AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Travis County Commissioners voted Tuesday to put a property tax increase on November's ballot, aiming to create new opportunities for affordable child care.
The proposed 2.5-cent increase in property taxes, according to the county, would generate $75 million in revenue. It would cost the average homeowner roughly $125 a year.
Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the proposal.
“A year of child care in Travis County now cost roughly $13,000 which is more than a year of tuition at the University of Texas at Austin," said Travis County Judge Andy Brown.
Officials say the money raised by the tax increase would go towards creating 1,900 child care slots for babies and toddlers from low-income households, nearly 3,900 after school and summer school slots for elementary-age students, and incentives for businesses to create and expand child care options for their own employees.
"What this will do is help people who are trying to work, trying to get job training through Workforce Solutions, maybe trying to go work for Samsung or one of these other great companies that we have here in the Austin area,” Brown said.
If approved, the first phase of services could be available as early as fall 2025.
“Here in Austin we love our children and we understand the potential they bring for our great city. I want Austin to be the best place in America to raise a child and they key to that is affordability first,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said.
