🟪 Austin faces shrinking tax rolls with budget cuts ahead (Community Impact)

🟪 Optimizing Austin's IT Department could save the city over $100 million (CBS Austin)

🟪 City eyes closing schools in Austin ISD, other districts for public use (Austin Current)

🟪 James Hartshorn to serve as Pflugerville's next city manager (Community Impact)

🟪 Austin's James Talarico raises record-breaking $27 million in first quarter for U.S. Senate bid (KUT)

🟪 John Cornyn wallops Ken Paxton in first quarter fundraising for U.S. Senate seat (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Republicans worry White House ‘nonsense’ is hurting midterm prospects (Politico)

🟪 Jury finds that Live Nation acted as a monopoly and overcharged ticket buyers (NPR)

🟪 Europe is accelerating a NATO fallback plan in case Trump pulls out (Wall Street Journal)

READ ON!

🇸🇬 Monday night. Bingham Group was invited to attend the official opening of Enterprise Singapore Overseas Centre in Austin, the organization's fourth office, and first non-coastal U.S. presence., the others being New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

As Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said:

"We are recognizing the role we ought to be playing in this global economy. In many ways, we are maturing into that role, and it's opportunities like this that help us with that.

✅ Austin faces shrinking tax rolls with budget cuts ahead (Community Impact)

Austin anticipates declining value on its tax rolls to support city operations this year, thanks to a slowdown in local development activity and rising property tax challenges or exemptions.

Austin's property tax revenue funds most public-facing city services. While years of rapid population growth and building activity had boosted the city's tax rolls, overall taxable value is now in line to decline for the second straight year as city officials expect to face another challenging budgeting cycle this summer.

After a 2.7% drop in 2025, the Travis Central Appraisal District now projects Austin's taxable value across Travis County only will fall by 3.1% this year to $210.6 billion. Those figures are based on preliminary reports from TCAD, which values about 95% of properties in Austin. Hays and Williamson county appraisals aren't yet available.

Erik Nelson, deputy director of Austin's budget office, said "essentially all" types of property are contributing to lowered values… 🟪 Red River Cultural District unveils plan to guide its future (Austin Business Journal)

✅ Optimizing Austin's IT Department could save the city over $100 million (CBS Austin)

The City of Austin could save millions of dollars by optimizing its IT Department. On Wednesday, city council members found out there is a potential cost savings of $47 million if its bloated IT landscape is modernized. This optimization push comes as IT workers rally against centralizing operations.

Red flags planted in downtown Austin were a symbol of the opposition to consolidating 1,000 city staffers into the Austin Technology Services (ATS) Department. Union members brought their concerns to City Hall on Wednesday.

“The consolidation has not been shown to do anything to save the city money or improve any aspect of the city,” said Ramsey Bissex, AFSCME 1624 member.

“The right choice here is to reject a dangerous consolidation that has yet to be justified,” said Cristina Trenel, AFSCME 1624 member.

City leaders say Austin has nearly twice the number of IT staff and double the technology spending of comparable cities. Centralizing staff is only one part of the reorganization… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin needs $90M to repair aging bridges, new report says (KVUE)

According to a new report from the city's Transportation and Public Works Department, Austin needs millions of dollars in additional funding to fix its aging bridges.

Every two years, the department examines which bridges need some repairs and which ones should be fully replaced.

Officials say two large bridges need replacing, as well as over 20 smaller bridges, including pedestrian bridges.

Staff say over the next five years, they need nearly $90 million for bridge replacements and repairs. Currently, the city uses about $3 million in bond money per year for capital improvements like bridge replacements and only about $1 million a year for maintenance on all of the city's bridges.

City staff said if funding isn't increased and bridges continue to degrade, they may have to put load limits in place on certain bridges, or even close some of them… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ James Hartshorn to serve as Pflugerville's next city manager (Community Impact)

Pflugerville city officials announced April 15 that current deputy city manager James Hartshorn will serve as the next city manager.

Per a news release, the Pflugerville City Council voted April 14 to direct the mayor to begin negotiations with Hartshorn to serve as the next city manager. Once negotiations are finalized and an agreement is approved by City Council, Hartshorn will succeed current city manager Sereniah Breland following her retirement on July 1.

