AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Thursday’s episode of Inside Austin’s Agenda, host Grace Reader will sit down with guest Travis County Judge Andy Brown to talk about flood recovery, the ongoing county budget process and the property tax rate Travis County is poised to set later this month.
Property tax rate and budget
After devastating flash floods hit Travis County over the Fourth of July weekend, the county is considering raising your property taxes to help pay for the damage and prepare for future disasters.
Under state law, if a taxing unit is in an area declared a disaster by the governor “and increased revenue is needed to respond to the disaster, the taxing unit is not required to hold an election to approve the tax rate in the year following the year in which a disaster occurs,” according to the comptroller.
Travis County is considering a special taxing unit at 8% above the no new revenue rate — instead of the 3.5% voter-approval tax rate (VATR). According to staff, that would allow the county to bring in $42 million in additional funding to go into a disaster response special reserve fund. That is a one-time rate increase and will not continue into Fiscal Year 2026-27.
While county staff say that funding is needed, the city of Lago Vista sent a letter to Travis County commissioners on Aug. 8, asking them not to do that and to instead put less pressing projects on hold.
Flood recovery
Travis County has now set up a long-term flood recovery center and the deadline for people impacted to apply for FEMA assistance has been extended.
Reader and Brown will talk about the county’s response to the floods, concerns residents had, how the county addressed misinformation and Brown’s response to state leaders after they hosted committee meetings where they heard from the public.
Inside Austin’s Agenda is live every other Thursday at 3 p.m. Watch every episode at the top of this article, on Facebook and our KXAN+ streaming app. You can find previous episodes here.
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