The overview
On the ballot, seats currently held by council members Andrea Willott, Kevin Hight and Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Clark will appear for re-election. The deadline for candidates to file for a spot on the ballot is Feb. 14.
Additionally, following the departures of Courtney Hohl and Jon Cobb in December, two unexpired council seats will be on the ballot as well, as part of a special election. Interim council members Kit Crumbley and Blake Sbrocco will maintain these seats until the election.
The city’s proposed public safety building will also appear on the ballot for voter approval following the passage of Proposition G in November, which requires voter approval for city land development.
Additionally, voters will choose whether or not to reauthorize sales tax collection for a road maintenance fund, which has been in place for two decades, Mayor Kara King said.
Some context
The city held a public town hall Feb. 6 addressing the public safety building—a project which the city hoped to begin work on in February but was delayed by several months due to legal complexities imposed by Proposition G’s passing.
At the town hall, an updated timeline for the project was shared by city officials. Currently, the project is in the construction documentation and design phase, City Manager Julie Oakley said. If approved by voters, the project will be put out for bid, and the city will work to secure a construction company. Officials estimated that ground would be broken sometime in August or September.
In addition to an extended timeline, additional costs were also incurred by the passage of Proposition G, Oakley said at a meeting in December.
Assuming that ground is broken on the public safety building in August—which would mark a six-month delay in plans—upward of $200,000 to $300,000 could be added to costs for the project, depending on market volatility and changes to construction costs, Oakley said.
In total, the city’s budget for the project is $18 million, with Lake Travis Fire Rescue budgeting an additional $13 million.
More information about the new public safety building can be found on the city's website.
What else?
The amount of sales tax revenue set aside for the city’s road maintenance fund is set at 0.00125% of all sales tax collected by the city. This fund must be reapproved by voters every four years, City Secretary Jo Ann Touchstone said at a Feb. 11 City Council meeting.
King noted that when reauthorization for this fund went on the ballot most recently in 2021, some voters incorrectly assumed that the city was instituting a tax increase.
“Bee Cave has been doing this for at least the last two decades, with the road tax fund,” King said. “State law requires every four years that we reauthorize it, so it’s not changing how we allocate sales tax, it’s not adding any tax, it’s not taking away any tax, it’s just keeping one-eighth of 1% of our sales tax in a road fund.”
What’s next?
Ballot language will be finalized by the city Feb. 14. The last day residents can register to vote in the election is April 3, and early voting will begin April 21.
More information on Bee Cave’s upcoming election can be found on the city’s website.
