On Oct. 1, the Lone Star College System board of trustees unanimously approved a fiscal year 2026-27 total tax rate of $0.1058 per $100 valuation.

This rate is $0.0002 lower than the previous fiscal year's rate and is budgeted to generate $356.2 million in tax revenue.

Diving deeper: The total tax rate consists of two parts:

• An M&O rate of $0.0839 per $100 valuation for college operations, including employee salaries and utilities

• An I&S rate of $0.0219 per $100 valuation to pay off bond debt, with leaders hoping to pay off $404 million in debt by approximately 2030 or 2031

What you should know: Taxpayers in the Harris Central Appraisal District are expected to see a drop in their college system property tax bill. However, some taxpayers in the Montgomery Central Appraisal District and the San Jacinto County Appraisal District are expected to see higher bills due to increased median property values.

According to a Sept. 24 Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing, the Tomball-based nail and beauty salon Aloha Beauty Lounge is expanding its service with a new location in Magnolia. The salon previously moved from its original Tomball location on Main Street to Sycamore Street in 2021.

What's changing: The location will be at 835 Honea Egypt Road and will be 12,366 square feet, which is over double the size of the current Tomball location. The estimated cost of the project is $2.5 million.

Construction is projected to begin on Dec. 1, 2026 and be completed on Dec. 1, 2027.

The nonprofit Houston Parks Board is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, HPB President and CEO Justin Schultz said.

The history: Founded in 1976, the group works to expand, improve and protect parks and green space in the Houston region by building, renovating and managing projects. Over the past 50 years, the board has invested about $500 million in parks and green space using public, philanthropic and corporate funding.

Also of note: The parks board typically works on about 50 projects at any given time, including more than 170 miles of connected trails. Moving forward, Schultz said the board has three main priorities:

• Adding 50 miles of trail to the existing network

• Investing in about 180 of Houston's neighborhood parks

• Building the Hill at Sims and MacGregor parks

Several trending stories emerged from the northern portion of the Greater Houston area between Sept. 25-Oct. 1:

• Power Electronics breaks ground on 53-acre manufacturing campus in Houston area

• TxDOT proposes $209M widening for portion of Grand Parkway

• Maintaining Lake Houston: Dredging and Maintenance District looks to provide long-term solution

• Klein Farmers Market to hold grand opening in Spring-Klein area

• Walmart debuts modernized store, expanded offerings in Porter

• Midnight Cravingz announces grand opening, specials

• Tomball and Magnolia businesses work against rising costs

• Conroe Icehouse opening soon