Round Rock residents could potentially see a higher tax rate for the 2026-27 financial year.

What happened: Officials took the first of two required votes on its budget and tax rate Aug. 27, approving a tax rate of $0.423 per $100 of valuation and a $684.1 million operating budget.

The details: Chief Financial Officer Kevin Klosterboer said the median home value in Round Rock decreased by a little over 6%.

These decreased home values pushed the no-new-revenue rate—or the tax rate that would bring in roughly the same amount of funding for the city as the previous year, assuming the same properties are taxed—slightly higher than the previous year's tax rate of $0.372 per $100 of valuation. The no-new-revenue rate was set at $0.385 per $100 valuation.

The approved rate of $0.423 per $100 of valuation is $0.038 higher than the no-new-revenue rate, Klosterboer said.

The impact: Round Rock estimates that residents with a taxable home value of $370,288 would pay around $1,566 in city taxes annually.

A Goodyear Auto Service opened in Round Rock in August.

About the business: The shop offers regular maintenance services such as fluid and battery replacements, tire replacement and rotations, and brake service and repair.

• 1212 Round Rock Ave., Round Rock

Check out six trending Austin-area stories from Aug. 24-27. 

1. Bad Habits Card Company now open in Georgetown

2. Tejas Meat Supply closes Round Rock restaurant, butcher shop

3. COTALAND Theme Park to host grand opening event in late September

4. Scheels holds ribbon cutting ahead of Aug. 29 opening

5. Amazon picks East Austin for multi-billion dollar robotics facility

6. Hutto, Williamson County poised for $674M Blue Origin facility

This November, Libertarian Ted Brown, Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico are running to be Texas' next U.S. senator.

The overview: Each state has two U.S. senators serving staggered terms, with Ted Cruz and John Cornyn currently representing Texas. Cornyn ran for reelection but lost his primary race, and the winner of the November election will replace him in January.

Paxton advanced to the general election after beating Cornyn in a primary runoff, while Talarico beat two other contenders in the Democratic primary, Community Impact reported. Brown was selected as the Texas Libertarian Party's candidate during an April nominating convention.

At the polls: Early voting runs from Oct. 19-30 for dozens of statewide and local races. Election Day is Nov. 3.

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.