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November 26, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Austin 2026: The New Rules of Economic Development at City Hall (Bingham Group)

🟪 City Council’s budget reflects a new fiscal Reality (Austin Chronicle)

🟪 Tesla stands to lose millions in tax rebates if it doesn't meet Travis County requirements (KUT)

🟪 WilCo forms coalition of regional water providers, funds study to assess supply needs (Community Impact)

🟪 Elon Musk says Tesla's Austin robotaxi fleet should 'roughly double' next month after fans complain it's unusable (Business Insider)

🟪 RealPage, a big player in Austin, agrees to settle federal rent-collusion case (Houston Chronicle)

🟪 Texas title companies allege rival carried out ‘systematic raid’ of workers (San Antonio Express-News)

🟪 Fed Chair Powell’s allies provide opening for December rate cut (Wall Street Journal)

🟪 Shorter days, signs of fatigue: Trump faces realities of aging in office (New York Times)

READ ON!

[FIRM NEWS]

[New Blog] Austin 2026: The New Rules of Economic Development at City Hall

Learn more about Bingham Group’s new practice — and review all of our services here: binghamgp.com/services

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

🏛️ City of Austin Org Chart (as of July 2025)

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ City Council’s budget reflects a new fiscal Reality (Austin Chronicle)

Austin City Council finally passed its new austerity budget. Approved on an 11-0 vote last Thursday, the budget removes close to $100 million in spending on public safety, homelessness, and other services that would have been provided by the earlier budget funded by Prop Q, the request to increase property taxes, which voters rejected earlier this month. 

The adoption of the new budget was heartbreaking for over 30 activist groups that have advocated for years for a “Community Investment Budget.” The groups want the city to take money traditionally spent on police and reallocate it to a different kind of public safety – programs providing health care, violence intervention, rental assistance, and food access. The first element of the advocates’ proposal hasn’t happened – Council approved an expensive new police contract last year. And now, with Prop Q’s defeat, the second part of their proposal – the funding of community initiatives – is greatly scaled back.

Equity Action has been the lead messenger for the community groups. It called the newly approved budget “unacceptable” in a Nov. 23 press release. “[City leaders] chose to protect a department whose practices routinely harm the most vulnerable Austinites, instead of investing in the programs that actually keep our communities safe, healthy, and whole,” the press release read. “And it will only continue: the police contract passed by this Council last year guarantees APD even more funding next fiscal year.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Tesla stands to lose millions in tax rebates if it doesn't meet Travis County requirements (KUT)

Travis County’s tax rebate deal with Tesla is under review as the automaker has failed to provide sufficient documentation that it is upholding its end of the agreement, Travis County officials said.

The deal, which was finalized in 2020, offers Tesla a 70% property tax rebate on a the first $1.1 billion the company invests in the factory and up to 80% if Tesla invests more than $2 billion. The rebate only applies to a portion of property taxes paid to the county.

Tesla must also ensure at least half of its gigafactory employees live in Travis County and are paid at least $15 an hour. Tesla agreed to scale its minimum wage over time in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.

In 2020, the county estimated the deal would result in $14 million in savings for Tesla over the first 10 years of the agreement. So far, Travis County hasn’t paid Tesla any rebates. As first reported by the Austin-American Statesman, the agreement is under a compliance review because Tesla has not provided sufficient documentation to prove it is meeting the requirements… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ WilCo forms coalition of regional water providers, funds study to assess supply needs (Community Impact)

Williamson County will work with local water providers to explore long-term water supply solutions, including an engineering study that will evaluate regional needs for water. County commissioners approved $500,000 for the study at their Nov. 25 meeting. “I think there's a lot of angst and fear as we grow. ... Step one is protecting what we have for the people who are here today, and then step two is that sustainable growth,” County Judge Steven Snell said.

At the meeting, Michael Thane, Round Rock Public Works executive director, outlined recent efforts by local water providers and the county to form a regional coalition. 

“Future water is not located in the county anymore,” Thane said. “We have to go get it, and it's going to be expensive.”

