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In a recent poll, residents of Austin cited rising property taxes as a major issue they face, iconic business are having to close their doors and longtime residents are moving out citing rising property taxes. Some have also cited homelessness as an impediment to business. How would you slow or stop the increase in City property taxes, encourage other taxing entities to do the same, and balance the requests for more funding coming from the City Departments and the public? One example of the request of more funding is to expand social service contracts to meet needs, including to provide more supportive housing programs. How do you balance less taxes and increased demand for social services? Please explain.

The largest portion of of our property taxes go to AISD, and many of these funds go to poorer districts in the state. I propose that we split our school district in half (east and west side) so that the East side can get the money that AISD would otherwise have to give to the state. This will result in 1/2 of our residents having lower property taxes, which will make Austin more affordable, and will free up taxing capacity so that the city can address our homeless population.