AUSTIN, Texas — There are three local propositions voters in Austin will decide on this election cycle. One of which is the city’s Proposition B. If it passes, it would mean an election would be held any time there is construction or a renovation of the Austin Convention Center costing more than $20 million.
- Election Day is Nov. 5
- Early voting from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1
- Put on ballot after petition got 24,000 signatures
The political action committee, Unconventional Austin, led a petition that gathered more than 24,000 valid signatures to put the ordinance on the November ballot. This after Austin City Council members signaled support in May for exploring a more than $1 billion expansion to the undersized and underutilized downtown facility.
Local activist Brian Rodgers and Tourism Commission member believes the convention center business is flat and that major public expenditures should be up for a public vote.
“We think that this is another debacle in the making, because what is the future of the convention center business if there’s a dip in the economy? There’s cost overruns, the losses will grow, and the city is not known for getting projects in under budget,” Rodgers said.
Under Texas law, the City of Austin already maxes out how much of the hotel occupancy tax revenue can go to cultural arts and historic preservation, which is at 15 percent each. That would not change under Proposition B, but the proposal does then limit how much of those dollars from hotel stays would go to the convention center: 34 percent.
Proposition B requires that all remaining hotel occupancy tax revenue go to “support and enhance Austin’s Cultural Tourism Industry.” Supporters of the ballot believe a majority of visitors to Austin are not coming for conventions.
“We say, ‘Let’s put the convention center on a budget,’ and we will allow them to have 34 percent of the available money and let’s use the rest of it to promote the Austin that we love and tourists love to come see,” Rodgers said.
Others disagree with Unconventional Austin’s interpretation of state law. Another political action committee, PHAM PAC, is defending convention center expansion.
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“To say that we can’t afford (expansion) or we shouldn’t be doing it, suggests that Austin isn’t worth it, and I do believe that Austin is worth it. We’re growing whether people like it or not, it’s already happened. It’s important to show ourselves and to show others that our convention center is a place of hospitality,” said Rebecca Reynolds, president and founder of the Music Venue Alliance.
Opponents of the ballot measure fear it jeopardizes funding that supports a number of local organizations representing the preservation of the Palm School, homelessness services, the arts industry, and the music industry.
In August, Austin City Council voted to increase the local tax on hotel stays by two percent. Last month, council members approved an ordinance allocating those new hotel occupancy tax dollars for live music.
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Patrick Buchta, the executive director of Austin Texas Musicians, opposes Proposition B, in part because he says struggling musicians in the city need more than just money for marketing or promotion.
“If we still call ourselves the Live Music Capital of the World, I don’t know what that looks like when we lose all the musicians who make this city what it is. We think it’s fair to ask for some help in creating an infrastructure that allows to musicians to live and be able to afford to work here,” Buchta said.