The Lakeway City Council approved the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget and property tax rate in a 4-3 vote at a Sept. 21 council meeting.

The overview: The city had projected a $1.6 million shortfall, with revenues down by nearly 5.5% and expenditures up by 6%.

In order to resolve the shortfall, city staff recommended that council adopt the de minimis tax rate, a special tax rate designed to give cities with a population of less than 30,000 the option to adopt a tax rate that generates $500,000 more in property tax revenue than the previous year without triggering the voter-approval rate.

Yet, City Council approved the lesser no-new-revenue maintenance and operations rate at $0.1701 per $100 of valuation.

The impact: Under the no-new-revenue M&O tax rate, along with additional expenditure reductions including staffing adjustments and departmental budget cuts, the budget still has an over $581,000 shortfall.

Under the de minimis rate, that shortfall would have been approximately $201,000, City Manager Joseph Molis said.

In order to close the $581,000 gap, council discussed a variety of options including pulling from savings, service cuts and potential staff layoffs.

Water District 10 revealed the 18 student murals chosen to be featured on the water storage tank in Travis County on Sept. 21.

The overview: Water District 10 recently held the Young Artist Art Competition, inviting elementary-aged students from Eanes ISD to create artwork that depicted what water conservation looks like.

Eighteen students were selected to have their artwork displayed as a mural on the water storage tank in West Lake Hills.

“Instead of another notice or reminder about conservation, we asked children to show us what water and conservation mean to them,” Carla Ortiz, general manager for Water District 10, said in an email.

What else: The murals can be viewed at 5324 Bee Cave Road in West Lake Hills.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must stop issuing new permits for data centers, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sept. 21.

The overview: His order expands an existing pause on data center development in the state amid consistent public criticism of the booming industry. Abbott, who is running for a fourth term as governor, has recently moved to slow the growth of data centers after calling Texas “the epicenter of AI development" last year.

The context: Hundreds of proposed data centers are currently being audited by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state power grid.

Some developers may be able to get around the ERCOT pause by building in-house power infrastructure that is not connected to the grid, experts have said.

However, any construction project impacting at least 1 acre of land requires permits from TCEQ.

What they're saying: "As Texas faces increasing pressure on our water supplies and electric grid, we need to ensure that data centers operate efficiently and sustainably," said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas.

A senior living facility in Leander, a LongHorn Steakhouse in Kyle and a drive-thru coffee shop in Cedar Park are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Hayden Grove Northline ($50 million): This project involves the construction of a senior independent living, assisted living and memory care facility with associated common-use spaces.

2. 901 E. Fifth St. refresh ($39 million): This project involves the renovation of the first through fourth floors of 901 E. Fifth St. in Austin. Renovations include the Level 1 lobby area and the addition of amenities to Level 2, including a conference center, fitness center and tenant lounge.

3. LongHorn Steakhouse ($3.5 million): A new LongHorn Steakhouse location is coming to Kyle, with construction set to begin in December. 

4. LaundroLab ($1.5 million): This project involves the demolition of the interior of a former restaurant to build a laundromat. 

5. 7 Brew ($400,000): A new 7 Brew location is coming to Cedar Park. Construction on the drive-thru coffee shop is set to wrap up in December.