Hartshorn started as Pflugerville's assistant city manager in 2019 and was promoted to deputy city manager in 2022.

“James has demonstrated strong leadership, a deep understanding of our organization and a genuine commitment to the Pflugerville community,” Mayor Doug Weiss said in the release. “James stepped into the role as acting city manager last fall during the city manager’s leave of absence, where he showed his ability to lead the organization, maintain momentum on key priorities and deliver results. These qualities make him an outstanding choice to serve as our next city manager.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin's James Talarico raises record-breaking $27 million in first quarter for U.S. Senate bid (KUT)

State Rep. James Talarico raised $27 million in the first three months of 2026 in his bid to flip Texas, according to his campaign.

The Austin Democrat’s haul is the largest-ever sum for a U.S. Senate candidate — in any state — in the first quarter of an election year. He outraised other Democrats this cycle who posted impressive hauls of their own in competitive Senate races where Democrats have better odds, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, and more than doubled the totals of former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola.

Talarico significantly outpaced Texas’ last two Democratic Senate candidates to win their primaries outright — both strong fundraisers. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, and Beto O’Rourke brought in $6.7 million in 2018 — though both ultimately lost.

The massive haul will bolster Democrats’ hopes about making Talarico the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas in over three decades — an uphill battle in any cycle and an expensive proposition in a massive state with 20 media markets… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ City eyes closing schools in Austin ISD, other districts for public use (Austin Current)

As Central Texas school districts shutter campuses amid falling enrollment and deepening financial strain, the City of Austin is stepping in to explore repurposing the land for public benefit, such as affordable housing.

The effort comes as Austin ISD weighs selling or leasing campuses to chip away at a deficit that, without intervention, is projected to reach up to $181 million by next school year, raising the stakes for how publicly owned land could be used at a time of overlapping fiscal pressure and housing demand.

The district voted to close 10 schools in November, six of which have been identified for potential repurposing of all or some of the land and are undergoing a community-driven process to determine the future of that land. Austin city council members in March directed City Manager T.C. Broadnax to begin conversations with Austin ISD and other area districts operating in part under the city’s jurisdiction about potential land redevelopment partnerships or property purchases as enrollment dips force school closures. The directive came as the council moved to formalize how the city works with Austin ISD to decide the use or sale of jointly-owned parkland.

Across Central Texas, the pattern is accelerating. Nearby suburban districts once driven by development, including Leander, Pflugerville, and Eanes ISDs, as well as charter schools such as KIPP Public Schools, have shuttered or are planning to close campuses… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Red River Cultural District unveils plan to guide its future (Austin Business Journal)

The Red River Cultural District unveiled a strategic plan to help guide its growth and ensure its members can stay downtown even with mounting economic pressure.

The RRCD unveiled its “Soundtrack to the Future” plan that steers the district’s growth goals for the next five years. The goals outline improvements in physical infrastructure for the district, ways the RRCD can improve business operations for its members and how to navigate the years of construction that’s planned for eastern downtown. 

“This strategic plan outlines a path for both preservation and evolution,” said Nicole Klepadlo, the RRCD’s executive director at an unveiling event for the strategic plan hosted at the Mohawk venue on April 14. “We're just trying to evolve the opportunity that exists.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ John Cornyn wallops Ken Paxton in first quarter fundraising for U.S. Senate seat (Texas Tribune)

Sen. John Cornyn outraised Attorney General Ken Paxton by fourfold in the first quarter of 2026, a key period that encompassed the Senate Republican primary and the beginning of the runoff between them.

As in past quarters, Cornyn’s fundraising apparatus — which includes his campaign committee and two joint fundraising committees with entities like the National Republican Senatorial Committee — outpaced Paxton’s.

Cornyn raised about $9 million and had nearly $8.2 million in cash on hand across the accounts under his control, according to his first quarter campaign finance reports. The Cornyn campaign said that $3.4 million of that haul was raised in the weeks after the March 3 primary.

“The Cornyn campaign continues performing at a high level, building off the overperformance in the March 3rd primary to announcing a massive fundraising haul in the first quarter of 2026,” Cornyn campaign manager Andy Hemming said in a statement… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Dallas County GOP chair Allen West resigns after backing countywide voting for runoff (Texas Tribune)

Allen West, the Dallas County Republican Party chair, resigned Wednesday, according to Dallas County Elections Department officials. 

