ATX-RRK: Impact 9/15/2025

Round Rock City Council approved its final fiscal year 2025-26 budget, as well as a property tax rate increase, at its meeting Sept. 11.

The details: The $789.7 million budget is supported by a property tax rate of $0.372 per $100 valuation. A 6.9% increase over the no-new-revenue rate, the median homeowner can expect to pay $123 per month on their property tax bill.

This is approximately $7.88 more per month compared to the last fiscal year.

The breakdown: The budget can be broken down into:

• $188.7 million for the general fund
• $418.7 million for the community investment program, or CIP
• $182.3 million for special revenue funds like hotel occupancy tax and Type B sales tax revenue

• 17 new public safety positions
• $161.7 million in roadway expansion projects
• $33.8 million in utilities and stormwater infrastructure upgrades
• $4.3 million in neighborhood street maintenance

PhoNatic owners Pat and Sara Lee announced the closure of both their Cedar Park and Round Rock locations. The Cedar Park location closed on Aug. 27 and the Round Rock location is set to close on Sept. 14, according to the restaurant’s Facebook post. 

More details: In the post, the couple stated that they are focusing on their family grocery business as their children get older and Pat Lee’s parents head towards retirement. The Lee family owns MT Supermarket in Austin, according to previous Community Impact reporting. 

Previously, there were three PhoNatic locations in the Austin-area, one in Cedar Park, one in Round Rock and one on W. Anderson Lane in Austin. The W. Anderson Lane location will remain open, serving pho, bánh mì sandwiches and sliders, street tacos, spring rolls and more.

Austin locals and visitors alike can venture to space with EarthLight Foundation’s annual New Worlds Conference, combining all things science, exploration, technology, art, music and literature and their connection with space exploration.

What to know: From Oct. 23-25, community members can engage with a variety of interactive activities, speakers and more while learning about space exploration and connecting with like-minded individuals.

The three-day event will feature a mix of TED-style sessions showcasing topics from national space policy and space biomedicine to private space stations, cloud cities on Venus, farming on the moon and the ethics of artificial intelligence-human partnerships.

What else?: In addition to the conference’s presentations, attendees will have the chance to get to know 10 early-stage NewSpace startups as well as visionary university students competing in Space Tank, a showcase for emerging ventures to gain visibility, mentorship and community.

Here are the top trending Community Impact stories in the Austin metro from Sept. 8-Sept 12.

📰 City of Austin to take unauthorized billboard to court

🚧 Drivers face 8-week closure of US 183 ramp near Loop 360 in North Austin

👷 146-acre industrial development planned for Georgetown

🌊 LCRA to lower Inks Lake starting Oct. 1; Lake Travis to rise by 3 inches

🏠️ Leander City Council clears way for affordable housing development to proceed

Education in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, may become more accessible for Texas public school students this school year.

What happened: Officials from national education nonprofit Learning Undefeated and the Texas Education Agency celebrated the opening of eight new mobile STEM labs at a Sept. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Austin. The TEA-funded labs are expected to visit 270 school districts across the state in the 2025-26 school year.

Notable quote: “In an ever-changing world, access to STEM education remains critical to help prepare our students for career pathways and lifelong success,” said Alejando Delgado, TEA deputy commissioner of operations.

The overview: Learning Undefeated built eight new mobile STEM labs after receiving a $3.5 million grant from the TEA, according to Learning Defeated information. The organization opened its first mobile STEM lab in Texas in 2020.