Travis County Prepares for Tax Rate Election to Expand Affordable Child Care

In an effort to expand the availability of affordable child care options, Travis County is preparing to hold a tax rate election scheduled for this coming November. Following the approval of the acclaimed Travis County Cares program on May 14, the county is now directing its efforts towards expanding affordable child care for low-income families.

Tax Proposal Details

The proposed tax increase comes in at an additional $0.25 per $100 valuation. This equates to roughly $10 per month for an average homeowner in Travis County. County Judge Andy Brown underscored the potential impact of this prospective tax increase, indicating that it could raise an estimated $76.75 million in funds to be allocated towards affordable early childhood care and after-school programs.

Allocation of Funds

Judge Brown further clarified that the funds raised through this proposed tax increase would be assigned in a variety of ways. These include expanding child care scholarships at day care and after-school facilities in the county, building more high-quality child care centers, and providing incentives to private employers to offer child care stipends for their employees.

Moreover, the funding would be used to broaden child care options outside the standard 9-to-5 schedule for parents with nightshift jobs, such as nurses and restaurant employees. According to Judge Brown, this funding initiative could potentially provide child care services to over 8,000 children in the county.

The Importance of the Tax Increase

Judge Brown stressed the community-wide benefits of investing in child care. He detailed lower incarceration rates, decreased healthcare costs, a more educated workforce, and an overall economic boost as motivations for this move. He further elaborated that it allows parents desiring to return to the workforce the ability to do so earlier, effectively benefiting both families and the overall economy.

Travis County boasts the highest child care costs in Texas with an average annual cost of $13,000 per child. “That’s higher than the cost of in-state tuition at The University of Texas,” Judge Brown noted. The proposed tax increase aims to alleviate the financial stress of child care for low-income families.

A Step toward Sustainable Child Care

This impending tax rate election hopes to not only support families in need of affordable child care but also lend support to child care providers themselves. “Without the sustainable funding, we would probably just wither away and start closing different facilities,” said Tamitha Blackmon, owner of the Christian day care Nehemiah School. “Now we have support, but there’s still quite a bit of work to do on this ballot.”

What’s Next?

The proposed tax rate election is one of many steps local leaders have been taking towards making child care more affordable for families. This move follows the Austin City Council revising its land use rules last October to enable more child care centers to operate throughout the city in a broader array of properties, and the approval of a 100% property tax exemption for qualifying child care centers by Travis County commissioners in March.

Several other steps have to be taken before the tax increase makes its way to the ballot this November, with the court anticipated to officially call the election later in the summer.