The city of San Marcos has contracted with the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, or CARTS, to provide public transit services since 2013. The city will pay more than $100,000 in fiscal year 2026-27 for the service due to rising operating costs.

The gist: The City Council approved a new interlocal agreement with CARTS to continue offering the transit service for residents and visitors in the upcoming fiscal year during a Sept. 1 meeting.

With the new fiscal year agreement, the per-hour cost for services will increase from $90 per service hour to $94.05 per service hour, or 4.5%.

Increases in maintenance costs of the aging bus fleet, recent unpredictability of changes in fuel prices and rises in personnel costs have contributed to the rate increase, according to agenda documents.

The breakdown: The total cost of the FY 2026-27 agreement is $2,486,747, with the city paying $792,101 from its general fund. The FY 2025-26 cost was $2,382,246, with the city paying $621,414 from its general fund, $170,687 less than the new agreement.

Irving Davis and Jessie Clayton are facing off for the Buda City Council Single Member, District B seat in November.

Q: Why are you running for this position?

Clayton: "I am running because I care deeply about Buda and the direction our community is headed. I want residents to feel heard and represented as we grow. I believe we can plan responsibly for the future while protecting the character and sense of community that make Buda such a special ..."

Davis: "I’m running for Buda City Council in District B to manage our growth responsibly — protecting our water, increasing our mobility, and keeping the small-town character that made us all want to call Buda home."

One more thing: Early voting runs from Oct. 19 to Oct. 30.

The Texas comptroller's office is requesting that lawmakers provide more than $2 billion for the second and third years of the state's education savings account program, which gives participating families taxpayer dollars for private education and homeschooling.

How we got here: The legislature created Texas Education Freedom Accounts in 2025 and allocated $1 billion for the program's first year, the 2026-27 school year.

Nearly 110,000 students have received state dollars from the program so far, and officials said providing another $1 billion annually would ensure the state can "maintain our current participation" in the next two years.

Zooming in: According to the comptroller's legislative appropriations request for the 2028-29 biennium, it would cost approximately $4 billion to maintain funding for current participants, accept the siblings of participating children who will soon qualify for the program and admit more than 106,000 waitlisted students.

Something to note: The comptroller's $2 billion base budget request would not fully cover the waitlist and interest list, which would cost nearly $4 billion for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years.

Find out more about candidates in the race for Texas Senate District 21.

What you need to know: Republican Julie Dahlberg and Democrat Judith Zaffirini, the incumbent, will appear on the ballot in the senate race.

The details: Candidates submitted the following responses to questions from Community Impact ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.