Plans for an improved Lakeway City Park are taking shape as the city and design firms provided an update to the community in September.

The background: In 2024, Lakeway voters approved a $22 million bond package to improve existing parks and to build a new one. So far, the city has added a new playscape to the Lakeway Activity Center and recently broke ground on the new Butler Rough Hollow Park, which is expected to open next summer.

The update: Now, the city is in the design phase for a $10.6 million improvement project at Lakeway City Park. The city and engineering and design firm Dunaway plan to complete this phase by January, with the project estimated to go out to bid for construction in fall of 2027.

For several months, cities in the Lake Travis-Westlake region have been working to create fiscal year 2026-2027 city budgets by adjusting property tax rates, analyzing expenditures and revenues and planning for their future.

As of Oct. 1, the approved budgets and tax rates are in effect.

1. Bee Cave: Bee Cave maintained its property tax rate at $0.0200 per $100 of valuation and approved its budget with a $1.49 million surplus.

2. Lakeway: Lakeway approved its budget with a $581,000 gap to be covered by savings and reserves.

The city also approved the no-new-revenue maintenance and operating tax rate at $0.1701 per $100 of valuation.

3. Rollingwood: Rollingwood City Council approved the FY 2026-27 budget and the actual no-new-revenue property tax rate of $0.196327 per $100 of assessed valuation.

4. West Lake Hills: The city approved a no new revenue tax rate of $0.174896 per $100 of assessed valuation, a slight decrease from the previous year’s rate at $0.176783 per $100.

Texas school districts using the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning curriculum saw slightly better year-over-year achievement last school year than other districts, according to Texas Education Agency data released Sept. 30.

What's happening: During the 2025-26 school year, 619 of Texas' 1,200 public school districts opted in to implement at least one of the three Bluebonnet curriculum programs—elementary math, secondary math and elementary language arts.

On this spring's State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, districts using the state-developed math materials saw student improvement that was 0.6 percentage points higher than students in other districts, while districts that implemented the reading materials performed 0.2 percentage points higher on the STAAR than other schools.

What they're saying: The TEA said the gains in student achievement are an "encouraging sign of early progress."

Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, a statewide educator union, disagreed, calling the results "rather paltry."

"It may take a few more years to determine if this is a valid trend or simply an anomaly," Capo said in a statement.

Check out six Austin-area stories trending Sept. 28-Oct. 2.

1. Round Rock OKs alcohol sales in The District

2. GFiber breaks ground in Georgetown, plans 2027 service launch

3. Lammes Candies returns under new owners, with holiday preorders open now

4. Bastrop County property tax rate to rise 6.2%

5. 1,000 apartments cleared for MoPac site in Southwest Austin despite Circle C residents' traffic, safety concerns

6. Pflugerville to gain 2 restaurants, plus other business news