The Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9 board of commissioners plan to discuss and propose the district’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget and tax rate and recognize Cy-Fair Fire Department Chief Amy Ramon during the Aug. 27 regular meeting.

The big picture: Harris County ESD 9 serves as a political subdivision and taxing entity that supports fire suppression and emergency medical service operations for CFFD.
The board of commissioners are slated to schedule a public hearing regarding the future proposed rate along with the adoption date following discussion and proposal of the upcoming fiscal year’s budget and tax rate.

Before you go: The Harris County ESD 9 board of commissioners are slated to meet Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the District Administration Building located at 10710 Telge Road, Houston for a regular meeting.

From coffee shops to eateries, there are several hispanic owned businesses to support during hispanic heritage month in the Cy-Fair and Cypress area.

Andaluz Vegan
What began as a small pop-up tucked inside the former Celaya Meat Market shopping center on Jones Road and FM 1960, has grown into Andaluz. A vegan Mexican restaurant where owner Alejandro Arregain transforms his family’s traditional recipes into plant-based dishes. 

• 10540 Cypress Creek Parkway, Ste. B, Houston

• 12779 Jones Road, Ste. 105, Houston

• 10511 Jones Road, Houston

Harris County commissioners are slated to discuss debt service payments, planning studies and capital improvements at its Aug. 25 business court meeting.

At a glance: The court will consider about $235.6 million in debt service payments for September and October, per the agenda. The payments will cover Harris County road bonds, permanent improvement bonds, Harris County Flood Control District bonds and Flood Contract Tax bonds. 

In other news: Three planning studies will also be up for discussion during the Aug. 25 meeting. Harris County Housing and Community Development is requesting $150,000 for the Resilience Hubs study, which will evaluate the creation of community spaces to provide daily and disaster response services.

The other two studies, which the agenda does not provide details on, will look at projects in Precinct 4 and cost $1.4 million.

Texas’ audit of hundreds of proposed data centers will likely wrap up by the end of the year, grid officials said Aug. 20.

The overview: Up to 300 proposals will be audited to ensure they meet certain criteria before the data centers can begin connecting to the state electric grid. If all the plans are approved, these facilities alone could use about 200 gigawatts of electricity—more than twice Texas’ 91-gigawatt peak demand record, which was set on July 22.

How we got here: On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott directed ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to audit proposed data centers regarding their water and electricity use; tax exemptions; impacts on residents; and facility ownership.

More details: Only large loads, or facilities that are expected to use at least 75 megawatts of electricity, will be fully audited. However, ERCOT will also survey proposed data centers that would use 25 megawatts of electricity or more.

ERCOT plans to release reports detailing the results of the audit and surveys on Dec. 10, officials said.