at much greater length in a widely shared post from the Austin Independent titled \u201cThe Silence of the Shams.\u201d<\/a> In the piece, Slusher describes the difficulty he experienced trying to get the city or the campaign to provide details of how many federal dollars have been cut and from what services. He concluded that if the information couldn\u2019t be produced then \u201cthere is a high likelihood that that campaign is not telling the truth and is attempting to manipulate and mislead voters.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Slusher reiterated to the Chronicle that he feels trust is central to Prop Q\u2019s chances. \u201cI think a lot of people have gotten to where they don\u2019t trust the Council, and so they don\u2019t trust them to spend the money wisely, and so they\u2019re basing their decision on that,\u201d Slusher said. \u201cIt\u2019s not as much about just the campaign itself, and it\u2019s not as much about whether they support these services or not. They just don\u2019t see the Council spending the money wisely or efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n So yes, the thing which is not being talked about as much in the Prop Q debate is what the proposal is actually for \u2013 the services it would provide. On Monday, a group of labor leaders, small-business owners, and community advocates calling itself the Care Not Cuts Coalition held a press conference to remind voters about those services. The speakers emphasized that the money raised would be spent getting homeless people off the streets, bolstering the work of the city\u2019s EMS department, and improving 911 response times. Doug Greco, the chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, said the money would also go to parks, libraries, city pools, violence intervention programs, free vaccine programs, and help for local schools.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Prop Q. This is what it looks like to fight back against austerity and fascism.\u201d<\/p>\n Aloki Shah, United Workers of Integral Care<\/p>\n The speakers emphasized that the Trump cuts are not fake. Aloki Shah of the United Workers of Integral Care said Trump has cut money for Meals on Wheels, which provides food to seniors in our community, and that his administration threatens thousands of Texans with the loss of SNAP assistance, among other things.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the city of Austin said, \u2018we will step in,\u2019\u201d Shah said. \u201c\u2018We will cover the housing vouchers that are lost so hundreds of individuals and families do not return to homelessness. We will step in so no homebound senior goes hungry. We will step in and invest in more food pantries, family support, utility and rental assistance.\u2019 This is Prop Q. This is what it looks like to fight back against austerity and fascism.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/n.s1.Aloki-Shah-speaks-at-the-Care-Not-Cuts-Rally.courtesy-scaled.jpg\")
Aloki Shah speaks at the Care Not Cuts rally on Oct. 27 Credit: Care Not Cuts<\/p>\n