The filing period has closed for Hutto’s upcoming City Council election, with multiple candidates entering the races for two seats that will appear on the May ballot.

Place 1 and Place 4 on City Council will be up for election May 2.

Five candidates filed for Place 1:

• Jerrel W. Reynolds
• Sarosh Jafri
• Brandy McCool
• Suzana Beni (Beni’s candidacy remains subject to voter registration verification)
• Luiz Dunham

Contending with lower than projected student attendance and property value growth, Hutto ISD staff are exploring new avenues for flexibility in the school district's budget.

Why now? HISD Chief Financial Officer Caleb Steed provided a look at conditions impacting planning for the 2026-27 financial year, which begins July 1 in the district, in a Feb. 12 workshop. 

In a nutshell: Campus leaders have been instructed to plan for all nonpayroll expenditures to remain flat, he said, as premiums for health and property insurance are expected to increase and enrollment growth to slow. 

The details: Steed said his staff have identified a few methods of containing costs further, including discontinuation of HISD's participation in the federal School Health and Related Services reimbursement program. 

Leaving the program would not mean a discontinuation of services, as it only provides a reimbursement to school districts for services provided, he said.

Check out six upcoming, ongoing or completed transportation projects across the Austin metro.

Ongoing projects
Bell District to 183A Toll shared-use path
Project: Construction is underway on a shared-use path that will connect 183A Toll to Bell Park in Cedar Park. It will be a 10-foot-wide concrete path following along Brushy Creek Road.
Update: According to city officials, crews have begun building the path itself, as well as working on utility relocations and drainage infrastructure.

• Timeline: expected completion fall 2026
• Cost: $3.3 million
• Funding source: 2022 transportation bond

• Timeline: 2026-27
• Cost: $23 million
• Funding source: Type B sales tax revenue

Austin is readying for the arrival of teledriving vehicles, or cars remotely controlled by humans, that'd join several autonomous vehicle operations as emerging mobility technologies that have become commonplace on city roadways.

The details: The city is currently in negotiations with a company seeking to bring its teleoperations to Austin in the coming months. The cars would be controlled via the cellular network and could face local oversight, unlike AVs.

City staff are actively working to establish basic operating standards for the new vehicles once they arrive. Due to competitive issues and proprietary information, the company now under consideration can't be revealed as of mid-February.

Teledriving could officially launch in town this spring or summer once an initial civic agreement with the business is finalized, likely with a smaller fleet in a small footprint like downtown. Staff are also planning to develop a new city ordinance for City Council consideration covering basic rules and guidelines for the technology.

Early in-person voting in Texas’ primary elections begins Feb. 17 and lasts until Feb. 27.

How it works: Texas has an open primary system, where voters decide at the polling place whether to cast ballots in the Democratic or Republican primary. Voters may not participate in both primaries.

What to expect: Voters will be given a ballot with a slate of statewide seats and other races determined by the voting precinct they live in. During early voting, registered voters can visit any polling location in their county.

Candidates who win their primaries will advance to the Nov. 3 midterm election.

Why it matters: Early voting gives registered voters the opportunity to cast their ballots before primary election day March 3.

Voter advocacy groups and experts told Community Impact that a vote in the March primaries is “the most impactful vote” Texans can cast, due to consistently low voter turnout and competition in certain races. Over 18 million Texans are registered to vote, although about one-fifth of registered voters participated in recent primary elections.