ATX-CPF: Impact 11/11/2025

Round Rock will contribute $46 million to the expansion of a water treatment plant to increase capacity for potable water to serve residents. 

This comes as city officials gave the go-ahead for a construction contract to nearly double its water treatment capacity from a shared facility as a member city in the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority. 

The details: At a Nov. 6 meeting, council approved a $97.6 million contract with Webber Waterworks for the construction of Phase 2A of the water treatment plant, with the city of Round Rock's portion being about $46 million.

The current treatment capacity of the water treatment facility, located in Cedar Park, is 41.9 million gallons per day. Once expanded, the facility will have the capacity to treat up to 64.2 million gallons per day, city documents show. 

The additional capacity will be split between member cities Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock. 

Heather Jefts, Cedar Park City Council Place 6 member, announced her resignation during the Oct. 23 regular meeting.

Jefts is resigning so she can run for the Williamson County commissioner Precinct 2 seat next year.

“I will be forever grateful for the relationships I have formed here,” Jefts said. “It has been such an honor to earn your trust, your respect and your support over the years.”

The background: Jefts was first elected to council in 2017. She said her proudest accomplishments during her tenure include the development of the Bell District, the construction of the Cedar Park Public Library and helping to bring in thousands of jobs through economic development initiatives.

Austin leaders are preparing to trim about $100 million from the city's budget after voters rejected a tax increase that would've provided added funding for services like public safety, homelessness response and parks maintenance.

The details: With the failure of Proposition Q in the Nov. 4 election, City Council members must now adopt a scaled-back version of the fiscal year 2025-26 budget they voted for in August. After the election, Mayor Kirk Watson called for a "coherent, straightforward budget process" focused on the basics and with minimal edits.

The city budget office released its recommendations for the more limited spending plan Nov. 7. City Council will begin deliberating that outline Nov. 13 and could adopt it as soon as Nov. 20.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced his bid for a fourth gubernatorial term Nov. 9, laying out an ambitious six-pronged plan to make “out-of-control property taxes finished in Texas.”

The details: Abbott's goals include eliminating property taxes charged by public school districts, which make up the majority of an average homeowner’s property tax bill. Some conservative groups and lawmakers pushed for an end to school property taxes during recent state legislative sessions.

The governor’s plan to limit local tax increases includes:

• Limiting annual local government spending
• Requiring approval from two-thirds of local voters for all tax hikes
• Allowing local residents to petition for an election to roll back tax rates
• Requiring property appraisals to occur once every five years
• Capping appraisal increases at 3% per year, down from 10% today
• Asking voters to eliminate school property taxes