A local advocacy group called Save Austin Now is asking Austin residents to sign a petition by February 1st. The petition, which requires 25,000 signatures from Austin residents, aims to put a proposed amendment to the Austin City Charter on the ballot for voters to decide in a future election. If approved by voters, it would add a new rule to the city's charter requiring the City Auditor to hire an independent firm, selected through an open, competitive process, to conduct recurring reviews of city finances, staffing, and performance. The audits would cover all city departments, funds, and enterprises, including capital assets, revenues, and expenditures.
The petition effort follows the defeat of Proposition Q, a proposed city property tax rate increase of 20.2%, which voters rejected by a margin of 64% to 37%, in the November 2025 election. According to Save Austin Now, the wide margin of opposition to the tax increase signals deep concern about affordability, transparency, and city spending.
“This is about honest numbers and transparency,” the organization states in its outreach materials. “Austin can’t become more affordable without a clear understanding of how taxpayer dollars are being spent and whether city services are being delivered efficiently.”
Marc Duchen, city councilman for District 10, which covers parts of West, North, and Central Austin, supports an audit of the city. Duchen was the only city councilman to vote against adopting the most recent budget and the 20.2 % tax rate increase. A key advocate for defeating Proposition Q, he is fully supportive of an audit of the city of Austin and has explicitly recommended a third-party audit of the city's spending on several occasions.
“I promised to bring public spending under control when I took office a year ago, and I strongly support the ongoing efforts by Mayor Watson and our city manager to reduce operational costs. I proposed a citywide efficiency audit last August as part of the solution, and community interest in that process has clearly grown. There are some promising approaches for getting the job done, but we need to ensure the city has the latitude to go about it in an agile, thoughtful, and independent way. I’m working to ensure the draft ordinance put forth by the mayor will give the audit the muscle and flexibility it needs, but my top priority at this point is accelerating the process and building on the efforts already underway. I hear from constituents every day who believe these spending reductions are long overdue, and they’re right. If we don’t continue to move forward with urgency, I fear City Hall could find itself in another budget crunch this fall, " Duchen stated.
According to Save Austin Now, the goal is to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and benchmark Austin’s spending and staffing levels against similar Texas cities. They believe that legally required audits would identify savings that exceed the cost of conducting the reviews themselves, tying accountability and oversight directly to measurable outcomes.
Residents interested in learning more about the proposed audit initiative or supporting the effort can find additional information on Save Austin Now’s website at https://www.saveaustinnow.com/.
