AUSTIN, Texas — In 2020, Austin voters approved a multi-billion dollar plan to revamp the city’s transit system, which included adding 28 miles of light rail.
Since that time, a lot has changed.
“It has become wildly expensive,” said State Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway). “It is a fraction of what it was originally intended to be.”
The original $7.1 billion price tag for Project Connect has jumped to about $11 billion because of inflation and rising costs.
That prompted a group of Austinites to sue the city, but the lawsuit was dismissed in December. While the project was scaled back to just under 10 miles, the price tag has remained the same.
“This is a loophole that needs to be closed,” Troxclair said. “What is happening in the city of Austin is that they put something on the ballot that was illegal to begin with, that had no cap on how much they could collect or spend, or no parameters on their responsibility to actually deliver what people expected.”
Closing the loophole
Last week Troxclair filed House Bill 3879 which would stop local governments and government corporations from using taxpayer money to repay future bond debt. It would also allow taxpayers to more easily file lawsuits to stop future tax collections if plans for a project change significantly after voters have approved it.
“This bill is about tax transparency,” Troxclair said. “It is about honesty in government.”
Austin Transit Partnership (ATP), the government corporation that was created to plan and design the light rail system, maintains that Austin voters overwhelmingly voted for the project.
“The need for more local investment in our transportation infrastructure will only increase as our state and community continue to grow.” ATP Executive Director Greg Canally said in a statement.
Other lawmakers opposing the bill have expressed concerns that it could have major impacts on future infrastructure projects across the state, but Troxclair said it’s a simple solution.
“All they have to do, is do it legally. Put it on the ballot as a bond with taxpayer guardrails in place, and they can move forward with the project,” Troxclair said.
Even though this is a statewide law, she also said, as of now, Project Connect is the only project in the state that is abusing taxpayer dollars.
“This is so wildly irresponsible that the city of Austin is actually the only entity that we know of that is trying to exploit this apparent loophole in state law,” Troxclair said.
Last session, both the House and Senate passed a similar bill, but it died on a technicality when it came back to the House for final approval. This time, Troxclair said she is confident it will make it all the way through, with bipartisan support.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) is expected to file the same version of the bill in the Texas Senate.