Liberty Hill will hold a special election May 2 to reauthorize the city’s 0.25% Street Maintenance Sales and Use Tax, which will be used to maintain city streets, according to a presentation to City Council on Feb. 11.

The details: Josh Armstrong, finance director for the city of Liberty Hill, told Community Impact that regardless of the election outcome, the total sales tax in Liberty Hill will remain 8.25%.

“If the funding were to lapse, it would not reduce the total sales tax rate,” Armstrong said in the presentation to council members. “The difference would then just be reallocated to the [Emergency Services District] in our area.”

Voters last approved the Street Maintenance Sales and Use Tax in 2022 for a four-year period that is set to expire in September unless reauthorized. If voters reauthorized the tax, it would remain in effect for another four years. The funds can only be used for maintenance of city roads, not county or state roads, Armstrong said.

Leander City Council approved an agreement Feb. 10 with Northline Leander Development Company and St. John Properties for the construction of an office building that will house new space for city offices, the Leander City Council chambers and a future new city hall, according to a news release.

The details: The city has entered into an economic development agreement with developer St. John Properties, which includes a $4 million loan for the construction of a 95,000-square-foot commercial office building at the Northline development, the news release states.

After the building is anticipated to be completed in 2027, the city will lease approximately 40,000 square feet of space over the next 10 years. That space will be used for additional city offices and a temporary city hall. The city also retains the option to purchase nearby land for a future permanent city hall.

The city is currently exploring options to repurpose and redevelop the existing city hall building, “prioritizing keeping Old Town vibrant and supporting the city’s vision for this unique area,” the release states.

The Lower Colorado River Authority is conducting studies to determine if a site northwest of Eagle Lake in Colorado County would be suitable for a new, larger water reservoir. 

The details: LCRA already owns the 2,000-acre site, which could add over 13 billion gallons to the Central Texas water supply amid growing water needs. 

Two-minute impact: The river authority, which supplies water and hydroelectric power to many communities throughout Central Texas, is exploring plans to build a new reservoir that could hold up to 90,000 acre feet of water. That would make it larger than the recently opened Arbuckle Reservoir, or two to three times the capacity of Lake Travis. 

Why now? A new reservoir off the river authority's main channel was established in its Water Supply Resource Report, an overview of strategies to address regional water needs, that was approved last year, according to a Feb. 19 news release.