In final stretch, opponents of Austin's Prop Q fundraised, spent more than its supporters

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- In less than a week, Austinites will decide whether to approve an increase in their property tax bill to fund city services like homelessness response and public health.

If voters approve Proposition Q, the average homeowner’s (roughly $500,000 home) property tax bill will go up by a little more than $300 annually. That does not include the increase Austinites will see in city rates, which will go up regardless.

The roughly $110 million the proposition passing would generate for the city would go toward services like homelessness services, parks, public safety programs and public health.

After Austin City Council voted to put Proposition Q on the ballot, political action committees (PACs) starting organizing for and against the measure.

The last round of campaign finance reports before Election Day, which are required to be submitted eight days before the election, were due earlier this week. They showed groups against the tax rate election fundraised more (and spent more) than groups in support of that measure over the last month.

Editor's Note: The graph below represents only the Sept. 26-Oct. 25, 2025, reporting period. KXAN included spending for all PACs that have taken a stance on Prop Q, though some of their spending may have been unrelated to the proposition.

How Prop Q spending breaks down by group, side

There are three groups that filed campaign finance reports that support Prop Q. Those groups are Austinites for Equity, Equity Action and the Love Austin PAC. Donations to those groups in the last reporting period were as follows:

• Austinites for Equity: $15,422.34
• Equity Action: $250
• Love Austin PAC: $52,575.94

Those same groups spent the following during this reporting period:

• Austinites for Equity: $76,225.20
• Equity Action: $70,005.10
• Love Austin PAC: $94,090.47

A large portion of Equity Action's spending looks to be unrelated to Prop Q. Documents show that $20,000 spent as a contribution to Texas AFL-CIO, which is a labor group in favor of Prop Q. Other expenditures appear unrelated and some went to pay staff, who may or may not have been working on Prop Q-related efforts.

Meanwhile, there are four groups that filed campaign finance reports and are against Proposition Q.

One of them (Free Zilker Coalition) reported no donations or spending. The campaign finance report for A Greater Republic PAC was unavailable on the city of Austin's data dashboard as of Wednesday.

The remaining two are Restore Leadership ATX and the Save Austin Now PAC. Together, those groups raised more than $270,000 during this reporting period. That breaks down as follows:

• Restore Leadership ATX: $67,800
• Save Austin Now PAC: $209,745

They spent the following:

• Restore Leadership ATX: $72,766.35
• Save Austin Now PAC: $183,612.25

While similar to Equity Action in that it does work on matters unrelated to Proposition Q, Save Austin Now PAC's spending during this reporting period appears to be entirely tied to Prop Q.