With early voting now open through April 28, here’s what Jersey Village residents need to know before heading to the polls for the May 2 local election.

On the ballot: The city of Jersey Village is conducting a City Council election May 2 to fill three open positions on the dais—Places 1, 4 and 5. Additionally, the city will hold a special joint election for a proposition to extend the Fire Control Prevention and EMS District by 20 years and continue its sales tax revenue for the same period of time, according to the sample ballot.

Meet the candidates: Two candidates filed to run for City Council Place 1, currently held by council member Drew Wasson, who did not seek reelection:

• Michael Brittain
• Curt Beasley

• Brian McCauley
• Steven Gill

Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9 approved maintaining the district's homestead exemption during an April 16 meeting.

The breakdown: Harris County ESD 9 offers a 10% homestead exemption to all residents within the district, which allows homeowners to reduce the total amount of taxable property value by 10%, resulting in a lower tax bill from the district.

The debate: Commissioner Jaime Martinez proposed potentially raising the district's homestead exemption to 20%, similar to surrounding entities such as Cy-Fair ISD. However, district legal counsel David Manley advised against the move due to concern that it could cause an additional $3.3 million revenue loss in future budget cycles.

The outcome: Commissioners voted 3-2, with Rob Paiva and Martinez opposed, to maintain the district's homestead exemption at 10%, with the district's over-65 property tax exemption also remaining at a $300,000 cap. 

With state deadlines inching closer, the Harris County Flood Control District is chipping away at dozens of grant-funded flood recovery and mitigation projects—but county leaders believe pace of work and public transparency could be improved.

What you need to know: In an April 16 update to Commissioners Court, HCFCD Executive Director Tina Petersen shared the status of local flood projects funded with Community Development Block Grants for disaster recovery and mitigation, also known as CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT.

At least 14 projects are still in the design phase as of April 1, per the report. Seven of the 11 disaster recovery projects are under construction, and three of 17 total mitigation projects have been awarded contracts. 

Why it matters: The flood control district must spend all CDBG-DR dollars by February 2027 and CDBG-MIT dollars by March 2028 or lose the funding.

The action taken: Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey called for HCFCD to provide monthly reports to Commissioners Court detailing for specific construction and financial updates for each project. The first report is expected May 1.

According to the April 15 Houston Association of Realtors’ March Rental Market Update, Houston's rental market has seen an increase in leased listings.

The details: For March, HAR reports there were 4,718 leased listings for single-family rentals on the market, a 15.8% increase compared to last March. For pending listings, there was an increase of 7.8% compared to last year, totaling 6,172 homes on the market. Lease prices in comparison to last March dipped by 2.1% to $2,242 from $2,290. Homes have also spent slightly longer in the market, from 43 to 47 days.

What else: According to HAR, the townhome and condominium market has also seen changes in March; 673 properties were leased this March, leading to a 12.4% increase compared to the 599 properties last March.

Alongside the rental market, the number of new listings for townhomes and condominiums has grown by 10.1% to 1,082 properties; last March’s listing amount was 983 properties. Meanwhile, the number of days on market has grown to 61 days this March from 53 days last March.

Texans interested in casting a ballot in next month’s primary runoff election have until April 27 to register to vote or update their registration, if applicable.

The background: Texas’ primary runoff election will be held May 26. A runoff is held when no candidate secures over half of the vote in a partisan primary race.

Registering to vote: Prospective voters must submit a paper application, which is available online. Applications must be printed, signed and mailed to the voter registration office in a voter’s county of residence.

On the ballot: Various federal, state and local races will appear on the May 26 runoff ballot.

At the top of the ticket, Republican voters will pick between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton to determine the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate. The winner of that race will face state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, in November.

Something to note: The runoff election is separate from upcoming local elections, which take place May 2. Visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide for more information about those elections.