Liberty Hill adopts $74.1M FY 2025-26 budget, sets property tax rate
Liberty Hill City Council voted to adopt the city’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget Aug. 27.
The budget, accounting for a total of $74.1 million in expenses, added two new police officer positions as well as an emergency management coordinator, according to agenda documents.
The addition of the emergency management position comes after July 4 weekend flooding devastated parts of Liberty Hill and the surrounding area.
What you need to know: City Council also adopted a property tax rate of $0.469407 per $100 of assessed value for tax year 2025, which will fund the FY 2025-26 budget.
CollegePros Educational Consulting celebrates two years serving Central Texas
CollegePros Educational Consulting has been helping families and students figure out their best next step for over two years.
The virtual consulting service, operating out of the suburbs north of Austin, is locally owned by Kate Trent and Kim Heffernan, who were both educators for years.
The business offers help with navigating the evolving college admissions process, assessing career paths and the college courses that will support them, SAT and ACT prep, college essays and more.
FOODIE FRIDAY Check out these new restaurants and bars opening across the Austin area.
A new restaurant bringing a homestyle menu based on recipes from owner Scott Roberts’ grandmother, Roxanna, is opening soon in Buda, according to a news release.
Roxie’s, from the family that established The Salt Lick BBQ, will be opening in the fall.
Roberts said he plans for Roxie’s to be open daily for lunch and dinner.
The menu will offer pimento cheese, deviled eggs topped with fried chicken bites, chicken-fried steak, char-grilled steak and a selection of pies.
😋 AnTeNa Kitchen and Bar coming soon to Leander (Read more)
🍫 Kesshō Craft Chocolate expands with new Burnet Road location in Austin (Read more)
🍝 Numero 28 heads to Bastrop with Southern Italian food (Read more)
🍣 Sushi Warriors now serving sushi, sashimi in North Austin (Read more)
Koko’s Bavarian has revealed it will be opening a brick-and-mortar location on South Lamar in October.
The location will feature 7,000 square feet of Bavarian tradition and Texas hospitality with an expanded food and beverage menu including wings, mozzarella sticks, whitefish dip, Bavarian pretzel, Belgian-style fries and more.
For diners looking for a more filling treat, the menu also features sausages, hot dogs, salads, sandwiches and cheeseburgers.
Heart Hospital of Austin at St. David's Round Rock using new vascular stent treatment
The Heart Hospital of Austin at St. David's Round Rock is the first in the nation to use a new vascular stent treatment for carotid artery disease, with a surgeon at the hospital being the first to use this treatment outside of clinical trials in July.
What you need to know: Per a news release shared by the hospital system in August, Dr. Bradley Boone, M.D., chief of surgery at Heart Hospital of Austin at St. David’s Round Rock and vascular surgeon with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons, performed the first surgery in the country to use a carotid stent in the transcarotid artery revascularization technique since receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Second special session ends without new laws on THC, property taxes
Around 1 a.m. Sept. 4, the Texas Legislature gaveled out of its second special session of the year. On the heels of a two-week Democratic walkout that stymied bills during a previous legislative overtime, lawmakers moved quickly to pass 16 of Gov. Greg Abbott’s 24 priorities in under three weeks.
The details: A long-debated plan to ban or restrict sales of hemp-derived THC and a measure aimed at reining in local property tax growth were among the proposals that did not make the cut. Those proposals fell apart in the final days of the special session, after House and Senate lawmakers were unable to reach agreements.
Also of note: Lawmakers also did not pass bills intended to improve emergency preparedness and communications in the wake of the deadly July 4-5 floods; shield certain law enforcement files from public disclosure; and bar local governments from hiring outside lobbyists.
The governor can call a special session at any time; however, legislative leaders indicated they did not expect to return to Austin to tackle the remaining agenda items.
