BG Reads // April 9, 2025

Author

A.J. Bingham
April 09, 2025

Presented By

Serving Central Texas.

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

💰 City of Austin facing a $33 million deficit for 2026 (Austin Monitor)

🏛️ Texas AG Ken Paxton officially joins U.S. Senate race challenging John Cornyn (Texas Tribune)

⚡ Data centers drive ERCOT’s massive power demand forecast (Dallas Morning News)

🏗️ Trump’s tariffs could increase homebuilding, insurance costs in Texas just ahead of hurricane season (San Antonio Express News)

🇨🇳 Trump's sweeping new tariffs in effect, including 104% on goods from China (CBS News)

[BINGHAM GROUP]

✅ Please join me in welcoming Brittany Heckard to Bingham Group’s Consultant team. Our consultants are contract-based specialists who provide strategic guidance to clients across business, community, and policy issues in Central Texas.

Brittany brings over a decade of experience in public and government affairs, community engagement, and social impact. She previously led legislative and public affairs initiatives at AT&T and supported legal and regulatory efforts at Davis Kaufman PLLC.

Her work has included partnerships with organizations such as Waymo, Ancestry, the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, and the Texas Cultural Trust, where she developed campaigns focused on advancing equity and justice across Texas.

We’re excited to have Brittany on board and look forward to the expertise she brings to our clients and partners.

🏗️ Bingham Group attended the Austin Chamber’s 2025 Infrastructure Summit yesterday, joining leaders to explore solutions shaping Central Texas—from energy reliability to mobility and water innovation. Keynote with Mayor Kirk Watson set the tone for a day focused on growth, infrastructure, and policy.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ Austin City Council:

🟪 Yesterday: Austin City Council Work Session // Agenda Link + Archive Video (4h 10m)

🟪 Thursday at 10AM: Austin City Council Meeting // Agenda Link (63 Items)

📝 Memos:

🔁 ICYMI Public meetings:

We’re growing BG Reads and want to better understand who’s reading. Your quick answers help us shape content and build a stronger community.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ City facing a $33 million deficit for 2026 (Austin Monitor)

Given current conditions, the city’s budget analysts are projecting a $33 million shortfall in the city’s General Fund in Fiscal Year 2026, with that number increasing to $79.9 million by FY 2030. City Council heard the bad news from City Manager T.C. Broadnax and Budget Director Kerri Lang at Tuesday’s City Council work session.

One of the biggest factors in the projected deficit is the 3.5 percent cap on yearly property tax increases without voter approval in an election. That limit was imposed by the Texas Legislature in 2019. Some members of Council, including District 4’s Chito Vela, have been particularly emphatic about the need for such an election.

Council members have taken to referring to that election as a TRE (tax rate election), so the public will likely be hearing that term for at least the next six months. As Broadnax noted, the city is also facing “a continued slowing of sales tax revenue growth.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Austin has only weeks to decide where to put parks over I-35 (KUT)

Austin must decide within just a few weeks whether to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to installing support structures on Interstate 35, or give up the chance to build parks over the highway.

The city council has until May 31 to choose locations for the foundational elements that would hold up large decks — or caps — over the highway.

Without those support structures, any caps over the soon-to-be-lowered highway — and the parks, plazas, buildings and public spaces envisioned for them — would be physically impossible. The chance to add support structures wouldn't reappear for at least 50 years.

The load-bearing infrastructure doesn't come cheap. The estimated cost of just the foundational elements is estimated at $284 million.

The full buildout of the support structures, the decks and all the amenities, including splash pads and amphitheaters, is estimated to hit $1.4 billion. The price tag could double if the city waits too long to pay for caps, the city's top transportation official warned at a Tuesday briefing… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Thom's Market sells Austin stores as owner opts for retirement (Austin Business Journal)

Austin-based Thom’s Market has been sold and its three stores will be getting name changes.

