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Pearland ISD's board of trustees is scheduled to consider options for the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 tax rate at its Aug. 11 meeting.

What you need to know: The district is projecting a tax rate of $1.1350 per $100 valuation of a home for FY 2026-27, and is unchanged from last year, documents show. Based on that rate, a homeowner with a median homestead taxable value of $291,400 would have an estimated annual property tax bill of about $3,307, documents show.

What’s next: The board of trustees will meet at 5 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Virgil Gant Education Support Center, located at 1928 N. Main St., Pearland.

Ahlan Pizza and Mediterranean opened in Pearland this July, an employee with the restaurant confirmed.

What’s in a name: The restaurant offers specialty pizzas, including garlic chicken and Hawaiian, along with a variety of sandwiches, burgers and pasta dishes, according to its website. It also serves halal Mediterranean dishes such as shawarma, mandi and falafel.

📍2010 N. Main St., Pearland

Harris County commissioners took no action Aug. 6 on the county’s minority- and women-owned business contract program following a ruling from a federal judge deeming the city of Houston’s program unconstitutional.

The big picture: Run by the Harris County Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity, the program was established in November 2020 by commissioners to provide equity among women- and minority-owned businesses for county contracts. 

The discussion: A number of business owners and community leaders said the program was vital to help small businesses gain access to larger contract opportunities when competing with more established companies. Business owners also emphasized the program did not guarantee every business owner would receive county contracts, as they were still subject to the bidding process and proving the ability to do the work needed.

Quote of note: “The program provides us opportunity,” said Steve Fraga, Tejas Office Products owner.
”We still have to be financially sound. We still need to run our companies like a majority-owned company.”

Within the next year, Texans will likely see changes to when they can vote early in elections, including expanded weekend voting hours.

The overview: Last year, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 2753, which shifts Texas’ early voting window closer to election day, cutting out a three-day gap between the two voting periods and adding more Saturday and Sunday voting.

While the changes did not take effect immediately and were designed to help boost voter turnout, local election administrators said the law will also significantly raise costs for municipalities and delay the release of election results.

Election officials said the current three-day break allows staff to set up polling places for election day and prepare submitted ballots so results from early and mail-in voting can be released quickly after the polls close on election night.

The impact: Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth estimated that the shift would raise the cost of administering a large election by 30% and increase costs for smaller elections by 9%, due to personnel, equipment and voter education needs.