ATX-LTW: Impact 11/11/2025

A new family-run architecture practice opened Nov. 3 in Lakeway. 

The details: Motif Architects provides services for luxury homes and commercial design, from site planning and renovations to full design. 

Commercial work is offered for office, warehouse, garage condo and flex building design with early planning, cost estimating and engineering coordination offerings. 

What else? The business is run by husband-and-wife duo Casey Johnson and Rachel Paver.

• 1010 RM 620, Ste. 202, Lakeway

Austin leaders are preparing to trim about $100 million from the city's budget after voters rejected a tax increase that would've provided added funding for services like public safety, homelessness response and parks maintenance.

The details: With the failure of Proposition Q in the Nov. 4 election, City Council members must now adopt a scaled-back version of the fiscal year 2025-26 budget they voted for in August. After the election, Mayor Kirk Watson called for a "coherent, straightforward budget process" focused on the basics and with minimal edits.

The city budget office released its recommendations for the more limited spending plan Nov. 7. City Council will begin deliberating that outline Nov. 13 and could adopt it as soon as Nov. 20.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced his bid for a fourth gubernatorial term Nov. 9, laying out an ambitious six-pronged plan to make “out-of-control property taxes finished in Texas.”

The details: Abbott's goals include eliminating property taxes charged by public school districts, which make up the majority of an average homeowner’s property tax bill. Some conservative groups and lawmakers pushed for an end to school property taxes during recent state legislative sessions.

The governor’s plan to limit local tax increases includes:

• Limiting annual local government spending
• Requiring approval from two-thirds of local voters for all tax hikes
• Allowing local residents to petition for an election to roll back tax rates
• Requiring property appraisals to occur once every five years
• Capping appraisal increases at 3% per year, down from 10% today
• Asking voters to eliminate school property taxes

More than 20 months after wildfires swept through the Texas Panhandle in early 2024, burning over 1.2 million acres of land, state lawmakers questioned if Texas has the tools needed to tackle another major fire.

The context: Texas is always a fire-prone state, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association. The association’s website reports that annual wildfire risk is most severe from February-April, when dry grasses and high winds can cause fires to spread, and August-October, when high temperatures and droughts contribute to fires.

“Our purpose today is to figure out—what is our response going to look like next February and March?” Rep. Ken King, a Republican representing Canadian and other Panhandle communities, said during a Nov. 3 committee hearing. “Are we better prepared … or are we in the same position we were in 2024, when our response was lacking?”

The details: Officials said Texas owns just two firefighting aircraft, with others "essentially [subleased] through the federal government."

During peak wildfire season, this means Texas may have access to limited resources.