Some city leaders are vowing to increase affordability for Austin homeowners, by raising the homestead exemption.
Right now that exemption is 10%, but several members of the council, including Mayor Steve Adler, are vowing to push it up to levels Adler has been promising since he was only a mayoral candidate in 2014.
Councilwoman Paige Ellis says the city must tackle the affordability crisis, “the results of this will be displacement of our neighbors. Fewer young families who can afford to buy a first home. More of our seniors who struggle to age in place.”
And so she, Adler, and a few others say they want the homestead exemption raised to 20%, along with an increase in the exemption for seniors and the disabled.
