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Proposition 7 aims to make Texas electric grid more reliable

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texans will vote on a proposition that would create funding to increase “reliability” for Texas’ electric grid in the Nov. 7 constitutional amendment election.Texas Proposition 7, originating from S.J.R. 93, would create the Texas Energy Fund, which would support and finance the “construction, maintenance, and modernization of electric generating facilities.” Turnout tracker: How many people have voted in the November 2023 election? BackgroundProposition 7 comes after power grid challenges experienced most notably during winter storms in the past years.Pablo Vegas, president and CEO of ERCOT, emphasized the grid has become more “volatile” given the current resources.“The complexities of managing a growing demand, and a very dynamic load environment with those types of resources becomes more and more challenging,” Vegas said Tuesday during a meeting of the ERCOT board of directors.Vegas said one solution to overcome the challeng...

$500 million for Travis County roads and parks on ballot

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Travis County residents will be casting their vote on bonds worth $509 million this Election Day. The two bonds will benefit road projects and park projects. County Commissioner Ann Howard said the bond is significant due to the growth, safety and capacity of Travis County.Prop A, which costs $233 million, will go toward roads, bike paths and sidewalks. There will be center and right turn lanes added to roads to keep traffic flowing and increase safety. Howard spoke with a veteran who voiced their concern over the roads in Austin. "She said that the road that she lives on has worse infrastructure than in third-world countries where she has served the USA, you know, she has been deployed to three countries that had better infrastructure than Travis County," Howard said.Prop B costs $276 million, which will go towards parkland acquisition and park amenities. The goal would be to put the bond to ball fields and acquire parkland around water sources, which...

Texas property owners set to benefit from property tax relief with Prop 4

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texans will vote on increasing property tax relief in the Nov. 7 constitutional amendment election.Proposition 4, stemming from H.J.R 2 from the 2nd special session this year, would:Raise the general school district homestead exemption to $100,000Allow legislature to set a cap on annual appraised-value increase for non-homestead real propertyEnsure appropriations for property tax relief does not count towards the constitutional spending limitAllow legislature to set four-year terms for members of an appraisal entity’s governing body in counties with 75,000+ residents Why Texas’ constitutional amendment elections historically have low voter turnout BackgroundEfforts to make this property tax relief exemption possible took months to formulate in the legislature earlier this year.Three hours after the end of the 88th regular session, Abbott immediately called a special session to address property tax and border security.However, no bills made it to Gov. Abbott’s de...

ELECTION DAY BLOG: Texans vote on 14 state constitutional amendments, local propositions

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Tuesday is election day. Texas voters will decide whether to approve 14 state constitutional amendments, plus there are local propositions within several cities, counties and school districts. Voter Guide: What's on the ballot Election day resources: Voter turnout trackerTravis County sample ballot Election day voting locations14 constitutional amendments on your November ballotTravis County propositionsWilliamson County road bondLake Travis ISD bondRound Rock ISD bondElection day live blog: This live blog will be updated with new Election Day information. Continue to check back with KXAN.com for results.

Postal Service increases rewards for crime information

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KXAN)­ – ­­The United States Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service said Monday they are stepping up their crack down on postal crime and crime against postal workers. Among the changes are increases in reward money.The crack down, Project Safe Delivery, was launched in May 2023. USPS said the initiative was meant to stop a rise in threats and attacks on letter carriers and mail theft incidents by protecting Postal employees and the security of the nation’s mail and packages.   “As our nation continues to address a sustained crime wave, our targeted focus to crack down on postal crime is progressing,” said Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Louis DeJoy in a statement. “The safety of our letter carriers — and all postal employees — is our top priority. We will continue to work steadfastly with our law enforcement partners to increase the safety of our employees and protect the sanctity of the nation’s mail.”    “We have effectiv...

