The City Council finally pulled the plug on the South Central Waterfront tax giveaway. Watching our hard-earned money stay in the general fund for public needs rather than luxury development feels like a massive victory for every Austinite struggling with affordability.
May 5, 2022
Petition Opposing the ATX City Council Giving Away $278 Million in Our Taxes to Wealthy Developers
Final supporters
Property taxes and the cost-of-living are skyrocketing in Austin. But while you pay more and more, the City Council is planning a $278 Million tax giveaway to the uber-wealthy landowners collaborating with politically-connected real estate groups to develop land on Lady Bird Lake near S. Congress Ave.
WHAT?
The land deal, called the South Central Waterfront Initiative (SCWF), consists of 118 acres of the most valuable land in Austin. This “2nd Downtown,” with an additional 6.2 million square feet of office, upscale retail, and luxury residential towers, is projected to be worth $8.5 Billion when completed. It will be wildly profitable - why would they need or deserve a massive tax break??
Private developers, working with city staff, are lobbying Council vote yes on creating something called a TIRZ (a complex financing tool). The TIRZ then would funnel $278 million of our tax dollars from the City’s general revenue fund to pay for the SCWF’s infrastructure.
This $278 million would no longer be available for pools, public libraries, park maintenance, affordable housing, and other things Austin desperately needs.
The city has not shown, and cannot show, that these massive public tax subsidies are necessary for the private developers to reap the profits of redeveloping this massive, luxury project. THE TIRZ IS A GIVEAWAY FROM US TO THE WEALTHY.
Therefore, we the undersigned call on the Austin City Council to reject the SCWF TIRZ and oppose giving away our hard-earned tax dollars.
For more info please visit www.taxpayersvsgiveaways.org
Updates
March 10, 2022
Seeing one thousand signatures appear on this page makes me feel much less alone in fighting for the future of our city. I look at my own rising property tax bill and know that this fight is far from over.
Reached 1,000 supporters
March 7, 2022
March 5, 2022
My neighbors and I are tired of watching our tax dollars disappear while the city claims to have no money for our basic services. We are just a few signatures away from the thousand mark and that number will stop the council in their tracks before they finalize this giveaway.
Reached 100 supporters
February 9, 2022
917 Comments
This development will be successful without this huge tax drain. They even want to get out of park set-asides by making the "parkland" inaccessible to the public. Please follow the City's rules for development without a lot of variances and tax give-aways!
This money should go to legitimate uses in Travis County, property tax relief for home owners, not given away to the rich developer's pricing Austinites out of the Austin/Round Rock area. Build homes for Disabled Veterans and homeless people.
This type of development takes the lake and recreation areas away from the public. More traffic, more parking issues, more restrictions, and all the things we love downtown are being removed. We need a lot of things, but this isn't one of them.
If the COA would use the $278M from the TIRZ and reallocate the $118M for more bikeways, that would cover $396M of the $530M the COA wants to spend on homelessness relief. Or, as you say, fund parks and libraries. It’s simple math: not hard to calculate.
Stop the tax subsidies! The South Central Waterfront is rare prime waterfront real estate and will develop without the TIRZ or other massive giveaway. Find another way and use the funds for affordable housing or providing safe housing for the unhoused.
TIFs are rip-offs and bleed units of local government. Stop the steal!
I do not approve of our expensive tax bills going to fund this type of development. Thank you.
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The City Council finally pulled the plug on the South Central Waterfront tax giveaway. Watching our hard-earned money stay in the general fund for public needs rather than luxury development feels like a massive victory for every Austinite struggling with affordability.
May 5, 2022
Petition Opposing the ATX City Council Giving Away $278 Million in Our Taxes to Wealthy Developers
Final supporters
Property taxes and the cost-of-living are skyrocketing in Austin. But while you pay more and more, the City Council is planning a $278 Million tax giveaway to the uber-wealthy landowners collaborating with politically-connected real estate groups to develop land on Lady Bird Lake near S. Congress Ave.
WHAT?
The land deal, called the South Central Waterfront Initiative (SCWF), consists of 118 acres of the most valuable land in Austin. This “2nd Downtown,” with an additional 6.2 million square feet of office, upscale retail, and luxury residential towers, is projected to be worth $8.5 Billion when completed. It will be wildly profitable - why would they need or deserve a massive tax break??
Private developers, working with city staff, are lobbying Council vote yes on creating something called a TIRZ (a complex financing tool). The TIRZ then would funnel $278 million of our tax dollars from the City’s general revenue fund to pay for the SCWF’s infrastructure.
This $278 million would no longer be available for pools, public libraries, park maintenance, affordable housing, and other things Austin desperately needs.
The city has not shown, and cannot show, that these massive public tax subsidies are necessary for the private developers to reap the profits of redeveloping this massive, luxury project. THE TIRZ IS A GIVEAWAY FROM US TO THE WEALTHY.
Therefore, we the undersigned call on the Austin City Council to reject the SCWF TIRZ and oppose giving away our hard-earned tax dollars.
For more info please visit www.taxpayersvsgiveaways.org
Updates
March 10, 2022
Seeing one thousand signatures appear on this page makes me feel much less alone in fighting for the future of our city. I look at my own rising property tax bill and know that this fight is far from over.
Reached 1,000 supporters
March 7, 2022
March 5, 2022
My neighbors and I are tired of watching our tax dollars disappear while the city claims to have no money for our basic services. We are just a few signatures away from the thousand mark and that number will stop the council in their tracks before they finalize this giveaway.
Reached 100 supporters
February 9, 2022
917 Comments
We should be charging developers for the right to build on valuable property, not paying their expenses. This sort of thing uses residents' taxes against them, making Austin more of a luxury economy with no place for middle and working class people.
This development will be successful without this huge tax drain. They even want to get out of park set-asides by making the "parkland" inaccessible to the public. Please follow the City's rules for development without a lot of variances and tax give-aways!
This money should go to legitimate uses in Travis County, property tax relief for home owners, not given away to the rich developer's pricing Austinites out of the Austin/Round Rock area. Build homes for Disabled Veterans and homeless people.
This type of development takes the lake and recreation areas away from the public. More traffic, more parking issues, more restrictions, and all the things we love downtown are being removed. We need a lot of things, but this isn't one of them.
If the COA would use the $278M from the TIRZ and reallocate the $118M for more bikeways, that would cover $396M of the $530M the COA wants to spend on homelessness relief. Or, as you say, fund parks and libraries. It’s simple math: not hard to calculate.
Stop the tax subsidies! The South Central Waterfront is rare prime waterfront real estate and will develop without the TIRZ or other massive giveaway. Find another way and use the funds for affordable housing or providing safe housing for the unhoused.
TIFs are rip-offs and bleed units of local government. Stop the steal!
I do not approve of our expensive tax bills going to fund this type of development. Thank you.
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We should be charging developers for the right to build on valuable property, not paying their expenses. This sort of thing uses residents' taxes against them, making Austin more of a luxury economy with no place for middle and working class people.