Round Rock ISD will set its tax rate for the 2026-27 financial year and call a tax rate election to fund staff raises during its Aug. 13 meeting.

The election, which will be held in November, will also include three school board seat races.

In a nutshell: The proposed rate of $0.9848 per $100 valuation comprises a $0.7654 maintenance and operations rate, and a $0.1830 debt service rate.

The M&O rate funds the district’s general fund and supports day-to-day operations, while the debt service rate pays down district debt, such as bond payments.

What residents need to know: The proposed rate assumes the successful passage of a voter-approval tax rate election, which would allow the district to raise the tax rate $0.06 above its current rate. Under this, residents with a home with a taxable value of $500,000 would pay $4,742 in district taxes.

What’s next?: The board will meet Aug. 13 at 5:30 p.m. for a public hearing on the tax rate. That will be followed by a called meeting at 6 p.m. 

Café du Bliss, a Korean-style cafe, will open its second location on Round Rock’s west side later this year.

About the business: Locally owned by Suzi and Michael Yi, the cafe's first Austin-area location is in the Arboretum.
The cafe offers a variety of matcha- and coffee-based beverages, smoothies and sparkling drinks. The business's specialty latte flavors include corn, sweet potato and black sesame.

Its menu also includes croffles, which are made out of croissant pastry dough, and taiyaki, a fish-shaped pastry with a variety of fillings.

The cafe will take the place of Fatbee Cafe, which closed last year.

• 1312 Round Rock Ave., Round Rock

The interior renovation of IBC Bank in Austin, a Walmart renovation in Round Rock and a new 7 Brew in Leander are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. IBC Bank Plaza interior renovations ($6 million): This project involves the partial interior finish-out of four levels in the building, including renovations of shared core spaces, elevator lobbies and common corridors on floors 6-13.

2. Pease Community Campus Phase 1 ($2.1 million): Pease Elementary School in downtown Austin is being transformed into the Pease Community Campus.

3. Walmart renovation ($1.3 million): This project includes an interior and exterior remodel of an existing Walmart in Round Rock.

4. Tim Hortons ($750,000): This project involves the renovation of an existing 3,107 square foot space to a Tim Hortons.

5. 7 Brew ($400,000): A new 7 Brew location is coming to Leander. The drive-thru coffee shop will be 510 square feet, with construction set to wrap up this fall.

Ascension Seton will launch a mobile stroke unit in 2027 to serve Central Texans after receiving a $1.25 million from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The unit will be the state’s third mobile stroke facility, joining ones in Houston and El Paso. 

Dive deeper: The stroke unit will serve as “a miniature emergency room on wheels,” said Dr. Rachel B. Pearson, a neurologist at Ascension Seton in Round Rock. The goal is to meet patients where they are, delivering life-saving stroke treatment as quickly as possible, she said. 

The features: The mobile stroke unit will have all of the features of a traditional ambulance, as well as a CT scanner for imaging, equipment for basic labs and the “clot-busting drug” designed exclusively to treat stroke patients. 

Why it matters: Having the mobile unit will eliminate some of the treatment delays by traveling to patients, treating them in the field and taking them to the hospital. The mobile unit will initially serve Williamson County and will later assess the needs of surrounding areas.