Mandates 3rd Party Audit of City Hall Spending + Performance

Make Austin’s government transparent, efficient, and affordable.

This City Charter amendment needs your signature. It will finally require a recurring, independent review of Austin City Council's billions of dollars in spending, their performance, and their staffing — and it must identify savings that at least exceed the cost of the review itself.

No gimmicks. Just independent spending audits written into the City Charter.
What this amendment does Lowers Austin's Cost of Living
Before tax increases
Independent review required
Council can’t call a tax-rate increase election unless a full Initiative has been completed in the last year.
Net impact
Savings > Cost
The contractor must commit to finding annual or multi-year savings that exceed their own fee.
  • Independent professionals, competitively selected by the City Auditor — not City Hall.
  • Forensic accounting to reveal fraud, waste, conflicts of interest, and weak internal controls.
  • Full transparency: all drafts, data, and findings are public information by law.
Why this matters

Austin can’t become more affordable without honest numbers.

The cost of City government directly affects the cost of living. This amendment requires the City to benchmark its spending, staffing, and outcomes against what residents and businesses can actually afford — and against similar Texas cities — instead of asking for more taxes without proof of efficiency.

📊
Independent, professional analysis
The City Auditor must hire an outside firm with a track record of this exact work — independent of City Hall and selected through open competition.
🧾
Forensic review of spending
Every fund, department, and enterprise is in scope. The Initiative examines capital assets, revenues, and expenditures and flags waste, fraud risks, and weak controls.
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Performance & accountability
The City and its contractors must be measured on workload, costs, and outcomes — with payment and oversight tied to clear performance metrics.
AUSTIN'S CITY GOVERNMENT SPENDING PER RESIDENT
Annual city government spending per resident vs. similar cities is a staggering blow to affordability. This regular Audit requirement will help Austinites understand "why".
$6,165
Austin
$7,626
Austin
if Prop Q had Passed
$3,992
Dallas
$3,505
Denver
$3,158
Los Angeles
$2,429
Cedar Park
$2,100
Fort Worth
$2,030
Pflugerville
Swipe to see all cities
How it works

Built-in oversight, repeated every five years.

The Independent Affordability & Efficiency Initiative isn’t a one-time study. It’s a recurring, legally required process that forces the City to measure what matters: affordability, efficiency, and real-world performance.

Every 5 years Before any tax-rate increase election Whole government in scope
1
City Auditor selects an independent firm
Within 120 days of passage, the City Auditor defines the scope and runs a competitive process to choose a qualified, independent contractor.
2
Full affordability & efficiency review
The contractor benchmarks Austin against peer cities, analyzes staffing and management structures, and identifies spending that can be reduced or eliminated.
3
Forensic accounting & transparency
Forensic analysis highlights fraud, conflicts of interest, and waste. Every draft and data set is public information — no hidden reports or sealed files.
4
Results: savings and accountability
The contractor must identify savings that exceed their fee. The City then uses the performance metrics and findings to manage departments and future contracts.
Frequently asked questions

What Austin residents are asking.

What exactly does this amendment do?
It adds a new section to the City Charter requiring a recurring, independent Affordability & Efficiency Initiative. The Initiative examines all City funds and departments, including capital assets, revenues, expenditures, and key performance metrics — and it must identify savings greater than its own cost.
How does this protect taxpayers before taxes go up?
The City Council is prohibited from ordering a maintenance-and-operations tax rate increase election unless an Initiative has been completed within the previous year. In other words, City Hall must show its work before asking voters for more money.
Is this just another internal audit?
No. The standard audit function remains separate. This Initiative uses external professionals, selected by the City Auditor, to conduct a broader, deeper review focused on affordability, efficiency, performance metrics, and forensic accounting.
Who has to cooperate with the Initiative?
The City Manager, all City departments, contractors, and component enterprises must promptly provide any information requested. Interfering with the Initiative or its independence is expressly prohibited under the Charter language.
Will the findings be public?
Yes. All drafts received by the City Auditor and all information gathered by the contractor are public information. Residents can request and review the work at every stage.
How often will this review happen?
The Initiative must be repeated and completed every five years, at minimum, or more often if needed to support tax-rate elections or other requirements in the Charter.
Ready to put independent oversight into Austin’s Charter?
Add your name to require real transparency, forensic review of City spending, and measurable savings before taxes go up.

