Austin Council Authorizes Up to $695 Million in Electric Utility Bonds and Orders a New 10-Year Housing Blueprint
In a 34-item meeting on November 5, the Council cleared a utility bond sale of up to $695 million, dedicated a tax zone's revenue to housing and parks, and — in the night's one contested vote — directed staff to rebuild the city's housing strategy for 2028 through 2037.
AUSTIN — The Austin City Council authorized the sale of up to $695 million in electric utility bonds on November 5, the largest single action in a 34-item meeting that also set the city's housing strategy on a new 10-year course.
The bond authorization covers Electric Utility System revenue refunding and improvement bonds, in one or more series, with a total par amount of up to $695 million. The sale must be completed by April 22, 2027, and can use fixed-rate or variable-rate structures. In a companion action, the Council dedicated the city's share of tax revenue generated by Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 21 to the Housing Trust Fund and the Parks Enhancement Fund, and on consent it directed the City Manager to develop a targeted rental assistance program that buys down commercial space.
Most of the agenda passed on consent. The exception was Item 26, approved as amended: a directive for the City Manager to update the Strategic Housing Blueprint — the 2017 framework that set a goal of 135,000 new housing units, including 60,000 for lower-income earners, through 2027 — with new housing production and preservation goals, data analysis, strategies to address displacement, and consideration of a potential bond program.
The new blueprint will track housing goals from 2028 through 2037, take a regional scope, and focus more heavily on displacement and on preserving naturally occurring affordable housing — market-rate homes and apartments that are affordable without a public subsidy. It will also carry strategies for specific populations, including people experiencing homelessness, youth, students and domestic violence victims. The blueprint and opportunity-map work is funded with $750,000 from a $6.7 million federal housing grant; no city dollars are being used.
