The big picture
The slate of propositions builds on the recent work of the 2024 Charter Review Commission, a resident body created by City Council last year to look into adjusting some of Austin's election rules.
Other edits to the charter—essentially Austin's constitution defining local government rules and processes—were also proposed by city staff this year.
Voters may also notice one immediate electoral change that's already been made. To avoid confusion and repetition, proposition naming in Austin will now cycle through the entire alphabet over the years rather than beginning every election with a "Proposition A."
City Council voted on Aug. 14 to put the 13 charter updates up for election this fall. Their naming begins with Proposition C, following last year's police oversight measures Propositions A and B.
A list of the propositions and the full text of their related charter edits is available here. The items include:
- Proposition C, covering the autonomy of the Independent Citizens' Redistricting Commission that updates City Council district boundaries every decade
- Proposition D, removing a requirement for City Council to hold weekly meetings
- Proposition E, removing a requirement for City Council to formally set its meeting rules in an ordinance
- Proposition F, moving the calculation of limits on political donations to January so they'll apply for a full calendar year
- Proposition G, moving initiative petition and charter amendment elections to higher-turnout November dates in even-numbered years regardless of when they are first certified
- Proposition H, increasing the threshold for recall petitions to remove elected officials from office; recall campaigns would need to collect signatures from 15%, instead of 10%, of voters in a council member's district while the citywide mayoral recall limit would stay at 10%
- Proposition I, giving City Council the power to hire and remove the city attorney
- Proposition J, aligning Austin's "resign-to-run" policy for municipal judges seeking public office with state law
- Proposition K, updating city financial policies to "industry best practices," according to city staff
- Proposition L, removing city auditor staff and appointees from Austin's municipal civil service classification
- Proposition M, adjusting the timing policy for filing notices of legal claims against the city
- Proposition N, making several grammatical charter edits, and to adjust language to comply with state law and court orders
- Proposition O, updating city campaign rules to allow candidates to take donations for unpaid campaign expenses before they leave office in line with political donation limits
Much of the charter commission's review centered on aspects of the city's frequent resident petition elections. In Austin, residents who garner enough support in the community can submit the following types of petitions for voter consideration:
- Initiatives to directly lay out desired policies, without needing to go through City Council: Under current rules, initiative petitions must be signed by at least 20,000 voters to land on the ballot.
- Referenda to repeal ordinances approved by City Council: The 20,000-signature limit also applies.
- Recalls to remove city officials from office: Today, recall petitions must be signed by 10% of a mayor or council member's constituency.
- Charter amendments to edit Austin's foundational local rules: Charter petitions must also earn 20,000 voter signatures—a requirement that's set in state law.
Some city officials were also interested in new disclosure requirements for Austinites who organize petition campaigns. After some commission review of that topic, those transparency updates will be considered by council in the future, a spokesperson said in July.
