An effort to stop the Austin Convention Center project from moving forward is not over. The group hoping to stop the construction appealed to the Texas Supreme Court days after a Travis County district judge sided with the city.
The Austin United Political Action Committee — the group behind the petition that would let voters decide whether the expansion should move forward — filed the emergency appeal on Tuesday, Bill Bunch, an attorney representing the PAC, said.
But the Texas Supreme Court faces a tight deadline. The last day to call for an election in May is Friday.
“The court does have some leeway for ordering an election after the deadline,” Bunch said. “They have complete discretion to not consider this at all, or not consider it on an expedited basis, in which case the appellate process would be addressing whether we are entitled to an election in November."
Last October, the Austin United PAC filed a petition with more than 20,000 signatures — the amount needed to trigger an election — to force a ballot measure on if the convention center expansion was something voters wanted.
But after reviewing the documents, Austin City Clerk Erika Brady said her office determined there were not enough valid signatures, and the petition was denied.
The Austin United PAC believes Brady improperly disqualified hundreds of signatures from people who live in the extraterritorial and limited purpose jurisdictions to keep the petition below the 20,000 signature threshold. It sued the city over it in December.
The lawsuit played out over two days in court last month, where Bunch and attorney Bobby Levinski argued that the people who live in these areas just outside the city are allowed to have a say in how hotel occupancy taxes are spent.
Bunch said the group still believes the city disenfranchised those voters, which is a violation of state law and the city charter.
“The question is whether our suburban voters in the extraterritorial jurisdiction and limited purpose jurisdiction have a right to vote on this matter,” Bunch said.
State law says voters who live in these areas can only cast a ballot in certain city elections. The city believed the convention center petition wasn't one of them.
A similar effort went before Austin voters in 2019 but failed.
A city spokesperson said staff are reviewing the appeal and will respond as needed.
Austin began its $1.6 billion project to expand the Austin Convention Center last year. The facility is already demolished and construction has begun. The center is set to reopen in Spring 2029.
