The city of Katy’s property tax rate is expected to decrease as city officials work to finalize the fiscal year 2026-27 budget.

The outlook: At an Aug. 26 budget workshop, city staff proposed lowering its tax rate to $0.420 per $100 valuation, a 1.18% decrease from $0.425 per $100 valuation from the previous two fiscal years.

The fiscal year budget also had several focus areas including:

• Serving city employees

• Completing community projects

• Purchasing public safety equipment and facilities

• Progressing Infrastructure projects

Next steps: City Council will hold a public hearing for the proposed budget on Sept. 14 and the tax rate on Sept. 28, according to budget documents. Council can adopt the budget after the public hearing or wait to do it until the Sept. 28 meeting along with adopting the tax rate.

Boots & Brews will once again kick off the Katy Rice Harvest Festival for a second year.

The free event slated for Sept. 12 from 7-10 p.m. in Katy’s Town Square will feature local live talent as well as entertainment for the whole family, Tourism and Events Coordinator Kaci Maris said.

What to expect: The event—which was inspired by the city’s Street Dance on the Square and the Rotary Club’s Wild West Brew Fest—will blend local music and brews.

This year’s event will feature live music by singers Hayden Baker and Holly Tucker as well as a dance floor for attendees. There will also be carnival games, a mechanical bull and a petting zoo.

Measuring the impact: The event will once again raise money for Rotary Club of Katy to support scholarships for Katy ISD students.

“That is the greatest thing about what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re able to throw these events for the public to come out and enjoy, but we’re also able to find ways to give back to the community.”

The University of Houston has seen continued enrollment growth as the school nears its 100th anniversary in 2027.

In a nutshell: UH welcomed nearly 7,100 freshmen this fall, breaking its freshman enrollment record for the third year in a row, university officials announced in an Aug. 24 news release. Freshmen also broke a new record with 39,000 applications, a 12% increase from last year.

The university also saw an increase in honors and graduate college enrollment, and students received 18% more merit scholarships than last year.

Zooming out: Last year, college enrollment reached an all-time high in Texas with more than 1.6 million students enrolled, according to preliminary numbers from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 

UH was among colleges with enrollment growth last year and broke its record with almost 49,000 students enrolled, according to a 2025 news release. The college also saw all-time high enrollment numbers at its Katy and Sugar Land campuses.

Missed something from Community Impact’s coverage last week? Check out six trending stories from the South Houston area from Aug. 24-28.

1. TxDOT proposes 3 reasonable alternatives for southern portion of Hwy. 36A
2. City of Katy enters stage 1 of drought contingency plan
3. New work club set to open third location in Bellaire
4. Houston delays vote on ending annexation option with The Woodlands
5. New virtual reality arcade opens in La Porte
6. New Latin American cuisine opens in Pearland

Since late May, all autonomous vehicle companies have been required to receive authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to operate on Texas roads. During an Aug. 25 hearing, state senators heard the first testimony on autonomous vehicle safety since the new regulations took effect.

The overview: To date, the DMV has received 42 complaints about driverless vehicles, officials said.

No complaints have led the agency to suspend or revoke an autonomous vehicle operator's authorization. That occurs "when the operation has resulted in or is likely to result in serious bodily injury," according to Corrie Thompson, who leads the DMV’s enforcement division.

Zooming in: Lawmakers said they wanted to ensure driverless vehicles were not rolling out too quickly, adding that they hoped the vehicles would help address Texas' high rate of fatal crashes.

Lt. William White, who leads the Austin Police Department’s highway enforcement division, said first responders have seen consistent issues with AVs, including when a Waymo blocked an ambulance for about 28 seconds following the deadly March 1 Sixth Street shooting.