Chunk of south Austin could cut ties with city after petition filed

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An area in south Austin could cut ties with the city after a petition was filed for the release from extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) on Menchaca Road south of Slaughter Lane.

ETJs receive some city services and oversight from the City of Austin but not all. The city doesn’t tax ETJs and mostly regulates health and safety within those areas. There are nearly 170,000 acres of ETJ in Austin, according to the Austin Planning Department.

The petition, filed June 7, requests 96 acres of mostly commercial properties with a few single-family homes and one multi-family property be removed from that city oversight, according to a city memo.

Residents who live in the neighborhood are expected to vote on the plan in November.

“This is the first that we’ve had one of these election petitions, but I do think it’s important for people to know that these election petitions are brought forth by anyone that is a resident, you do not have to own the land within this area,” said Sara Groff, principal planner for jurisdictional matters for the city of Austin. “You can draw a circle around an area and say, I want all of this released, I want to have an election to do this.”

Goff says the threshold to get that on the ballot — 5% of registered voters in the area someone wants released from the city.

This comes after Gov. Abbott, signed SB 2038 into law last year, which made it easier for people to petition removal from a municipality.

“SB 2038, was passed last legislative session and it allows residents and land owners that are in an ETJ, outside of certain cities, to petition the city to release their property, which means they become basically unincorporated county at that point,” explained Groff.

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