Bill Thom, owner of the 18-year-old business, said he has opted to retire as he nears 70. He declined to disclose the name of the buyer but described it as a local company with convenience stores and other businesses around Austin.

New sales tax permits for the markets trace back to Austinite Lahzat Khanjae, who has a history with convenience stores in the Austin area, according to various web pages.

The transaction is slated to close April 21, Thom said, and the markets' final day as Thom's will be April 19… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Liberty Hill ISD Superintendent Steven Snell resigns to become Williamson County Judge (Community Impact)

After six years leading the district, Liberty Hill ISD Superintendent Steven Snell has resigned to become the next Williamson County Judge. The Liberty Hill ISD board of trustees voted to accept Snell’s resignation at an April 7 special meeting.

The board named Chief of Schools Travis Motal as its interim superintendent as the search for a new superintendent begins. "The future is bright for Liberty Hill, and they're in great hands with Mr. Motal," Snell said in an interview with Community Impact.

By accepting Snell's resignation, the board released him from his contract with the district, which was recently extended through 2028… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Pflugerville to begin construction on $77M public works complex (Community Impact)

Pflugerville City Council approved a $77.6 million construction contract for a city public works complex at its April 8 meeting. Design and bidding for the project are in progress, and the notice to proceed with construction will be issued immediately.

What is it This contract establishes a guaranteed maximum price, which includes all construction and equipment, with contingencies for unforeseen issues and potential tariff impacts.

The $77.6 million contract is $8 million less than the approved budget for the complex. Preliminary design plans show six buildings, including a 56,000-square-foot main administrative building. Other buildings are designated for supply, storage, vehicle maintenance and fueling. The site will have space for other city offices as well, including… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

✅ Texas AG Ken Paxton officially joins U.S. Senate race challenging John Cornyn (Texas Tribune)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday he will challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s midterm elections, setting up a barnburner clash of two Republican titans that is poised to reverberate across state and national politics.

The contest, teased by Paxton for months, promises to be among the most heated and expensive Republican primaries in the country and in recent Texas history. It also marks the latest flashpoint in a power struggle between the Texas GOP’s hardline, socially conservative wing — which views Paxton as a standard-bearer — and the Cornyn-aligned, business-minded Republican old guard.

Appearing on Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s show, Paxton said it was “time for a change in Texas” as he announced his Senate bid and blasted Cornyn’s “lack of production” over his 22 years in the upper chamber… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Data centers drive ERCOT’s massive power demand forecast (Dallas Morning News)

Texas power grid operator ERCOT is projecting an explosion in energy demand over the next five years, with peak electricity use more than doubling as new data centers come online around the state. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas on Tuesday updated its projections to show peak electricity demand as high as 218 gigawatts in 2031. The current power demand record, set in August 2023, was 85.5 gigawatts. Energy-hungry data centers are driving the massive increases in ERCOT’s long-term estimate, accounting for a whopping 86 gigawatts of demand growth.

That’s enough electricity to keep the lights on at 21.5 million homes. ERCOT also downplayed the estimate, simultaneously releasing an adjusted estimate that showed power demand would grow, but at a significantly reduced pace. It showed demand hitting 145 gigawatts in 2031, 33% lower.

“Large load is coming,” energy analyst Doug Lewin said. “We don’t know what that number is going to be. Some of the numbers that are reported are a little crazy, but don’t lose the signal from the noise. We’re going to have robust load growth, and that means we are going to need a lot of new energy resources.”

A large part of the demand estimate comes from a law change in 2023 that required ERCOT to count all prospective large-scale power users in demand projections without fully vetting each project. Previously, ERCOT would not count projects in the early stages of development until certain financial commitments were made.

