PREVIEW: League City to have second reading of FY 2025-26 budget, tax rate
League City will consider adopting its new budget and tax rate at its Sept. 9 meeting.
The details: The tax rate up for vote comes in at $0.36355 per $100 valuation of a home.
What else: City Council will also consider approving a work order to buy more concrete for Phase 2 of the reconstruction of Turner Street and Butler Road, which is expected to be completed by April 2026, according to the city’s website.
Velvet Quarter Restaurant & Sip Lounge is in its soft opening phase with plans to hold an official opening in late September, an employee with the business said.
What they offer: The drink menu features an assortment of wines, including sparkling, white, red and rose. The restaurant also offers bottled, canned and domestic beers.
Menu items include soups and salads with entrees including chicken piccata, steak frites and deconstructed beef wellington.
Lina Hidalgo talks childhood education, reelection announcement in State of the County address
In her 2025 State of the County keynote address, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo emphasized the importance of funding early childhood education initiatives in the county, just shy of one month after her proposal to let voters decide on a 1-cent property tax increase failed to pass at an August commissioners court meeting.
Quote of note: “We have to be fearless in building what the community deserves,” Hidalgo said at the Sept. 5 event at the Marriott Marquis in Downtown Houston. “And I beg you that if we fight for early childhood education, I think the community would like that.”
The overview: The State of the County address is an annual event hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership. Keynote speakers discuss economic initiatives and opportunities for constituents and business leaders in the Greater Houston area.
GHP President Steve Kean asked Hidalgo directly about her reelection status. Hidalgo said that while she was not going to break news about her reelection at the event, she will be making an announcement “very, very soon.”
What to know: Most Texas school districts required to display donated Ten Commandments posters under state law
Most Texas public schools are required to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms under Senate Bill 10, a state law that took effect Sept. 1.
The details: On Aug. 20, a Texas federal judge temporarily blocked the following 11 school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments:
Alamo Heights ISD
Austin ISD
Cy-Fair ISD
Dripping Springs ISD
Fort Bend ISD
Houston ISD
Lackland ISD
Lake Travis ISD
North East ISD
Northside ISD
Plano ISD
Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling and directed other school districts to begin displaying donated copies of the Ten Commandments.
The debate: Proponents of SB 10, including Paxton and Republican state lawmakers, have argued that seeing the Ten Commandments on a daily basis will help Texas students better understand U.S. history and learn about morality.
Some religious scholars have stressed the importance of teaching students about religion in an “appropriate educational context.” Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns that non-Christian students will feel left out or be bullied by their peers for not following the Ten Commandments.
