The Travis County District Court voted Tuesday to vote in November on a tax increase that could raise $75 million annually to improve child care services across the region.

If approved, the money would be used to increase access to child care and after-school and summer programs, which are severely lacking in about a dozen child care “deserts” around Austin. Strategies developed by the Children’s Funding Project Work Group and the Andy Roddick Foundation estimate the money could create nearly 1,900 new spots for infants and toddlers through age 3 from low-income households, as well as nearly 3,900 new spots in after-school and summer programs for school-age youth.

The funding would also increase the number and quality of providers of these services.

The unanimous approval allows voters to decide on the proposed levy of 2.5 cents per $100 of taxable property value, which would increase the county’s total tax rate to 0.344445 cents per $100.

Commissioners began discussing the potential rate choice in May with the passage of the CARES resolution, which launched research into how to expand and improve child care options. As federal COVID relief funds expire, county staff found that there are only 3,000 state-funded spots available locally and a two-year waiting list of 4,500 people.

Other measures that could be linked to the proposed funds include expanding childcare options to include non-traditional hours, increasing training and education opportunities for afternoon and summer care providers, and creating a business-government alliance to make it easier for employers to share in their employees’ childcare costs, with the county providing matching funds.

Commissioner Margaret Gómez said the county must support the needs of local children and low-income families, but at the same time be aware of the potential costs of the initiative, which are expected to increase the annual tax bill of a typical local homeowner by about $120.

“This is an effort to really make the future (for children) positive,” she said, pointing to the tax exemptions for seniors, veterans and disabled homeowners. “I also hear from senior citizens who say, ‘You talk about affordability and yet you keep raising taxes, programs that are going to raise taxes.’ … We have an understanding that we want to take care of senior citizens as well. So we are also looking at the exemption for those over 65 and the disabled and veterans, who in many cases are all senior citizens.”

Commissioner Jeff Travillion said reducing child care costs would create new opportunities for many families to get an education and find better-paying jobs that might have previously seemed out of reach.

“It’s critical that we invest in child care worker training as well. Often times, we learn that many of our waiting lists remain long because we don’t have enough teachers to care for the students,” he said. “(Child care) has always been a problem in East Austin, and unfortunately, in many cases, intentionally. I think it’s one of the most important things we do as a court to make sure that we’re addressing the needs of our community, particularly those who are living at the poverty line but have the opportunity to do more and better for their families, and that we’re providing an environment for their children to learn and grow as they become more engaged with the 30 Fortune 500 companies that we’ve recruited to do business in this community.”

The county’s action is another important local policy step on child care. In January, the Austin City Council approved an ordinance amendment that eliminated city property taxes on eligible child care facilities.

Council Member Alison Alter spoke before the commissioners’ vote, praising the help of local educators and other stakeholders in designing the programs that could be funded if the tax increase is approved.

“We came to you with this very bold idea, with a lot of moving parts, with a lot of questions that need to be answered. You asked all the right questions and you moved forward,” she said. “You made it a better policy, you made it your own and you’re moving forward with it. I’m here to talk to you today because I want you to know that we’re here to walk with you. We still need to have the community behind us and say, yes, this is something we want to do.”

Photo by Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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