Dozens of Four Points area residents gathered Sept. 17 to discuss the future of the former 3M campus off River Place Boulevard, which is now slated to house an artificial intelligence manufacturing company.

Some context: Karlin Real Estate purchased the site from 3M in 2021 and renovated it in 2024. County documents show that in early 2026, Karlin sold the property to SB Energy, a company that develops and builds infrastructure used to power AI data centers.

The update: SB Energy's takeover of the site is known as "Project Cosmos." United Kingdom-based semiconductor manufacturer Graphcore was announced as the site's first tenant.

Diving in deeper: Officials said the site will comply with existing noise ordinance limits; its water use is expected to be at or below what 3M utilized due to the use of closed-loop chillers; and its electric use will have a max capacity of 50 megawatts.

Get involved: 2222 CONA is conducting a survey through Oct. 5 for Four Points-area residents to provide feedback on the project.

As Leander ISD heads into the 2026-27 school year with a projected budget shortfall of $9.9 million, district leaders are looking at ways to generate additional revenue while still addressing district-wide campus and facility needs.

The big picture: The board of trustees voted Aug. 17 to place a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, on the Nov. 3 ballot, which would increase LISD’s current maintenance and operations tax rate of $1.0869 by three cents. This would garner about $6.7 million in additional local funding, Superintendent Chris Clark said.

The breakdown: Passing a $0.03 VATRE would generate an additional $12 million in local taxes. However, a portion of the additional revenue would be subject to state recapture. About $5.3 million of the VATRE-generated revenue would be recaptured.

What to expect: Early voting will take place between Oct. 19-30, and election day is Nov. 3.

The district will offer in-person, virtual community meetings and a financial literacy website with frequently asked questions ahead of the VATRE.

Some Texas Republican leaders have vowed to get rid of the property taxes that homeowners pay to their local public school districts, and lawmakers are analyzing how much it would cost to do so.

The big picture: Texas school districts collect about $29 billion per year in maintenance and operations taxes, which cover schools' daily expenses.

Of that $29 billion in school tax revenue, the state comptroller's office estimates that about $8.6 billion is paid by homeowners, and the rest comes from commercial and industrial property taxes.

This means the state would need to spend at least $8.6 billion annually to zero out homeowners' school property tax bills, officials said.

Quote of note: "Broadly speaking, you have a question about how much you want to fund schools, and then separately, where does that money come from?" Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said during a Sept. 15 legislative hearing. "If you have a target of how much you want to spend, you need to make sure you have enough variable revenue sources to reach that."

Here are six trending Austin-area stories from Sept. 14-17.

1. Check out 22 Georgetown-area business updates

2. Cedar Park to build wave pool in $10 million Veterans Memorial Pool expansion

3. Final first days: Pflugerville ISD prepares for 4 school closures, admin cuts

4. Construction on RM 620 widening project may begin in early 2029

5. Round Rock readopts trails master plan identifying new corridors for connectivity

6. Airbnb launches national affordable housing fund with $6.4M Austin investment