Texas has New Constitutional Amendments


Posted: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 01:37 PM - 9,750 Readers

By: Richard Whittaker


Congratulations: As of the Nov. 3 elections, Texas has 11 new constitutional amendments, with every item on the statewide ballot getting passed. Yet the underlying story may be that fewer than one in 10 registered voters turned up to rewrite portions of the Texas constitution. On Wednesday morning, turnout had barely scraped more than 1 million – 8.1% of the state's 13 million registered voters. Even with such supposedly hot-button topics as property-tax appraisal and eminent domain on the ballot, the turnout was the lowest in a constitutional election since 2001's low of 6.9% and was completely overshadowed by voter interest in 2005, when Texas banned gay marriage under Prop. 2. This year's issues lacked much resonance in Travis County, which broke its tradition of exceeding statewide turnout and actually trailed the statewide figure by half a point.

Surprisingly, the nearest thing to a close race was Prop. 1, which allows the use of tax increment financing districts to pay for development buffer zones around military bases, and it still passed by 10 percentage points. Next closest was Prop. 4: Creating a fund to help increase the state's number of Tier One research universities may have invoked conservative ire, but it still passed by 14 percentage points. Both results paled in comparison to Prop. 11, limiting the state's eminent domain powers from being used to transfer private property to a private entity. Originally authored by Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, it got a last-minute boost from a controversial TV spot featuring Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples that was supposed to be an impartial public service announcement but seemed like a campaign endorsement. It passed with more than 81% of the vote.

While there were no major races on the local ballot, there was still some tax business to be sorted out. The city of Rollingwood and the Village of the Hills rebalanced their tax rates to free up more cash for road maintenance, while Travis County Emergency Service District No. 11, covering the southeast portion of the county, raised its sales and use rate from 1% to 1.5%. However, voters rejected Lake Travis ISD's request to raise its property tax rate 2 cents per $100 of assessed value, leaving the district facing a $1.7 million deficit.




Read Full Story at: Richard Whittaker



MORE IN BUSINESSMore Business news

Business

Good BBQ Company opens second location at Lake Travis Biergarten in Hudson Bend

Oct 19, 2026

Lake Travis has a new barbecue option. Good BBQ Company, which got its start as a food trailer on East 12th Street in Austin, is now open at its second location inside Lake Trav...

Read more →

Business

Pickleball Grove breaks ground on 15-court complex in Spicewood

Oct 17, 2026

Construction is underway on Pickleball Grove, a planned 15-court racquet sports complex at 5411 Reimers Peacock Road in Spicewood. Crews broke ground Oct. 12 on the first four o...

Read more →

Business

Canyon Ranch wellness resort in Spicewood set to welcome guests Oct. 22

Oct 16, 2026

Canyon Ranch's new Hill Country wellness resort in Spicewood is scheduled to open for overnight guests on Oct. 22, Community Impact reports. The 600-acre property will have 141...

Read more →

Business

Batting cages in Spicewood, new bank branch and Bee Cave restaurants among area business updates

Oct 15, 2026

Community Impact's latest roundup lists 14 business changes across the Lake Travis-Westlake area, including several near the lake. In Spicewood, Infinite Hitting - Lake Travis i...

Read more →