Dueling Audits Create Confusion Ahead of November Election

If it’s a midterm election year with a ballot packed with federal and state races, rest assured Austin voters will find an equally crowded local ballot, with City Council races, two bond propositions, and several proposed charter amendments – including a citizens initiative calling for an independent citywide audit. 

The audit measure, Proposition I, hearkens back to a similar effort in 2018, when petitioners put an audit proposal on the ballot. Voters ultimately rejected it 58% to 42%. 

Back then, opponents of the proposition argued the city already had a quasi-independent auditor – one that reports to the City Council rather than the city manager – whose office regularly conducts rigorous audits of city departments and investigates allegations of workplace wrongdoing.

This time, Prop I opponents point to an efficiency ordinance Council adopted in February – a move regarded at the time as a bid to outflank a petition drive by PAC Save Austin Now to put a city audit on the ballot and make regular audits a permanent part of the city charter.

More significantly, the Council ordinance was a direct response to last year’s defeat of Prop Q, the city’s controversial tax rate election that brought to light voters’ distrust of city spending – distrust compounded by public outcry over a $1.1 million logo rollout just one month before the election. 

The “logogate” saga landed in court late last year over the PAC’s use of the logo, replacing “Austin” with “Audit” as part of its petition effort. After the city sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group, the PAC countered with a lawsuit against City Manager T.C. Broadnax in his official capacity, arguing, among other things, that its use of the logo is protected parody free speech. The case is ongoing.

In June, the city clerk certified Save Austin Now’s petition for the November ballot. The following month, Council approved the selection of an outside firm, Pennsylvania-based Public Works LLC, to conduct an audit of city operations with at least three years between each review, fulfilling the terms of Council’s February ordinance.

With one audit underway and another audit proposal on the ballot, what happens if voters approve the proposition? Much depends on who’s answering the question. 

“We have started the process of determining how we would proceed if the charter amendment passes and how that could work with, or in consideration of, the efficiency assessment that we’ve already started,” City Auditor Jason Hadavi told the Chronicle.

City Hall Credit: John Anderson

And according to a city spokesperson, city officials are working with legal staff “to determine how the ordinance and charter amendment assessments could be harmonized.” In the meantime, “Public Works is continuing to perform the work they were contracted for.” 

Attorney Bill Aleshire, who authored the proposed charter amendment for Save Austin Now, disputed reported statements from city officials suggesting that the city could end up with two audits – one approved by voters and the other approved by Council ordinance. 

“The charter trumps the city ordinance,” Aleshire said. “The Council will have to conform their ordinance to the charter.” Aleshire also argued that the two audits are not all that similar, as city officials maintain, citing the proposition’s top requirement of indexing the cost of city government to income levels of households and small businesses. Additionally, the proposed initiative requires an audit one year before a tax rate election.

“The only reason there would be two audits after the people approve the charter audit is if we had a mayor and Council who were that stupid that they couldn’t figure out how to do one audit,” Aleshire said. 

Prop I opponents liken the measure to something of a MAGA-style takeover of local government, pointing to Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent vow to end Austin Energy’s “monopoly” on electric power by deregulating municipally owned utilities in Texas.

Local labor organizations, led by AFSCME Local 1624, are gearing up to fight the audit proposition, as they did in the 2018 election. 

“AFSCME and our labor and progressive coalition partners will actively oppose the wasteful, redundant, and harmful Proposition I,” Brydan Summers, president of AFSCME Local 1624, said in a statement. “Prop I is just the latest attempt from Save Austin Now to force its right-wing agenda on our city. Prop I is a giveaway to corporate consultants that will handcuff the city and hurt the delivery of core services that Austinites rely on, including social programs, parks, libraries, and public safety.”

Aside from labor’s opposition, there are not yet signs of another organized resistance. Political consultant David Butts, who led a PAC attack on the 2018 proposal, is not currently involved in an organized effort to defeat Prop I, but he expects one to emerge soon.

“This petition-driven audit is pushed by people who have a hostile view of Austin and many of its city policies,” Butts said. “Between Abbott and this restrictive audit, our city could be forced to cut back many forward-looking policies on the environment, homelessness, and other areas where Austin walks in advance of public consciousness. The City Council needs to get serious about this because, left unattended, the voters will be inclined to vote for this without knowing what they’re doing to their city.”

Whatever the outcome of Prop I, Council Member Marc Duchen said the Council needs to be more cognizant of residents’ ability to pay for basic essentials when weighing future spending. Both Duchen and Mayor Kirk Watson voted against Council’s recent budget over cost concerns. 

“City Hall has got to figure out how we can be more creative about saving money or finding new sources of revenue if we want to continue to provide residents with all of the programs and services they’re relying on,” Duchen said. “To be clear, I want to keep providing those services, but this is now the second year of what will be an ongoing structural deficit, and we’re going to continue to face this problem if we’re not more mindful about our spending.”

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