Georgetown Water Utilities Director Chelsea Solomon said the coalition could allow cities and water suppliers to jointly fund new water sources and the infrastructure needed to transport them, while also partnering to use existing pipelines and easements more efficiently… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Elon Musk says Tesla's Austin robotaxi fleet should 'roughly double' next month after fans complain it's unusable (Business Insider)

The billionaire wrote in a post on X late on Tuesday that Tesla aims to "roughly double" the size of its robotaxi fleet in Austin next month, after some fans complained that soaring demand from new users had left the service almost unusable.

It comes as Tesla races to expand its robotaxi operations and meet Musk's ambitious timelines.

The Tesla CEO told investors last month that he wants self-driving taxis on the road in eight to 10 US metro areas by the end of the year.

Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin in June and opened a ride-hailing operation in San Francisco a month later.

The company's vehicles in Austin have human safety monitors in the passenger seat, while regulatory hurdles mean Tesla's Bay Area service operates with drivers ready to take the wheel.

Speaking on the "All-In" podcast last month, Musk said that Tesla would aim to increase its robotaxi fleet size to 500 cars in Austin and 1,000 in the Bay Area by the end of the year… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin FC makes decisions on 2026 contract options for veterans (Austin American-Statesman)

Austin FC took the first step toward finalizing its 2026 roster Tuesday.

The Verde & Black exercised the contract options for next season of midfielder Dani Pereira and backup goalie Stefan Cleveland, with defender Brendan Hines-Ike’s option being automatically renewed due to meeting performance metrics in 2025. The club declined the options on defender Julio Cascante and forward Diego Rubio.

Midfielder Ilie Sánchez agreed to a new contract for 2026, presumably one at a much lower salary than the $600,000 he made last season, with a club option for 2027. 

MLS free agency opens Dec. 10… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ RealPage, a big player in Austin, agrees to settle federal rent-collusion case (Houston Chronicle)

Landlords in Austin and across the U.S. could no longer rely on RealPage’s rent-pricing software to track each other’s moves and push rents higher under a settlement it reached with federal prosecutors.

An analysis early this year identified Austin as the city most impacted by the Texas-based company’s software, with 46% of multifamily units being managed by landlords using the artificial intelligence-driven system. 

It’s a system critics have called “algorithmic collusion” but that RealPage says is simply misunderstood.

The deal announced Monday by the Department of Justice comes after a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit, which was launched during the Biden administration. RealPage would not have to pay any damages or admit wrongdoing. The settlement must still be approved by a federal judge.

“RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price,” said DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, who emphasized that the settlement avoided a costly, time-consuming trial… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ In school voucher rules, Texas lets families get more for pre-K but rejects stronger accountability (Texas Tribune)

Texas’ chief financial officer on Tuesday finalized rules for the state’s private school voucher program, clearing up confusion about funding for pre-kindergarten students and setting official dates for schools and families to apply — but declining to change certain special education components or tack on additional accountability requirements.

Private schools and vendors who currently participate in an existing state initiative for students with disabilities can apply on Dec. 9, while applications for nonparticipants are set to open shortly after. 

The state will then allow families to start applying on Feb. 4, the date Texas’ finance chief and Odyssey — the finance and technology company helping administer the program — had agreed upon in their contract. 

The program, which the Texas comptroller’s office oversees, will officially launch at the start of the 2026-27 school year… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Turning Point USA talked expansion with Texas education chief (Texas Tribune)

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath recently met with a top official from Turning Point USA to discuss creating chapters of the conservative youth organization in all of the state’s high schools, days before Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick promised $1 million in campaign funds to help bring the project to life. The meeting between Morath and Turning Point USA Senior Director Josh Thifault took place on Nov. 3 in Austin, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.

The two gathered in person weeks after Thifault reached out to the agency to ask when the commissioner “would like to speak with me” about the possibility of a partnership to establish Turning Point USA chapters in high schools across Texas, similar to initiatives launched in other states. After their meeting, Thifault followed up with Morath via email to provide additional information about the right-wing group’s existing partnerships with Florida and Oklahoma.

