🧱 Legoland Discovery Center is headed for the old Rivercenter Mall
🎭 A 35th-anniversary folklorico show opens the Carver's new season Friday night
🏛️ Council raises the city tax rate for the first time in 34 years, and free pet microchip scanners go up citywide
💰 Texas first responders need 36 hours to agree on a radio plan mid-disaster
🏡 A 1906 King William cottage and a 1931 Beacon Hill bungalow, both under $375K
.... and more in this 5-minute read
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📈 Council raises the tax rate for the first time in 34 years
City Council voted 7-4 on Sept. 17 to adopt the fiscal 2027 budget, which carries a 3.9% property tax rate increase—the city's first tax hike in 34 years. For a home valued at $234,000 with a homestead exemption, that works out to roughly $35.43 a year.
The increase pairs with about $90 million in cuts to close a $75 million shortfall. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones voted against it, joined by four council members largely representing Northside districts; she said the budget punted on harder cuts.
🏛️ Bexar County holds its tax rate flat
Bexar County Commissioners Court adopted a $2.6 billion fiscal 2027 budget on Sept. 15 in a 3-2 vote, keeping the property tax rate at roughly 30 cents per $100 of valuation. To close a $145 million deficit, the county drew $68 million from reserves, froze new capital projects and staff cost-of-living raises and did not fund 42 positions after COVID-relief funding expired, while holding public safety service levels steady.
Precinct 3's Grant Moody and Precinct 4's Tommy Calvert voted against the motion. County Manager David Smith also announced he will retire Dec. 31 after 15 years, calling this budget cycle harder than the 2008 downturn.
🐶 Lost pets get a 24/7 way home
Animal Care Services and the San Antonio Fire Department are rolling out free, self-service microchip scanning stations outside fire stations across the city, plus the ACS main campus at 4710 State Highway 151. The stations are open around the clock and free to use—residents who safely contain a found dog or cat can scan it for a chip and follow the posted instructions from there.
City ordinance already requires pets inside city limits to be microchipped with current registration. The rollout is still in progress: the city's directory currently lists eight fire stations plus the ACS campus, with more to be added as they come online. The stations are not intake or surrender sites, and animals that are injured, aggressive or can't be handled safely should be reported to 311.
🏚️ Federal disaster loans open for Bexar County
The U.S. Small Business Administration approved disaster loan assistance for Bexar and seven neighboring counties—Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson—after August's severe storms. Homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits can apply for Home Disaster Loans, Business Physical Disaster Loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
A Disaster Loan Outreach Center is open at the Las Palmas Library, 515 Castroville Road, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Tuesday from noon-8 p.m. Applications are also taken online at sba.gov/disaster, by phone and by mail.
🚨 Communication issues among first responders can 'exacerbate' disasters, Texas officials say
Texas first responders often need about 36 hours to settle on a single communications plan during a disaster, state officials told lawmakers Sept. 14, a delay that slows recovery when it matters most. The gap traces back to the lack of a statewide integrated communication system: emergency agencies run on incompatible radio networks, which makes coordination among local, state and federal teams difficult in a crisis.
Lawmaker David Kidd, drawing on his experience with the San Antonio Fire Academy, said he intends to file legislation that would bring first responder communications under a single statewide system. Emergency management specialists have described interagency communications as the top issue surfacing in the aftermath of disaster response. Read more. →
🏠 Texas insurance department asks legislature to consider delaying implementation of new insurance rates
The Texas Department of Insurance asked lawmakers Sept. 16 to hold off on implementing newly approved homeowners insurance rates, pointing to concerns about market stability and affordability. Texas uses a prior approval system for rate-setting, meaning insurers must get the department's sign-off before putting an increase into effect.
The department's request lands in the middle of a running tension between insurers pressing for higher rates and consumer advocates warning about what those increases do to households already stretched by coverage costs. How the legislature responds will shape what Texas homeowners pay for coverage in the year ahead. Read more. →
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Last week's question: Roughly how many acres of state land does the Texas General Land Office manage? 🤠
❌ ~1M
✅ ~13M
❌ ~50M
❌ ~130M
✅ ~13M: The General Land Office manages 13 million acres of state lands, including more than 3,400 miles of coastline and tidelands reaching over 10 miles into the Gulf.
Most of you guessed ~130M—off by a factor of 10, though in fairness that is roughly the size of Texas itself. The state set aside a portion of those lands in 1876 to create the Permanent School Fund, which still helps pay for Texas public schools today.
Enjoy your weekend! 😊
The Rundown is curated by Marie Leonard and Erin Cobb at Community Impact. If you have any feedback for our team, hit reply to this email—we respond to all reader questions and comments.