The ambiguity in ERCOT’s demand projections has led some state lawmakers to file legislation in hopes of getting more accurate demand forecasts. A Senate proposal passed in that chamber on March 19. Companies are “getting in line, saying, ‘We’re going to build a data center or some other large load,‘” Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said during a Senate meeting. “Well, you don’t know for sure that they’re for real, or are they just a speculator at this point?”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Trump’s tariffs could increase homebuilding, insurance costs in Texas just ahead of hurricane season (San Antonio Express News)

President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs could put a damper on affordable housing efforts in Texas. Even as state lawmakers have prioritized new housing construction, the rising taxes on foreign goods have already increased the cost of basic building materials, which will make every home more expensive to build and repair, as hurricane season ramps up.

In March, after the Trump administration announced its first round of tariffs from Canada, Mexico and China, the National Association of Homebuilders estimated they would add $9,200 to the cost of building a home.

Roughly 7% of materials used in new residential construction are imported, according to the NAHB. “The lower you are in the income bracket, the more this $9,200 a home impacts you and maybe prices you out of the market,” said Scott Norman, the CEO of the Texas Association of Homebuilders.

Texas is already struggling with rising costs: The median home price in Texas jumped nearly 40% from 2019 to 2023, according to a report published last year by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office. That’s at least partly because the state is short 306,000 homes to meet demand. In response, lawmakers are trying to make it easier to build new housing. The Texas Senate recently sent to the House a proposal by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, that would allow developers of new subdivisions to build homes on smaller lots.

Another filed by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican from Mineola, loosens restrictions on accessory dwelling units. A third proposal would make it harder for nearby property owners to oppose new housing, which has thwarted affordable projects across the state. But the new tariffs announced last week, which apply to nearly every country, could counteract any benefit those bills bring by further raising costs.

“It will be a shame if we are successful in that effort and loosening these restrictions, getting more houses built, but [prices] are not gonna come down as much if it costs more to build these homes,” Norman said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ SMU taps another UT leader as Mustangs name a new executive vice president and provost (Dallas Morning News)

Southern Methodist University is bringing another Longhorn to the Hilltop. Rachel Davis Mersey will be SMU’s next executive vice president and provost. She comes to the Hilltop from the University of Texas at Austin, where she served in the same role and oversaw a billion-dollar research budget.

She will oversee academic quality and research, including admissions, faculty and libraries. “I am honored to join SMU at such an exciting moment,” Mersey said in a statement.

“I’ve had inspiring conversations with members of the board of trustees and university leadership about the vibrant enthusiasm, ambition and commitment to excellence across campus.” Receive our in-depth coverage of education issues and stories that affect North Texans.

Mersey joins SMU as the university reaches R1 designation — a coveted status for the top research universities in the country — and finishes the first football season as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

✅ New Social Security rules will create hurdles for millions of seniors, report finds (NPR)

Americans seeking retirement or survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration will no longer be able to apply over the phone, starting on Monday.

Instead, they will have to seek services online or travel in-person to a local Social Security field office, which a new analysis from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, or CBPP, found amounts to a "45-mile trip for some 6 million seniors."

The group wrote this change "will close off an important mode of service for millions of people" who are eligible for services.

"More than 4 in 10 retirees apply for their Social Security benefits by phone, as do most spouses who are eligible for benefits," researchers wrote. "So do the substantial majority of bereaved family members who are eligible for benefits following the death of a worker."… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Trump's sweeping new tariffs in effect, including 104% on goods from China (CBS News)

President Trump's tariffs on imports from dozens of countries came into force Wednesday, including 104% on goods from China, dramatically ramping up a potential global trade war.

The tariffs took hold at 12:01 a.m. EDT. Mr. Trump's tariffs have shaken the dynamics of the decades-old global trading order, increased recession fears and sent shudders through financial markets. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite index closed 1.3% higher.

But Japan's Nikkei 225 ended their day 3.9% lower. Taiwan's Taiex plummeted 5.8%. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.7% U.S. stock futures were mostly lower.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.41% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were off 0.66%. Nasdaq Composite futures were higher, though barely, up 0.04% as of 6:25 a.m., according to Yahoo Finance… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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