Austin, Texas —The push to put the City of Austin’s Proposition A on the ballot all started because of opposition to the new Major League Soccer Stadium in North Austin. 

• Would change rules for selling city-owned land for sports facilities
• Would require a supermajority vote from City Council and voter approval
• Opponents say it would have a negative effect on nonprofits

The deal meant to lease out city-owned lands. Supporters of the ballot measure said those decisions should be in the hands of voters, but opponents said if it passes it would have a negative impact on nonprofits that partner with the city.

If approved, the Austin’s Proposition A, not to be mistaken for the county’s version of Proposition A, requires that the sale, lease, or transfer of city-owned land for any sports or entertainment facility be approved by a supermajority vote from the Austin City Council plus voter approval. Additionally, that approved sports or entertainment venue would be required to pay property taxes. 

RELATED: What You Need to Know About Prop 5: Sales Tax on Sporting Goods

On any given day, Austin resident Laura Maldonado is taking fitness classes at the North Austin YMCA on West Rundberg Lane. She has been going there since it opened in 2012. 

“I just turned 65 this year and it’s been really helpful to exercise,” she said. “It just helps. It helps with depression, anxiety, everything.”

Wednesday, Maldonado was participating in the SilverSneakers exercise program that works to enhance strength and functional skills for older adults. Maldonado fears losing these opportunities if Proposition A were to pass. 

“My biggest concern is the fact that we won’t be able to have SilverSneakers here, or that people that come here on a sliding scale, won’t be able to do that anymore if there’s taxes on a nonprofit.” 

Sean Doles, a spokesperson for the YMCA of Austin said if Proposition A were approved, they would be hit with a more than $200,000 tax bill at their North Austin location, where they already subsidize operations and provide financial assistance to members.

“If Proposition A passes, it’s going to force the YMCA to make some really difficult choices about how we allocate our funds. Money that we might otherwise use to provide direct services to children and families are going to go straight to the tax coffers of the city,” Doles said.

Last year, the North Austin Y served more than 9,000 members, providing $400,000 in financial assistance. Doles said nearly 8,800 men, women, and children receive that help. 

“It’s going to significantly diminish our capacity to serve the men, women and children that need us most,” Doles said. “The North Austin Y has become a real community hub and a beacon for that community, a real source of pride. It’s gathering spot, a place where people of all backgrounds come together.”

The ballot measure was made possible because of a citizen led petition that opposed the Major League Soccer Stadium deal in North Austin. Craig Nazor, with Friends of McKalla Place, said he is worried about the traffic and the impact the stadium will have on the environment. He is also concerned that the impervious cover, like the concrete and support structures, that is part of the stadium facility could make flooding worse in the area. 

“The one way we can prevent this from happening in the future is for people to pass city Proposition A,” said Nazor, who has been living in the nearby Gracywoods neighborhood since 1993. 

Nazor believes there’s better use of city-owned land.

“This is an incredible site, there's a lot of wildlife, trees. There were interesting plants growing there,” he said. “The best use of that site would have been for affordable housing, we really need that. There are areas, particularly the wetland areas and prairie that could be a park. So you would have all this affordable housing next to a really nice green space in a park.” 

The political action committee, Fair Play Austin, helped to get the issue on the ballot, as a challenge to the MLS stadium deal, but have since sent a statement no longer supporting Proposition A. In a statement Fair Play Austin said, “In its current condition, passing Proposition A would do more harm than the good intended when we initially supported it. Given how far the ballot language has drifted from its original intent to give voters a say on whether the City should give away valuable land and waive property taxes, Fair Play Austin PAC will not undertake any effort to support the passage of Proposition A.”

Nazor said he believes that city-owned land is still valuable and voters should be able to have a say on how it is being used. 

“We don’t have a lot of it. We don’t have as much park spaces as we need interwoven with our city,” he said. “Every piece of city-owned property is valuable to us. If we’re not going to use it for something that benefits all people, then we should sell it and make it part of the tax base.”