Texas Water Fund looks to improve state's water supply

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texans will be voting to invest in projects to improve the water supply in the Nov. 7 constitutional amendment election.Proposition 6, stemming from S.J.R 75, would create a “Texas Water Fund” dedicated to assisting in financing water projects in Texas.BackgroundTexas Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) emphasized the need for proper water infrastructure after pipes broke in cities in his district, leading to a boil water notice.“Two cities that were actually combined—they shared one collective water system—they only had one well total, and that well went out,” Bailes said.According to the Texas Water Development Board, the current existing water supply is not enough to meet future demand in drought situations. To meet water demand in 2070, it projected that Texas would need at least 6.9 million acre-feet of additional water supplies, which includes the form of water savings through conservation.For perspective, the total storage capacity of Lake Travis is 1...

What to know: Lake Travis ISD 2023 Bond

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Voters in Lake Travis Independent School District will consider an athletic bond package that looks to add and improve athletic facilities around the district.Voters approved adding new schools during the 2022 bond, but they rejected the part of the bond that would fund new athletic facilities, which was proposition C for around $94 million.In June, the Lake Travis school board approved an order calling for a $143 million athletic bond election for Nov. 7, 2023.If passed, the bond would allow for a new football stadium, which would hold about 8,000 people. It would also give the new high school, which is currently in the planning stages, a new baseball complex and tennis complex. It would also add improvements to various stadiums throughout the district.According to LTISD’s bond information page, “Without separate stadium facilities at High School #2, overcrowding of Lake Travis High School’s stadium facilities will worsen due to the continued growth in student enrol...

Proposition 2: Texans to vote on child care property tax exemption

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texans will vote on a proposition that would allow property tax exemptions for operating childcare facilities in the Nov. 7 constitutional amendment election.Texas Proposition 2, which stems from S.J.R. 64, establishes a property tax exemption based on the appraised value of a child care facility. The exemption must be at least 50% of the property’s appraised value.BackgroundSince the pandemic, several federal COVID-19 relief programs were instilled to keep citizens and businesses afloat, such as the child care industry. Many of those programs have or are set to expire.Cynthia McCollum, the executive director of Open Door Preschools, emphasized that the schools she managed depended “enormously” on the pandemic relief money.“The only reason we were able to keep to open was because of the support and the funding that came through the state to us,” McCollum said. “But even with all of that, like I said, we had to close a school.”Proposition 2 is aimed at giving some ...

Four candidates contend for Kyle mayor

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

KYLE, Texas (KXAN) — There are four candidates vying for the position of mayor of the City of Kyle. Voter Guide: What you need to know ahead of the November 2023 election The current mayor is challenged by a current city council member, a former city council member and a retired engineer.On the ballot are:Yvonne Flores-CaleTravis MitchellRobert FergusonLinda TenorioDealing with growthIn a place that’s expanding so fast, keeping up with infrastructure is top of mind for the candidates.Current Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell said he’d prioritize road projects.“My third and final term is all about completing the infrastructure projects that we have on our books,” Mitchell said. “We just passed a historic $294 million roads bond. It’s important that the people who put that project together, see it through to completion.”While others like retired engineer, Robert Ferguson, want to slow down the growth.“I would try to minimize the number of building permits that were issued, or delay them or...

Proposition 9 adds billions to Texas teacher's retirement system

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:27 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texans will vote on adjusting the retired teacher pension in the Nov. 7 constitutional amendment election.Proposition 9, stemming from H.J.R 2 from the 88th regular session, would make an "appropriation of $3.45 billion to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)" to provide cost-of-living adjustments to eligible annuitants within TRS.BackgroundJoe Ramirez, a former high school teacher of the year from the Austin Independent School District, has been retired for 11 years, and his pension check of $2,000 hasn't increased since.“People are basically living from month-to-month. And they need to have a little bit more security to make sure that their futures in their golden years are better off,” Ramirez said.Over a quarter of the system’s beneficiaries receive less than a thousand dollars each month. Proposition 9 aims to address this by providing an increase of up to 6% for the nearly half a million annuitants in the Teacher Retirement System (TRS). This constit...