Georgetown City Council members adopted a $1.6 billion fiscal year 2026-27 budget at the Sept. 8 meeting.

To support the new budget, council members also adopted a tax rate of $0.363167 per $100 valuation.

What residents should know: Although the tax rate is an increase from the current fiscal year rate of $0.353, officials anticipate no increase in the average property tax bill due to property values decreasing, according to city documents.

For the average residential customer using 10,000 gallons of water per month, the city anticipates a total monthly utility bill increase of about $14 for water and wastewater, $1.50 for stormwater, and $1.24 for solid waste.

Digging deeper: The adopted budget is $300 million more than the current budget of $1.3 billion. Some factors affecting the budget include slower growth in sales tax, marginal growth in property taxes and providing services to a growing population, according to city documents.

Pure Barre Georgetown celebrated a grand reopening in August after transferring to new management, according to the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce.

Learn more: Pure Barre offers five types of group fitness classes focused on strengthening and toning. The classes incorporate yoga, Pilates and ballet-inspired movement, with certified instructors leading the workouts.

Leslie Dadidakis is the new owner of the Georgetown Pure Barre, according to the chamber.

Three candidates are running to lead the Texas Department of Agriculture in the Nov. 3 election.

The details: Libertarian Austin R. Kelly, Republican Nate Sheets and Democrat Clayton Tucker are vying to become Texas' next commissioner of agriculture. The commissioner's duties include regulating agriculture, administering nutrition programs and providing rural economic development assistance.

How we got here: There is no incumbent in this race after Sheets beat sitting Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in the March Republican primary. Tucker ran uncontested in the March Democratic primary, while Kelly was selected as the Texas Libertarian Party's candidate during an April nominating convention.

The winner of the November midterm will be sworn in to succeed Miller in January.

Looking ahead: Early voting runs from Oct. 19-30 in the midterm election, and Election Day is Nov. 3.