Save Austin Now's city finance reports showed $0 in spending. Here is what was corrected, and what the city says

For much of this year, the City of Austin's campaign finance website showed Save Austin Now PAC, the committee behind Proposition I, taking in large sums and spending nothing. Its reports to the Texas Ethics Commission told a different story. KXAN reported the mismatch on Oct. 23, and the Austin Chronicle highlighted it this week.

Voters use these filings to see who is paying for campaigns on their ballot. With early voting ending Friday and Election Day on Nov. 3, here is what the records now show.

The mismatch

According to KXAN, city reports showed nearly $755,000 in contributions to the PAC from Jan. 1 to Sept. 24 and $0 in expenditures. State reports for the same period showed about $492,000 raised and nearly $456,000 spent.

KXAN broke that down by report:

• July 15 report (January through June): The city copy listed $526,230.86 in contributions and $0 in spending. The state copy listed $263,115.43 raised and $268,827.90 spent. The city figure is exactly double the state figure. The PAC told KXAN it believes it filed twice with the city.
• 30-day report (July 1 through Sept. 24): The original city copy listed $228,472.65 raised and $0 spent.

What was corrected

The PAC's corrected city report for July 1 through Sept. 24 now lists $228,472.65 in contributions, $186,995.40 in expenditures and $22,065.06 on hand. KXAN reported that those numbers match the state filing.

The correction affidavit, dated Oct. 6, says the treasurer could not upload contributions because of a file format change, and that city staff advised a fix by phone.

Two explanations

The PAC's treasurer told KXAN the online filing issue "was fixed weeks ago," and that the public document showing $0 in spending was wrong while the city's internal records and the state filing were correct.

The city clerk's office told KXAN it had "verified that there are no reporting issues" with its e-filing system. It said that while fixing a publishing error, it found the campaign finance page was "inadvertently dropping older links to some reports," and that the data was accurate in the city's open data portal and public records search. KXAN said that, based on the clerk's explanation, the discrepancy appeared to be a city issue rather than the PAC's.

KXAN also checked other committees. It found no gaps for several, and said another PAC had filed a city correction in October that matched its state report. KXAN reported that the PAC planned to file a correction for its July report. We could not confirm on Thursday whether that correction has been posted.

What our records add

The most recent report. The PAC's 8-day report, covering Sept. 25 to Oct. 24, lists $157,163 raised and $168,718 spent, with $4,916 in cash. That report includes expenditures. Our story on the final-month reports compares it with the committees opposing Prop I.

How Prop I reached the ballot. The council ordered the charter election on Aug. 6 after the PAC's petition was certified. The ordinance passed unanimously. Prop I would require an outside review of city spending and operations at least every five years and before any tax rate election. Our explainer covers it and the city's other charter amendments.

Where to look. Our campaign finance page tracks council candidates' money. The city clerk's campaign finance reports hold committee filings, and state filings are searchable through the Texas Ethics Commission.

What's next

Committees that take in large contributions in the final days must file pre-election reports with the city, and Save Austin Now filed one on Oct. 27. The next regular semiannual reports are due in January. The reporting dispute does not affect how ballots are cast or counted.