“Both states have issued stern warnings against anyone attempting to stop students from forming Club America chapters,” Thifault wrote, referring to the official name of the clubs. It is unclear if Morath formally agreed to a partnership with Turning Point USA or on any next steps. Responding to questions from the Tribune about the meeting, including how such a partnership would work and what precedent exists of the commissioner meeting with national politically affiliated organizations, Texas Education Agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky said, “Commissioner Morath meets with a variety of stakeholders interested in public education.”

Thifault did not respond to an email, phone call or text message for comment about the meeting. Doug Deason, a conservative activist and donor whom Thifault copied on the emails scheduling the conversation, also did not respond to an email from the Tribune. Since the Sept. 10 killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — the Turning Point USA founder praised by conservatives as a champion of free speech and criticized for comments that many found hateful toward LGBTQ+ Americans, women and people of color — Republicans’ interest in the group has surged… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones asks City Council to move municipal elections to November (San Antonio Report)

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has asked City Council to move the city’s municipal elections from May to November, a move state lawmakers set the stage for earlier this year. The change would save taxpayers $1 million, improve voter turnout and bring San Antonio in line with what many other local governments in Texas are doing, according to a letter Jones sent to council on Tuesday. Texas lawmakers passed bipartisan legislation earlier this year allowing local governments to move their elections in odd-numbered years to November. But individual city councils still need to vote in order to move their elections by Dec. 31, or they’ll miss out on the opportunity, absent additional legislation.

Not moving the elections would make San Antonio an outlier among the largest cities in Texas, Jones argued in her letter to council members. Houston and Austin already hold their municipal elections in November, and earlier this month, Dallas City Council voted to join them. The mayor provided additional materials to council, including a commentary from political science professors Melissa Marschall with Rice University and Zoltan Hajnal with University of California in San Diego arguing that the busier November elections lead to better municipal turnout.

“Nationwide research also indicates that a move from May to November could double turnout, and numbers for Houston and the other Texas cities that hold November elections are in the same ballpark,” the researchers wrote, adding that holding multiple contests on the same ballot is more efficient, and often saves money for local governments. Jones argued that the move makes sense. “I haven’t heard of a good reason [not to do it],” the mayor said in a phone interview. “I think that’s why you’ve seen so many people do this. The cost saving, which is significant, but also ensuring that our election results could be more representative of the cross-section of our population.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas title companies allege rival carried out ‘systematic raid’ of workers (San Antonio Express-News)

Sister companies Alamo Title Co. of San Antonio and Chicago Title of Texas LLC of The Woodlands have alleged in separate lawsuits that a competitor carried out a “systematic raid” of each company’s workforce. WFG National Title Company of Texas LLC is accused of hiring away 30 employees from Alamo Title in June and July and 41 workers from Chicago Title in January. The sister companies also allege that they’ve been directly harmed by WFG soliciting their customers and misappropriating sensitive or confidential business information. Alamo sued in August in state District Court in San Antonio, but WFG on Friday moved the case to the 4th Business Court Division, which handles disputes over $5 million. Chicago filed suit in July in Harris County District Court and, according to a court filing, is seeking $9.6 million in lost revenue.

WFG has denied the allegations in both cases. It declined to comment on the lawsuits, according to one of its attorneys. It had filed a motion in September to transfer Alamo’s case to Harris County given Chicago’s pending case there and the similarity of the claims. Before the motion could be heard, though, WFG moved the case to Business Court. Alamo and Chicago are subsidiaries of Alamo Title Holding Co., which is owned by Fidelity National Financial Inc. — a publicly traded company based in Jacksonville, Fla., that generated $13.7 billion in revenue last year. WFG is part of Williston Financial Group of Portland, Ore. Title insurance companies protect real estate buyers by searching for problems — such as unpaid property taxes, fraudulent paperwork or unknown heirs claiming ownership — ahead of a sale… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ FBI seeks interviews with six Democrats Trump accused of 'seditious behavior' (NBC News)

The FBI is working to schedule interviews with the six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video urging members of the military and intelligence community not to comply with illegal orders, according to a person familiar with the efforts. The move, first reported by Fox News, comes days after President Donald Trump accused the Democrats, all of whom served in the military or in intelligence roles, of "seditious behavior." Details of the investigation were not immediately clear.

