Bastrop City Council on Sept. 8 approved the immediate termination of the city’s Flock Safety contract and prohibited future agreements with any company for similar vehicle-surveillance systems.

What happened: Council also prohibited new, renewed or replacement contracts with any company for license plate readers or other vehicle-surveillance systems that collect or share vehicle-location data.

Residents had urged council to end the city’s use of the technology rather than switch providers.

The backstory: The vote followed council’s Sept. 1 directive to cover the city’s Flock cameras.

Officials had initially considered additional safeguards, including a shorter data retention period.

What they’re saying: Mayor Ishmael Harris said concerns about privacy, data collection and access to personal information prompted council’s reconsideration.

“We can’t move forward without public trust,” Harris said.

Four new dining options opened at Bastrop’s Sendero development along SH 71 in August, bringing pizza, coffee, breakfast and fast food to the retail center.

The new locations include:

• Crust Pizza Co., which opened Aug. 12, serves Chicago-style thin-crust pizzas, appetizers, pastas and desserts with indoor and outdoor dining.

• McDonald’s opened its second Bastrop location Aug. 27, serving fast-food menu items such as Big Macs and Quarter Pounders.

• Scooter's Coffee, a drive-thru drink franchise, opened Aug. 24 and offers coffees, teas, lemonades, energy drinks, breakfast items, smoothies, and pet-friendly treats.

• The Toasted Yolk Cafe also opened Aug. 24, featuring a scratch-made menu with breakfast, brunch and lunch choices.

Across Texas, the taxes that homeowners pay to their local school districts went down by about 13.6% in 2025, one state senator found.

The overview: Across the board, many Texas counties mailed out reduced property tax bills for the 2025 tax year, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, reported. During a Sept. 1 hearing of the Senate Local Government Committee, he said the average homeowner's property tax bill went down by about $140 last year, falling from $1,037 per year in 2024 to $896 per year in 2025.

Texas' 2026-27 budget includes $51 billion in property tax relief, previous Community Impact reporting shows. Unless the legislature rolls back existing tax exemptions, the state will be required to spend that much or more on tax relief in future bienniums.

How it works: The state does not charge property taxes, meaning homeowners are taxed by local entities such as school districts, cities, counties and municipal utility districts. The Texas Legislature, however, can place limits on how much local governments raise taxes annually and require tax exemptions for certain groups.