Unofficial voting totals released May 4 show residents in half of the areas under question have decided to leave Austin’s ETJ, including the largest parcel located in Lost Creek.
The gist
Residents affected by propositions A, C and F decided to disannex from the city's ETJ, while Proposition D voters decided against disannexing. Propositions B and E received no votes and will remain within Austin's ETJ, according to the Travis County clerk.
The details
Here are the vote totals for each of the six propositions.
Proposition A: Lost Creek, 738 acres
- For: 91.29%, or 1,447 votes
- Against: 8.71%, or 138 votes
- No votes recorded
- For: 100%, or 3 votes
- Against: 0%
- For: 1.79%, or 2 votes
- Against: 98.21%, or 110 votes
- No votes recorded
- For: 100%, or 1 vote
- Against: 0%
The context
House Bill 3053 was passed by Texas lawmakers last year, requiring certain large cities to hold disannexation elections for some areas recently added to their city limits. The law applies to cities with 500,000 residents or more and applies to areas annexed by cities between March 3, 2015 and Dec. 1, 2017, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
Six areas within Austin fit that bill, totaling just under 2 square miles. For areas that decided to leave the city’s ETJ, some public services and city fees may change, and remaining Austin taxpayers may be affected.
Diving in deeper
The largest section of land up for disannexation was Lost Creek, a neighborhood in West Austin with about 1,200 residences. The city was first annexed into city limits in 2015, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
Residents of Lost Creek will likely face numerous changes following the passage of the proposition, including a switch from Austin Police Department services to Travis County law enforcement, changing from the Austin Fire Department to the Westlake Fire Department, no longer having Austin transportation and public works departments maintain roads, and more.
