Pflugerville ISD trustee elections will shift from being held in May to November, following a resolution approved in a 5-2 vote by the board during its Dec. 11 meeting.

The gist: According to district officials, the resolution has been under consideration by the district's policy committee. Per the resolution, which will go into effect in 2026, trustee terms will remain three years in length. 

Offering input: Trustee Renae Mitchell suggested suspending the vote, saying the resolution gives the current seated board five additional months in office.

Trustee Alex Okafor, who is part of the policy committee, said the process behind changing the policy was rooted in saving the district money by moving to a November election cycle and boosting voter turnout. 

District officials said that while election costs vary each year, PfISD could have saved approximately $130,000 if elections were held in November for the past two years.

Looking ahead: With places 6 and 7 up for election next year, the candidate filing date deadline will now shift to August.

City of Austin officials face a 2025 deadline to define the scope of several cap and stitch projects that could reshape traffic and neighborhoods across the city.

Explained: In a Dec. 4 update to the Austin Mobility Committee, city staff said the Texas Department of Transportation revised the I-35 Capital Express Central project timeline, delaying construction of city-funded elements by three years while moving up the deadline for additional funding commitments.

The impact: The shift forces Austin to commit millions of dollars when designs are only 30% complete, increasing financial risk, city staff said. City Council approved an advance funding agreement last May for up to $104 million to support three downtown caps and two northern stitches, with future payments to be spread over several years and larger “balloon payments” due during final construction.

Looking ahead: Community engagement continues on northern stitches aimed at reconnecting East and West Austin. Final stitch locations are expected to be selected by City Council by the end of 2025.

City and airport leaders on Dec. 10 marked the completion of a new outbound baggage handling system at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a key milestone in the multibillion-dollar expansion now underway, airport officials said. The upgraded system can process roughly 4,000 bags a day and roughly 37 million passengers a year, helping the airport keep pace with Central Texas’ rapid growth.

Some context: ABIA continues to break traffic records. October saw more than 2 million passengers, an increase of nearly 9% from last year, while the Monday after the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix set a new single-day record with more than 45,000 departing travelers screened by TSA.

Officials said the project supports hundreds of local jobs and is part of a broader effort to expand long-term capacity. The airport’s $4 billion program will add a new concourse by 2030, but staff anticipate further upgrades soon after. Current planning for Concourse B targets capacity for 32 million passengers annually as projections show Austin reaching 30 million yearly travelers sooner than previously expected.

Texas has grown rapidly in recent years, and data indicates that development is not slowing down. The Lone Star State gained about 168,000 jobs from September 2024-September 2025, leading the nation in job growth, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The overview: Texas is attractive to businesses looking to relocate or expand their operations due to its tax incentives and grants, lack of a personal income tax and roughly 200 higher education institutions, business leaders said during a Dec. 10 summit held in College Station by industry network YTexas.

As businesses of all sizes continue to move to Texas, local governments and associations also need to “support the ones that are already here,” said Dean Browell, the chief behavioral officer for Feedback, a digital ethnographic research firm.

Zooming in: In an October study, Feedback found that long-term Texas residents want to live in growing communities with strong education systems and plentiful job opportunities. That growth, however, can lead to rising property taxes and living expenses before residents begin feeling the benefits, Browell said.