We Need 25k Signatures to Put
the Audit Austin Law on the Ballot

Sign the Petition

Hard signature required.
We need 25k signatures to qualify.
We will win if we do!

Keep the Momentum!

58%

Prop B

Overturning unregulated camping

58%-42% Victory

63%

Prop Q

Stopping the largest cost-of-living tax hike

63%-37% Victory

?%

Audit Austin Law

Mandates independent spending & performance audits of city hall

Result to be decided by voters!

Why We Need Mandatory, Independent Public Spending Audits of Austin City Hall

After Prop Q was defeated, we knew it was clear Austinites agreed that City taxing & spending is making life unaffordable.

That’s why we’re going to pass a mandatory, regular independent public Audit of the City of Austin’s finances, efficiency, conflicts & overall performance.

I want local government that lives up to our city. Save Austin Now has given us as individuals a non-partisan way to hold them accountable for exactly that.

Our Vision for Austin

Over the past four years, Austinites have delivered a clear message at the ballot box: affordability, accountability & basic competence are not partisan ideas — they are the minimum standard for a city that wants to stay livable. Each major win has shaped a connected philosophy for the future of Austin.

Restoring order with compassion

Our passage of Proposition B showed Austin rejects ideological homelessness policy

When city council de-regulated homeless camping & pandhandling, it took over public spaces, parks, trails & roads. Over 100,000 Austinites from every background saw that purported compassion without any structure collapses into disorder. Prop B was a statement that public safety & public spaces must be prioritized over ideology. It proved Austin would take hard, grown-up positions when ★City Council would not★.

Putting affordability at the center

Our defeat of Proposition Q showed Austinites feel heavily overtaxed by city government

When City Hall pushed a vote on the largest cost-of-living tax hike in Austin history of 20.2% in a single year, 10x the rate of inflation, we responded with a decisive 63%-37% rejection. Families, renters, owners, & small businesses made it clear: living in Austin shouldn't require having some of the highest taxes in the country. Prop Q proved that residents will say no to new taxes unless there is unmistakeable proof of efficiency & value.

Turning wins into permanent oversight

The Audit Austin law makes accountability the default

Prop B restored basic order. Prop Q defended affordability. The Audit Austin law completes this arc by embedding truth into the Charter itself. It requires independent reviews of City Hall’s spending, staffing, efficiency, & performance regularly — with findings made public & a clear expectation: city government must prove value before asking residents for more money.

Our Momentum

Each step built on the last. Together, these campaigns show a through-line: Austinites will defend public order, protect affordability, and demand honest numbers.

  1. 2020

    Prop B Petition Drive

    Residents from every part of Austin collected signatures to restore basic standards for public spaces. The campaign proved that ordinary citizens could organize, build coalitions, and put an issue on the ballot without waiting for City Hall.

  2. 2021

    Prop B Victory (58% – 42%)

    Austin voted to overturn unregulated camping, restoring the expectation that compassion requires order, and that neighborhoods, parks, and public places belong to the whole community.

  3. 2024

    Prop Q Mobilization

    When City Hall advanced a record cost-of-living tax hike, Austinites said no. A 63 to 37 percent result sent a clear signal: before asking for more, city government must show it is using what it already has wisely.

  4. 2025

    Audit Austin Law Petition Drive

    Building on those wins, residents launched a petition to require independent, recurring audits of City Hall’s spending and performance. The goal is simple: make transparency and efficiency the default, not the exception.

Let's keep the momentum!

58%

Prop B

Overturning unregulated camping

58%-42% Victory

63%

Prop Q

Stopping the largest cost-of-living tax hike

63%-37% Victory

?%

Audit Austin Law

Mandates independent spending & performance audits of city hall

Result to be decided by voters!

Save Austin Now is the Largest Grassroots
Organization in Austin’s History

Over 9,000 Donors

>140,000 Followers

Over 200,000 Votes

Over 100,000 Petition Signatures Since 2021

Over 1,000 Volunteers

Over 9,000 Donors ★ >140,000 Followers ★ Over 200,000 Votes ★ Over 100,000 Petition Signatures Since 2021 ★ Over 1,000 Volunteers ★

Sign the petition now

Victory Over Prop Q!

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