Judge dismisses lawsuit against city over Project Connect
A map details phase one of Project Connect. (Courtesy of Austin Transit Partnership)
AUSTIN, Texas - A lawsuit claiming money from a 2020 resolution to raise property taxes in Austin is being used incorrectly has been dismissed.
What We Know: Judge Eric Shepperd on Dec. 20 signed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the tax rate for Project Connect is "miscalculated" because the money is not being spent properly.
Those against the project said the tax is a "bait-and-switch" on the taxpayers as the proposed light rail plan has been reduced to a plan for just the central city where the original plans would have connected the light rail to the airport.
What They're Saying: Bill Aleshire, who represents the plaintiffs, said the court's decision says the law doesn't provide protection to taxpayers.
"With this lawsuit, we tried to prove the current law protects taxpayers from a bait-and-switch scheme where the City of Austin tricked its voters into approving the biggest property tax increase in its history for a ‘citywide’ light rail plan connecting to the airport, but then keeps the full tax increase while shrinking the rail plan in half, to just a central city plan that doesn't connect to the airport," Aleshire said.
The Backstory: In 2020, Austin voters approved Proposition A for the nearly $7.1 billion Project Connect Transit Plan.
Part of that plan included a light rail system that many hoped would lead to the airport.
When the final plans for the light rail were revealed in 2023, the plan was about one-third of its original size.
The on-street, two-line railway would begin at West 38th Street - traveling south through the University of Texas at Austin campus and into downtown – then following Congress Avenue south to Oltorf Street. Another branch would head east on Riverside Drive through Southeast Austin, ending at State Highway 71.
In an interview with Fox 7 in May 2023, Austin Transit Partnership Executive Director Greg Canally said a route to the airport could be a priority extension if additional fending could be found.
What's Next: Aleshire said they will likely appeal the court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit.
On the light rail front, Austin Transit Partnership is hosting several public meetings next month. The schedule can be found here.