Good Morning, Northwest Austin!

Top Story
Austin raises senior, disabled homeowner property tax exemption by $12K

Austin officials once again increased the city's property tax break for senior and disabled homeowners.

The details: Homestead exemptions allow property owners to lower the share of their primary residence's value that can be taxed by local entities. Texas school districts are now required to offer a set base exemption of $140,000, while other jurisdictions like cities can set a percentage based on a home's appraised value.

Homeowners who are 65 and older or have a disability can see their tax bills decreased further. School districts are now required to provide an additional $60,000 exemption to senior and disabled homeowners, and other jurisdictions can set their own exemption levels.

Continuing a trend from recent years, City Council voted unanimously in May to increase Austin's senior and disabled homestead exemption by more than 6%. The change will effectively maintain tax relief for those homeowners from last year.

 
Latest News
Little Woodrow’s reveals new location in Domain Northside

Little Woodrow’s, a Texas-based restaurant serving bites and brews, has debuted its seventh Austin location in Domain Northside.

Learn more: Little Woodrow’s held a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony on June 3 with the Austin Chamber of Commerce to commemorate the newly refreshed space, according to the Little Woodrow’s team.


On the menu: While the menu varies based on location, some highlights include sliders, fried pickles, smash burgers, tacos, salads and specialty pizzas. 

For thirsty patrons, the bar menu features cocktails like the Southside of Heaven, which includes Ryan Bingham’s Original Bourbon, Angostura bitters, grenadine and lemonade. The bar also serves up beers and seltzers. 

  • Grand opening June 3

  • 11420 Rock Rose Ave., Ste. 130, Austin
 

Ascension Seton uses a new surgical approach to improve precision, outcomes

SPONSORED CONTENT
 

Your Weekend To-Do List

Check out these weekend events across the metro area.

Fish Fry Dinner & Silent Auction

Old Town Street Festival

June 5, 5-8 p.m.
Georgetown

June 6
Leander

More info

More info

 

FREE Community Clothing Swap

2026 Round Rock Pride Festival

June 6, 1-3 p.m.
Austin

June 6, 2-7 p.m.
Round Rock

More info

More info

 
To submit your own event, click here.

Latest Education News
$8.4B boost did not shield Texas schools from budget cuts, educators say

Nearly $8.4 billion in new state funding was not enough to save Texas public school districts from budget shortfalls and campus closures, school administrators said June 1.

What happened: During a 10-hour public hearing at the state Capitol, school district leaders spoke of efforts to stretch their budgets amid high inflationary costs as teachers explained their decisions to leave the classroom due to pay cuts and large class sizes.

The big picture: Last year, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 2, a $8.4 billion school finance bill designed to increase educator salaries, create a new pot of money for fixed costs, provide more training for teachers and boost special education resources.

Roughly one year later, districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are cutting staff and closing campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. 

Quote of note: "This funding deficit is the final straw for me, and it will be for countless other educators across the state who must leave or who lose their jobs," Austin ISD French teacher Rachel Preston told lawmakers June 1.

 
CI Texas
ERCOT forecasts record electric demand this summer amid data center boom; says grid will hold up

Texans are on track to use more electricity this summer than ever before, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced during a board meeting this week.

The details: ERCOT, which operates the power grid for the majority of Texas, is forecasting high temperatures and moderate rainfall this summer. Coupled with the proliferation of data centers and other large projects, demand on the grid could surpass 92 gigawatts, officials estimated June 2.

This would break ERCOT’s current demand record of 85.5 gigawatts, which was set during an August 2023 heat wave.

What it means: However, ERCOT officials said a grid emergency or blackout is unlikely this summer. State officials have said this is due to:

  • The addition of nearly 11 gigawatts of power capacity to the grid in the last few months
  • The agency's ability to require large facilities to reduce their energy use in tight times

Zooming in: There is a 0.09% chance of a grid emergency this June and a 0.21% chance of an emergency in July, ERCOT found in recent reports.

 

Your local team

Darcy Sprague
Managing Editor

Taylor Stover
General Manager

Email [email protected] for story ideas, tips or questions.

Keep Reading

(512) 989-6808

TERMS OF SERVICE | PRIVACY POLICY

© 2005-2025 Community Impact Newspaper Co. All rights reserved.