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Austin raises senior, disabled homeowner property tax exemption by $12K

Austin officials once again increased the city's property tax break for senior and disabled homeowners.

The details: Homestead exemptions allow property owners to lower the share of their primary residence's value that can be taxed by local entities. Texas school districts are now required to offer a set base exemption of $140,000, while other jurisdictions like cities can set a percentage based on a home's appraised value.

Homeowners who are 65 and older or have a disability can see their tax bills decreased further. School districts are now required to provide an additional $60,000 exemption to senior and disabled homeowners, and other jurisdictions can set their own exemption levels.

Continuing a trend from recent years, City Council voted unanimously in May to increase Austin's senior and disabled homestead exemption by more than 6%. The change will effectively maintain tax relief for those homeowners from last year.

 
On The Business Beat
Harper Sage to close Austin flagship store and online store this summer

Harper Sage announced plans to close its flagship and online stores later this summer, owner and designer Megs Herman announced on social media. 

What we know: The Burnet Road location will be closing on May 30, according to an Instagram post, with the online store closing on June 30. Store-wide sales are now underway, with all items 30-60% off. 

The cause: The decision to cease operations was made after increased difficulties arose with “production costs, tariffs, supply chain disruptions, operational overhead and the pressure of operating a highly lean founder-led brand,” Herman said online. 

  • 4803 Burnet Road, Austin
 

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Your Weekend To-Do List

Check out these weekend events across the metro area.

Fish Fry Dinner & Silent Auction

Old Town Street Festival

June 5, 5-8 p.m.
Georgetown

June 6
Leander

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FREE Community Clothing Swap

2026 Round Rock Pride Festival

June 6, 1-3 p.m.
Austin

June 6, 2-7 p.m.
Round Rock

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More info

 
To submit your own event, click here.

CI Texas
ERCOT forecasts record electric demand this summer amid data center boom; says grid will hold up

Texans are on track to use more electricity this summer than ever before, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced during a board meeting this week.

The details: ERCOT, which operates the power grid for the majority of Texas, is forecasting high temperatures and moderate rainfall this summer. Coupled with the proliferation of data centers and other large projects, demand on the grid could surpass 92 gigawatts, officials estimated June 2.

This would break ERCOT’s current demand record of 85.5 gigawatts, which was set during an August 2023 heat wave.

What it means: However, ERCOT officials said a grid emergency or blackout is unlikely this summer. State officials have said this is due to:

  • The addition of nearly 11 gigawatts of power capacity to the grid in the last few months
  • The agency's ability to require large facilities to reduce their energy use in tight times

Zooming in: There is a 0.09% chance of a grid emergency this June and a 0.21% chance of an emergency in July, ERCOT found in recent reports.

 

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General Manager

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