Austin’s Proposition B, which asked voters whether they want the right to vote on convention center expansions costing more than $20 million and proposed the city recalculate how it spends its hotel tax revenue, was rejected by Austin voters 54.4% to 45.6%, according to voting results from the Travis and Williamson counties clerks.
Approximately 91,939 votes were tallied for Proposition B between early voting and Election Day results. Early voting was open between Oct. 21 to Nov. 1, during which just over 34,000 Austinites cast votes on Proposition B. Election day totals continued to trickle in throughout the evening; however, results are not final until they are canvassed. Although it failed, Austinites living in Williamson County approved of the proposition 52.5% to 47.5%, but they only contributed 3,752 total votes to the tally.
Proposition B was sparked after City Council showed overwhelming support for a $1.3 billion expansion of the Austin Convention Center. A political action committee called Unconventional Austin soon formed and circulated a petition, which asked people whether they would want the right to vote on future expansions that cost more than $20 million. It also proposed the city recalculate how it spends its hotel tax revenue, 70% of which is currently spent on convention center operations and debt from previous expansions.
Proposition B was one of two citizen-initiated petitions that made it on this year's ballot. Proposition A was the other, which asked voters whether they wanted to vote before the city sells or leases any city-owned land for private entertainment and sports uses. Citizen-initiated petitions are a tool offered by the state constitution that allows citizens to draft laws, petition for support and force City Council to either pass the law or put it to a citywide vote.
