San Marcos will pay nearly $3.1 million for a one-year extension to keep the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority operating the city’s water plant as both sides work through ongoing contract negotiations.

In a nutshell: City Council on Nov. 18 approved the multimillion-dollar extension of its water treatment contract with the GBRA—one of several river authorities across the state that handle water management, water treatment, treatment facilities and other water-related services in the Guadalupe River watershed.

Why now? According to city documents, the “operational complexities of the plant” and changing conditions require the city to hold more negotiations with the GBRA. The original contract was set to expire Dec. 26, 2025, and will now be extended to Dec. 16, 2026, to allow time for those talks.

Looking ahead: Under the contract, if an agreement is not reached after further negotiations, the city would have to decide whether it wants to assume control of the water treatment facility or contract for those services through a competitive process.

Dripping Springs residents may soon have increased access to library materials as the Dripping Springs Community Library plans to expand its offerings.

DSCL is fundraising for a "library on wheels" to bring materials and programming to Dripping Springs and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The DSCL team has secured a funding source that will match every community donation until the end of the year for up to $100,000.

The big picture: “The Library on Wheels is our next big step forward,” Executive Director of DSCL Mindy Laird said in a news release. “[It’s] a creative, hands-on way to reach more people and share the joy of learning wherever people live, work and play.”

The Library on Wheels will offer the following:

• STEM labs
• Story times
• Cultural programs
• Books
• Technology

So far in 2025, Community Impact has covered two election cycles, major transportation updates, development news and local businesses throughout the greater Austin area.

Learn more about the top stories this year to date.

1. Billboard on Bee Caves Road receives resident complaints, city violation notice

2. A regional destination: Texas’ second-largest retail store set to bring visitors to Cedar Park

3. City of Austin to take unauthorized billboard to court

4. Check out these 20 new nonstop destinations from Austin’s airport

5. Billboard in Round Rock faces removal amid ordinance violation

On the heels of what proponents have called “historic” property tax relief, some Texas lawmakers are questioning whether the state can afford to continue increasing the tax exemptions passed in 2023 and 2025.

The big picture: Texas homeowners pay property taxes to various local entities, although lawmakers can limit how much entities increase taxes each year and provide state funding to expand tax exemptions.

Texas is spending $51 billion on property tax relief in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 alone and may be required to spend more to maintain existing tax exemptions in future bienniums, lawmakers said.

What they're saying: "We're kind of maxed out at what we can do for property tax reform, from a budget perspective," said Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a Nov. 20 event.

"$51 billion ongoing, it's a huge amount to continue to support. To think about doing anything more seems very fiscally irresponsible," Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, said.

The other side: Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, said creating limits on local government spending would be critical to keeping Texas affordable.