City Council commits to repeal of Lake Austin tax exemption

[TexasTowelie]

This week, Austin City Council members say, they will repeal a decades-old ordinance that made hundreds of waterfront homes on Lake Austin exempt from city property taxes.

The American-Statesman first reported last week that about 400 properties lining Lake Austin, many of them multimillion-dollar dwellings, have been exempted from city property taxes since at least 1986. The properties have an average value of $2.1 million and would have generated an estimated $3 million in tax revenue last year, according to initial estimates based on Travis County property records.

The discovery has prompted the City Council to move to repeal the ordinance Thursday during its regular meeting. The Statesman reached out to all 11 members of the City Council this week, and every one indicated directly or through a staff member a preference to do away with the tax exemption.

“To exclude certain people is unfair to other taxpayers,” Council Member Kathie Tovo said. “That is a situation that we need to right.”

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190614/city-council-commits-to-repeal-of-lake-austin-tax-exemption

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Funny that this only came to light after one homeowner wanted the same exemption too...

Not one single one of the 400+ homeowners said anything about not paying any property taxes (from what I gather)...the original reasoning was that city services weren't available to all of these residences, thus, they didn't pay.

Things have changed since 1986, but the amount of property taxes not paid since 1986 would be (rough calculation) would be 14+19 times $3 million (this is a rough rough calculation) or 33 times $3 million or almost $100 million dollars.

Wow...I think I would have figured out something in order to get water to these homes with this kind of revenue stream...and it is, as the complaining resident said, it's unfair.