Austin Free Press

Austin Free Press Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Austin Free Press, News & Media Website, Austin, TX.

Engage with your community!
11/11/2025

Engage with your community!

An influential developer walked away from extended negotiations with a Northwest Austin homeowners association in the wa...
11/11/2025

An influential developer walked away from extended negotiations with a Northwest Austin homeowners association in the wake of a new state zoning law that seems to be sowing confusion among citizens, developers, and city officials.

Philadelphia-based Brandywine Realty Trust had been negotiating with the River Place Homeowners Association, which represents residents living near Brandywine’s northwest office park off RM 2222 near FM 620. Brandywine refused to sign a pending deal to limit the number of residential units that it could build there, citing deregulatory Senate Bill 840, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Read more: https://austinfreepress.org/preemption-exemption/

11/10/2025

The Austin City Council met to discuss the future of the downtown convention center. After years of debate, the old building is coming down to make way for a $1.6B rebuild. Here’s what happened at the meeting.

11/10/2025

In case you missed it: Everything that went down last week.

OPINION | Austin’s No King’s Day was a triumph of grassroots organizing. Despite the heat and unfriendly attention from ...
11/10/2025

OPINION | Austin’s No King’s Day was a triumph of grassroots organizing. Despite the heat and unfriendly attention from the state and federal governments, tens of thousands of Texans came out to express their displeasure with the strains of authoritarian practices taking hold in our society. They came out expressing a joy that is not often seen today. A spirit of camaraderie and unity permeated the entire event, dispelling a murky fog induced by a perpetual storm of bad news and doomscrolling.

Our rally on Oct. 18 had the nation’s 5th largest No Kings attendance. It was twice as large as the sister event in Houston, making it the largest in Texas. Punching well above its weight, Austin is the 13th largest city in the country and number four in Texas.

Credit goes to the process used to organize and promote the event. Hands Off Central Texas, the group behind No Kings in Austin, is a “show-up-ocracy.” It’s run by — and for — those who want to show up to it. Partnering with groups such as the League of Women Voters, Indivisible, or people off the street, we empower them to take action. We notice problems and opportunities. If we can find someone to work them, we work them. There’s no hierarchy, no complicated structure — just a few basic rules of engagement and a lot of trust.

Read more: https://austinfreepress.org/showing-up/

Two Travis County property owners filed suit Wednesday against members of the Travis County Commissioners Court, saying ...
11/07/2025

Two Travis County property owners filed suit Wednesday against members of the Travis County Commissioners Court, saying the group exceeded their authority when they voted to set the county tax rate in excess of the amount needed to address the July 4 flooding disaster.

According to the lawsuit, the county incurred $20 million in increased expenditures for the flood, but commissioners voted unanimously to raise property taxes by $42 million as a dedicated disaster tax. Commissioners cited the Disaster Tax Law in voting to raise taxes as they did.

The suit against Travis County was filed just one day after Austin voters rejected an 8 percent tax hike that the city council said was needed to close a funding gap and pay for programs to alleviate homelessness, among other things. (One Austin Council Member, District 10’s Marc Duchen, voted against the budget and the tax hike envisioned by Proposition Q.)

Under state law, the city must ask voters for permission to raise taxes more than 3.5 percent. City finance officials said they would face a $33 million budget hole next year without additional money. However, the city council went beyond that, adding a number of items to the budget in order to pay for homeless services, park improvements, and public health.

Read more: https://austinfreepress.org/property-owners-sue-over-travis-county-tax-hike/

Special screening of Laura Dunn's 2007 documentary The Unforeseen, which chronicles Austin’s early 1990s battles over wa...
11/06/2025

Special screening of Laura Dunn's 2007 documentary The Unforeseen, which chronicles Austin’s early 1990s battles over water protection and urban development.

The screening hosted by the Save Our Springs Alliance paid tribute to the film’s producer, Robert Redford, who died in September.

Read more: https://austinfreepress.org/the-unforeseen/

Austin voters slam-dunked the city council on Tuesday with a resounding rejection of Proposition Q – a proposal that wou...
11/06/2025

Austin voters slam-dunked the city council on Tuesday with a resounding rejection of Proposition Q – a proposal that would have permanently raised the city’s property-tax rate to generate roughly $110 million annually.

Unofficial returns show the measure failing by nearly a two-to-one margin — 104,148 to 60,356 in Travis County and 5,023 to 2,491 in Williamson County — with results from Hays County not yet available. The outcome reflects broad skepticism about the Austin City Council’s fiscal management and raises new questions about how the city will balance its budget in the months ahead.

“Voters prioritized affordability,” Mayor Kirk Watson wrote in his “Watson Wire” newsletter after election results came in. “They’re worried about their finances, their grocery and utility bills, their property taxes, and more. They’re concerned about the stability of all levels of government, including city government. We need to give voters reason to trust us—to trust that we will strike the right balance between services and the funding needed to provide those services.”

Read more: https://austinfreepress.org/nope/

We've kicked off our NewsMatch 2025 campaign!Through Dec. 31st, NewsMatch will match your new monthly donation 12x (or d...
11/05/2025

We've kicked off our NewsMatch 2025 campaign!

Through Dec. 31st, NewsMatch will match your new monthly donation 12x (or double your one-time donation), up to $1,000. This is a great opportunity to help power our work into 2026.

This is what Austin-rooted nonprofit journalism looks like: reporting with purpose and accuracy on local issues to strengthen our community.

Will you make a gift today and double your impact?
🔗 Donate here: https://austinfreepress.org/donate/

Discover, explore, and connect with your community!
11/04/2025

Discover, explore, and connect with your community!

While most residents in Austin know the Texas capital has a homelessness problem, they may not realize that 44 percent o...
11/03/2025

While most residents in Austin know the Texas capital has a homelessness problem, they may not realize that 44 percent of the proposed $110 million Proposition Q tax increase on the November 4 ballot is slated to fund homelessness services, according to Austin city officials.

The measure would permanently raise property tax bills $303 to $480 annually for average homeowners. City officials say that would secure $12 million for rapid housing, $8.4 million for emergency shelter beds, $3 million to aid transitions to permanent supportive housing, almost $2 million for workforce programs, and much more. The city is facing a $33 million deficit, but the tax increase would generate more than three times that amount annually.

As the city’s homelessness crisis reaches an inflection point and as voters decide the issue on Tuesday, it’s important to examine the nuances that led to this crisis and what has been shown to redress the problem. Many residents believe the city should be providing such services without an additional tax rate increase, given that the increase is likely to increase rents, which experts say could push more people into homelessness.

Read more: https://austinfreepress.org/tuesdays-election/

Address

Austin, TX

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Austin Free Press posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category