The announcement comes after West said on March 17 he agreed to use countywide polling sites for the May 26 runoff election, a decision that drew opposition from some party members.

Dallas Republicans initially planned to hand count primary ballots before scrapping the plan due to lack of staffing. Instead, they chose to require voters to report to precincts instead of countywide vote centers for the March 3 primary, causing chaos and confusion across the county. More than 12,000 voters from both parties showed up at the wrong polling location on Election Day… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Republicans worry White House ‘nonsense’ is hurting midterm prospects (Politico)

Republicans keep hoping the Trump administration stays on track. The president isn’t making it easy.

A sputtering economy, high gas prices, a fight with the pope and a pair of foreign policy setbacks — in Pakistan and Hungary — have left many White House allies newly exasperated as they try to navigate what was always going to be a difficult midterm year.

“Everything is made more difficult by the nonsense coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” said a Republican operative close to the White House.

Like others in this story, the person was granted anonymity to discuss political calculations.

The latest diversion came Wednesday morning when President Donald Trump, during what was supposed to be a friendly interview to highlight his success in lowering taxes for Americans, threatened again to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a promise that diverted attention from his more populist message and angered key senators who the administration needs to confirm Kevin Warsh, his nominee to replace Powell.

The administration had hoped Wednesday, Tax Day, would be devoted to a simple message: Trump puts more money in Americans’ pockets. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke during the White House press briefing alongside Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler to tout larger refunds, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is sharing that message around Washington. But, not surprisingly, Bessent had to field questions about Powell, fodder from Trump that muddied the message… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Europe is accelerating a NATO fallback plan in case Trump pulls out (Wall Street Journal)

A fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself using NATO’s existing military structures if the U.S. departs is gaining traction after getting buy-in from Germany, a long-term opponent of a go-it-alone approach. The officials working on the plans, which some officials are referring to as “European NATO,” are seeking to get more Europeans into the alliance’s command-and-control roles and supplement U.S. military assets with their own. The plans—advancing informally through side discussions and over dinner meetings in and around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—aren’t intended to rival the current alliance, participants said. European officials are aiming to preserve deterrence against Russia, operational continuity and nuclear credibility even if Washington withdraws forces from Europe or refuses to come to its defense, as President Trump has threatened.

The plans, first conceived last year, underscore the depth of European anxiety over U.S. reliability. They accelerated after Trump threatened to seize Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, and are now gaining fresh urgency amid the standoff over Europe’s refusal to back America’s war in Iran. Crucially, a political reversal in Berlin is boosting momentum. For decades, Germany resisted French-led calls for greater European sovereignty in its defense, preferring to keep America as the ultimate guarantor of European security. That is now changing under German Chancellor Friedrich Merz because of concerns about the U.S.’s dependability as an ally during the Trump presidency and beyond, according to people familiar with his thinking. The challenge is enormous.

NATO’s entire structure is built around American leadership at almost every level, from logistics and intelligence to the alliance’s top military command. Europeans are now trying to shoulder more of those responsibilities, which Trump has long demanded. The alliance will be “more Europeahttps://www.wsj.com/world…n-led,” its Secretary-General Mark Rutte said recently. The difference now is that Europeans are taking steps under their own initiative, due to Trump’s growing hostility, rather than as a result of U.S. goading. In recent days, Trump branded European allies as “cowards” and called NATO a paper tiger, adding, in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Putin knows that too.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Jury finds that Live Nation acted as a monopoly and overcharged ticket buyers (NPR)

On Wednesday, a federal jury in Manhattan found that Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, operated as a monopoly that harmed consumers and overcharged ticket buyers. The decision came after four days of deliberations.

The decision is a victory for 33 states and the District of Columbia, which accused Live Nation of unfairly controlling too many aspects of the live entertainment industry at the expense of venues, artists and fans after the company settled an earlier antitrust suit with the U.S. Department of Justice. The verdict has the potential to reshape the live music industry in the United States.

New York was among the states that participated in the lawsuit. Following the verdict, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement… 🟪 (READ MORE)