AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday, voters had their say on two City of Austin propositions, one dealing with the use of City-owned land for sports or entertainment facilities and one dealing with the City's Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) in relation to a convention center expansion. Both have faced lawsuits regarding their ballot wording. Voters had the opportunity to vote “for” or “against” each of them.
Here are the results:
Proposition A
Proposition A was rejected by voters, with 37% voting “for” and 63% voting “against.”
Proposition A would have required a city council supermajority and voter approval for the use of City-owned land for any sports or entertainment facility. It would have included the sale, transfer or lease of City land and any grants for site development permits.
Prop A was put on the ballot in response to the City's deal for the construction of Austin FC's stadium at McKalla Place. In August, a lawsuit was filed related to the ballot language for Prop A, stating that the language swayed voters against the prop.
Proposition B
Proposition B was rejected by voters, with 46% voting “for” and 54% voting “against.”
Proposition B would have put a cap of 34% on how much of the City's Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) could be put toward expanding the Austin Convention Center. It also would have set forth how to reallocate the rest of the HOT funds and required voter approval for all convention center improvements totaling more than $20 million.
In July, the political action committee Unconventional Austin collected enough signatures on a petition in support of an ordinance to dictate the use of HOT revenue and require voter approval for any significant convention center expansion. The petition called for limiting the HOT spending for the convention center to no more than one-third of the revenue. It also called for a public vote if the expansion costs more than $20 million.
You can stay up to date with all the latest election news by visiting the Vote Texas section of our website at KVUE.com/votetexas.
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