Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has proposed a 56-cent property tax rate (per $100 valuation) that would generate $76.6 million to address the city’s budget shortfall. This is lower than the 60-cent maximum rate approved by City Council but higher than the current 47.76-cent rate.
The council hasn’t decided whether ballot language would tie the tax increase to specific spending priorities like Watson’s outlined uses. Watson admitted his proposal doesn’t cover all city needs, including funding employee raises beyond next year, but he believes it’s a amount voters would approve while addressing some of Austin’s growing service demands.
As it stands now, the increased rate would add about $243 annually to a $500,000 home’s tax bill and requires voter approval due to a 2019 state law triggered when tax rate increases exceed 3.5% year-over-year. The final rate will be adopted later this month.
City Council has two more work sessions on the proposed budget set for next week (August 5 and 7) and is expected to vote on the final adoption of the budget and tax rate the following week (August 13-15).
A new resource center opened on Friday to help Travis County flood victims recover from the deadly July 5th disaster.
Meanwhile, Travis County Judge Andy Brown defended the county’s response to recent floods during a public hearing in Kerrville. Speaking before the Texas Legislature’s joint Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding, Brown addressed questions about the county’s handling of the disaster, which damaged around 200 properties and resulted in ten fatalities in western Travis County.
Williamson County Judge Steven Snell recounted the events of that fateful weekend and the response of local officials.
“They are not coming back to find the rest of these people. My property is going to produce trash and human body parts for the rest of my life.” — Ashlee Willis, a Travis County flood survivor, in a phone interview with the Austin American-Statesman
Flood survivors accuse Travis County of failing them during deadly storm. (Austin American-Statesman)
No other details were provided at press time.
One person suffered serious injuries just after midnight after being struck by a bus.
Early reports indicated the victim was “conscious and breathing but bleeding a lot”. No other information has been provided at press time.
Westlake Drive Bridge at Loop 360 is set to open to public after three years of construction work.
Construction on the new ‘Wishbone’ bridge at Longhorn Dam continues with an opening slated for next year.
An 18-year-old was arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a Leander park.
Austin police need the public’s help in identifying two suspects in a recent theft.
This week’s episode of Crime Watch from FOX 7 Austin:
Based on records from the Austin Police Department, “incendiary devices” found at a Tesla showroom in Austin on March 24 were Molotov cocktails. Officers found three of the devices in the parking lot. The Austin Fire Department’s Arson Unit was also involved in the investigation. No one was hurt and the building was not damaged. Austin police turned the investigation over to the FBI, which is also investigating a number of similar incidents involving damage to Tesla charging stations and dealerships in multiple states. (KVUE-TV)
An Elgin man was found dead atop an electrical transformer platform early Thursday morning, prompting a death investigation by local authorities. (CBS Austin)
The union representing Austin firefighters has begun contract negotiations with the city, advocating for a new four-year labor agreement that includes higher wages and a shorter work week.
According to the union president, these changes are crucial for ensuring firefighter safety and establishing fairness across all public safety departments. The proposals were formally presented to the city on Wednesday during the initial bargaining session.
The city currently assigns 355 firefighters per shift, allowing for 25% absenteeism without breaching the minimum 268 firefighters required.
A major update is coming to a local bike share program: the cost of a one-day pass for Bikeshare rides will drop, but ride limits and per-minute charges are also changing.
Poppi has agreed to pay $8.9 million to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from its claims that its products are “gut healthy,” although the Austin-based company continues to deny any wrongdoing. (Austin Business Journal)
WEATHER
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Severe weather hit Grayson County yesterday, doing damage to an RV park.
Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas as her criminal case generates renewed public attention.
More than 150 railcar workers in Longview will be without a job this fall.
Trinity Rail-Trinity Tank Car announced through a state-mandated WARN Act Notice that it plans to lay off 170 workers at the Jordan Valley facility on September 30. WARN notices are issued when an employer with 100 or more employees plans to close a plant or conduct large-scale layoffs. (Chron)
Police in San Marcos are looking for a man who broke into an apartment and hid under a woman’s bed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is seeking information on the 2019 murder of 37-year-old Courtney Allan Sholar, of Ranger. The reward for information leading to an arrest has been increased to $6,000 if the tip is received before the next featured Texas Rangers cold case is announced.
ABC affiliate KRGT-TV, the top-rated English-language television news station in the Rio Grande Valley, announced the end to a nearly six-year-long experiment with Spanish-language news broadcasts. (My San Antonio)
This upcoming school year public school students won’t be allowed to use their cell phones during the school day. (Yahoo! News)
Democratic lawmakers tried to build a case Friday that Republicans in Texas have engineered a rushed and unfair process for redrawing the congressional districts.
People all over Texas hope to share their thoughts on the newly proposed map.
‘The math doesn’t work!’
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison talks about the deadly flooding in Central Texas and how it has affected people she knows. They also discuss foreign policy issues, including Iran, Russia’s war with Ukraine and tariffs.
The City of Pflugerville spent more than $250,000 on a brand-new dispatch and record management system for its police department. But records show just one year later, the city is ditching the new system and cutting ties with the developer.
(Episode from July 31, 2025)
SPORTS
NFL: Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons has requested a trade amid contentious contract negotiations with the team.
Word out of the Houston Texans training camp is that quarterback CJ Stroud looks “off”. (Essentially Sports)
MLB: Losses for both the Astros and Rangers last night.
J.P. Crawford hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to give the Seattle Mariners a 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night. Texas has lost three straight and five of their last six games. (Yahoo! Sports)
Roman Anthony lined a fly ball over drawn-in center fielder Chas McCormick’s head to score the automatic runner from third, and the Boston Red Sox rallied in the 10th inning to beat the new-look Houston Astros 2-1 on Friday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
ON THE SCHEDULE
AL WEST STANDINGS
In this episode of Texas Country Reporter, we meet Bill Neiman, founder of Native American Seed, who’s helping Texans replace their water-hungry, fertilizer-dependent lawns with beautiful, self-sustaining native plants.