The lawmakers confirmed they had heard from the House or Senate sergeants-at-arms about the FBI effort. In a joint statement, four of the Democrats in the video, all members of the House, accused Trump of “using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress.”

“No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution," the statement from Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania said. “We swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. We will not be bullied. We will never give up the ship.”

The other two Democrats in the video are senators: Mark Kelly, of Arizona, and Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan. U.S. Capitol Police referred questions to the FBI, where a bureau spokesperson declined to comment. Slotkin said at an event in Michigan on Tuesday afternoon that the lawmakers were contacted by the FBI on Monday evening. "Last night the counterterrorism division at the FBI sent a note to members of, the members of Congress saying they are opening what appears to be an inquiry against the six of us," she said… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Fed Chair Powell’s allies provide opening for December rate cut (Wall Street Journal)

Allies of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have laid the groundwork for him to push a rate cut through a divided committee at next month’s meeting even though it could draw multiple dissents. The unusual level of division inside the Fed means that, to an even greater degree than usual, the final call rests with Powell. To negotiate these stark divisions, Powell is likely to weigh two approaches, each with drawbacks. The first: cut rates, as markets now expect, and use the exquisitely negotiated postmeeting statement to signal a higher bar for further reductions.

This “cut then hold” approach would mirror what Powell did in late 2019 when, like now, three cuts met meaningful resistance from his colleagues. This option would also likely trigger objections from officials who don’t support any cut. But it could end the soap opera of officials airing their disagreements in public by stitching together a new consensus that further cuts aren’t warranted if recent conditions persist.

The alternative is to hold rates steady and reassess in January, when officials will have more of the employment and inflation data that was suspended by a federal government shutdown. But that approach could prolong the public discord for another seven weeks, with no guarantee the additional data will resolve the underlying disagreements. The divide reflects economic crosscurrents that have split the committee more than at any point in Powell’s nearly eight-year tenure: Job growth is stagnating but inflation is uncomfortably elevated, which carries a whiff of what economists call stagflation.

Because the labor market is cooling but not collapsing and inflation is neither accelerating nor improving meaningfully, “it’s hard to declare victory” on either side, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said in an interview last week. Powell’s decision depends on what he considers the greater risk, and which would be harder to fix if he is wrong. Two consecutive cuts brought rates down to a range between 3.75% and 4% last month to guard against the risks of softening job-market conditions, even as inflation has run closer to 3% than the Fed’s 2% goal… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Shorter days, signs of fatigue: Trump faces realities of aging in office (New York Times)

The day before Halloween, President Trump landed at Joint Base Andrews after spending nearly a week in Japan and South Korea. He was then whisked to the White House, where he passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Allies crowed over the president’s stamina: “This man has been nonstop for DAYS!” one wrote online. A week later, Mr. Trump appeared to doze off during an event in the Oval Office.

With headline-grabbing posts on social media, combative interactions with reporters and speeches full of partisan red meat, Mr. Trump can project round-the-clock energy, virility and physical stamina. Now at the end of his eighth decade, Mr. Trump and the people around him still talk about him as if he is the Energizer Bunny of presidential politics. The reality is more complicated: Mr. Trump, 79, is the oldest person to be elected to the presidency, and he is aging.

To pre-empt any criticism about his age, he often compares himself to President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who at 82 was the oldest person to hold the office, and whose aides took measures to shield his growing frailty from the public, including by tightly managing his appearances. Mr. Trump has hung a photo of an autopen in a space where Mr. Biden’s portrait would otherwise be, and disparages his predecessor’s physicality often. “He sleeps all the time — during the day, during the night, on the beach,” Mr. Trump said about Mr. Biden last week, adding: “I’m not a sleeper.” Mr. Trump remains almost omnipresent in American life.

He appears before the news media and takes questions far more often than Mr. Biden did. Foreign leaders, chief executives, donors and others have regular access to Mr. Trump and see him in action. Still, nearly a year into his second term, Americans see Mr. Trump less than they used to, according to a New York Times analysis of his schedule. Mr. Trump has fewer public events on his schedule and is traveling domestically much less than he did by this point during his first year in office, in 2017, although he is taking more foreign trips… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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