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City Coverage
Friendswood pushes potential $59M bond election to May 2027

After months of discussion on whether to put a $59 million bond to voters in November, Friendswood officials suggested it would be more feasible to consider a bond in May.

The details: Friendswood City Council at its Aug. 3 meeting discussed the possibility of putting a bond on the November ballot; however, officials ultimately decided to move bond discussions to a later date and suggested it would be cost-efficient to put the bond on the ballot during the regular election cycle in May.

The bottom line: Because Friendswood does not own its own election equipment, it must pay Harris and Galveston counties for staffing and polling equipment, city staff said. It would cost the city $150,000 to run its own election, roughly double or triple what a May election typically runs once through shared county costs.

 
In Your Area
Manvel proposes balanced FY 2026-27 budget, unchanged tax rate

Manvel officials are projecting a balanced budget of nearly $20.6 million for fiscal year 2026-27 following a preliminary budget presentation to City Council at its Aug. 3 meeting.

City officials also project a tax rate of $0.56 per $100 valuation of a home, which is the same tax rate as FY 2025-26, documents show.

The overview: Compared to FY 2025-26, the city is projecting roughly $1.5 million more in expenditures and more than $3 million in additional revenue, City Manager Dan Johnson said. Based on the proposed tax rate, a homeowner with a taxable home value of $300,000 would pay about $1,680 annually, according to city documents.

What's next: The city will host a budget town hall Aug. 19 to gather public input before the council considers adopting the budget in September, city documents show.

 

Your Weekend To-Do List

Check out these weekend events across the metro area.

Houston Horror Film Festival

Houston Shakespeare Festival

Aug. 7-9, noon-7 p.m.
Houston

Aug. 7, 8:15 p.m.
Houston

Learn more.

Learn more.

 

Harry Potter Drone Art Show

Segura Western Wear Festival

Aug. 7-8, 9 p.m.
Sugar Land

Aug. 8, 1-10 p.m.
Pearland

Learn more.

Learn more.

 
To submit your own event, click here.

Mark Your Calendar
What to know about tax-free weekend in Texas, Aug. 7-9

Ahead of the 2026 school year, the Texas Comptroller’s Office encourages all taxpayers to support Texas businesses while saving money on tax-free purchases on most clothing and school supplies during the annual tax-free weekend from Aug. 7-9. 

What you need to know: A variety of school supplies and clothing items can be purchased from a Texas store or an online or catalog seller doing business in Texas. In most cases, exemption certificates are not required to buy qualifying items tax free, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. 

Qualifying items include:

  • Clothing
  • Footwear 
  • School supplies
  • Face masks
  • Backpacks
 

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General Manager

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