The city of Fulshear has approved its budget for fiscal year 2026-27 while also raising the tax rate.

The overview: At a Sept. 1 meeting, Fulshear City Council approved the FY 2026-27 budget and raised the city’s tax rate in a 5-2 decision. Council members Camron Miller and Abhijeet Utturkar were the two dissenting voters.

The new tax rate is set at $0.190549 per $100 valuation, a 13.49% increase to the 0.167903 per $100 valuation tax rate from FY 2025-26. Finance Director Angela Alvarado said the city’s tax rate is still below what other neighboring municipalities like Katy, Richmond, Sugar Land and Rosenberg have proposed.

The specifics: The FY 2026-27 general fund budget has revenues listed at $21.14 million and expenditures at $20.81 million, giving the city a surplus of $322,917. The general fund is also funding one-time investments of $3.13 million in capital improvement plan projects.

What’s next: The FY 2026-27 budget will begin on Oct. 1 and run through Sept. 30, 2027, per the city’s website.

Fort Bend County will see some shifts in how it receives legal advice.

In a nutshell: At an Aug. 27 meeting, Fort Bend County commissioners voted to create a new legal department—dubbed the Legal Department Civil Division—which will receive staff, resources and some responsibilities from the county attorney’s office.

What’s new: The new legal department does not eliminate the county attorney's office, but it transfers responsibilities, said Dennis Spellman, media relations and external engagement manager for Precinct 3.

Currently, the county attorney represents the county in civil suits and deals with transactions for projects and contracts. With the new department, the county attorney will still represent the county in civil suits, but it will no longer deal with the other transactional projects, he said.

Spellman said the idea of a new department came from the commissioners’ dissatisfaction with the amount of time some projects take to get out of the county attorney's office.

Looking ahead: The new department is set to be created in fiscal year 2026-27, which begins Oct. 1, per agenda documents.

With Harris County commissioners set to make budget amendments next week, Commissioner Rodney Ellis is making an appeal for $4.5 million to go toward four community safety programs and strategies.

The big picture: The request is based on a report from Ellis’ office and Georgetown Law’s Center for Innovations in Community Safety. It evaluates results from three county programs, recommending investment to expand and sustain them, in addition to creating a community safety department. The county launched HART, RISE and the domestic violence intervention and prevention programs four years ago, which the report examines.

The context: The Harris County Commissioners Court is facing a $181 million shortfall, as Community Impact previously reported.

Sophie Elsner, senior policy adviser for Ellis’ office, said the county’s deficit will continue to grow if there is no change to how money is spent. About 60% of the budget goes toward the criminal justice system, which includes law enforcement, courts, prosecution and defense, she said.

Two candidates are running for Texas House of Representatives District 132 in the Nov. 3 election, challenger Sara McGee and Mike Schofield who is seeking reelection.

What you need to know: Early voting begins Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 30, according to the Texas Secretary of State's website. Election day is Nov. 3 and polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Registered voters can cast their ballot at any polling location during early voting. However, on election day, voters must vote at their designated voting precincts.

Texas senators indicated Sept. 1 that they intend to tighten regulations on data centers during next year’s legislative session, which begins in January.

What they're saying: “I think every member's district has had an impact from a data center conversation, so there will be plenty of bills trying to put things in place that are reasonable, responsible regulatory frameworks for data centers,” state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said.

The big picture: With some Texas residents and conservation groups sounding the alarm about water-intensive technologies used by some data centers, state agencies have warned that limited information is available on how much water the industry actually uses. Officials said they have also had trouble determining exactly how many data centers are operating in the state today, as there is no “comprehensive statewide list” of existing and planned facilities.

Estimates from state agencies and the University of Texas at Austin suggest that roughly 370 data centers are currently operating in Texas, with about 100 facilities under construction and another 180 being proposed.