Austin voters overwhelmingly agreed to let the city borrow $350 million to put toward affordable housing, marking the largest affordable housing bond ever passed in the city. It comes as housing costs in the city have risen at historic rates.
The measure, called Proposition A, sailed to approval with 70% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
While the city has general leeway in how the loan is spent, it says it plans to use this money to build and preserve housing that someone earning roughly less than $61,800 a year can afford.
Residents have to approve this loan, called a bond, because they're on the hook for paying back the debt through property taxes. The city estimates someone who owns a home with a taxable value of roughly $360,000 will pay about $47 more a year in taxes toward the city’s debt.
In 2018, voters approved another affordable housing bond, with a price tag of $250 million. Nearly all of the money from that loan, which will also be paid back through residents’ property taxes, has been spent.
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