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November 4, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Navigating Central Texas Land Use: A New Practice at Bingham Group

🟪 Here's what would be funded by Prop Q, the proposed tax rate increase on Austin's ballot (KUT)

🟪 ACL Fest drums up agreement to remain at Zilker through 2040 (CultureMap Austin)

🟪 New high-rise height limit now in effect for downtown Austin (Community Impact)

🟪 As his legacy evolves, Greg Abbott set to launch historic reelection campaign (Dallas Morning News)

🟪 How a growing form of 'invisible government' is driving up Texans’ tax bills (Houston Chronicle)

🟪 Texas airports see major delays, long security lines as government shutdown continues (Texas Tribune)

🟪 SNAP benefits will restart, but will be half the normal payment and delayed (NPR)

🟪 Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats (Associated Press)

READ ON!

[FIRM NEWS]

Bingham Group is proud to announce the launch of our Land Use & Entitlements Practice, expanding our ability to support clients navigating policy, development and permitting challenges across Central Texas.

The practice is anchored by Senior Consultant Anaiah Johnson, who brings two decades of land development and urban planning experience, including senior leadership at the City of Austin’s Development Services Department and private-sector entitlement management for one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.

For nearly nine years, Bingham Group has represented clients ranging from Central Texas–based firms to national and international companies before municipal governments in the region.

With this new practice, we now provide integrated support across both the political and technical aspects of moving land use policy and development projects forward.

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

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Memo: Federal Legislative Update – October 2025

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

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

💰 2026 City of Austin Bond - Public Input

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Here's what would be funded by Prop Q, the proposed tax rate increase on Austin's ballot (KUT)

Austinites will soon be voting on a tax rate increase that city officials say will help address some of the city’s thorniest issues.

In August, the Austin City Council approved a $6.3 billion budget but called on voters to approve a higher tax rate. On the November ballot as Proposition Q, the rate of 57.4 cents per $100 of taxable value would generate nearly $110 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year. That money would be used to help reduce homelessness, improve parks and enhance public safety.

Austin was already facing a $33 million budget shortfall that city officials have attributed to sales tax and property tax revenues not bouncing back following the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has also been a cut to some federal funding that the city depended on to help pay for critical services like emergency shelter for people who are unhoused and rental assistance programs. The council has said the city would need to foot the bill itself to keep these programs going.

But the ask is coming at a time when residents are already facing a rise in cost of living due to inflation and higher property tax rates across the Austin area… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ ACL Fest drums up agreement to remain at Zilker through 2040 (CultureMap Austin)

The Austin City Limits Music Festival, one of the city’s biggest annual events, now has a permanent home for at least the next 15 years.

Austin-based concert promoter C3 Presents, which stages the two-weekend festival each fall, recently signed an agreement with the City of Austin that extends the event’s use of Zilker Park until the end of 2040. Zilker has hosted ACL Fest since the inaugural festival in 2002.

The agreement also sets an expectation that festival dates will continue to fall "on or about the first two weekends of October."

The 2024 edition of ACL Fest contributed $534.8 million to the Austin economy. Since 2006, when C3 Presents started tracking the event’s economic impact, it has generated more than $4.1 billion for the local economy… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ New high-rise height limit now in effect for downtown Austin (Community Impact)

Austin officials implemented interim building regulations for high-rise projects in the downtown area in response to a new state law meant to spur housing development across Texas.

The update caps new construction in much of the city core at 350 feet, unless they provide streetscape improvements and affordable housing funds. The change is expected to be short-lived with wider revisions to downtown development policies next year.

This year's Senate Bill 840, known as "residential in commercial," allowed mixed-use and multifamily projects in places previously reserved for commercial uses only. Under that law, sites with at least 65% of their square footage dedicated to housing qualify as mixed-use, while those with three or more units qualify as multifamily.

Austin planners and officials have been working to address SB 840's effects on local regulations, including city bonus programs that help create affordable housing as new development takes place. Austin traditionally based some of those programs around the floor-to-area ratio, or FAR, density calculation. But SB 840 now blocks FAR restrictions for new residential development, moving Austin to center policy around building height instead… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ As his legacy evolves, Greg Abbott set to launch historic reelection campaign (Dallas Morning News)

Preparing to run for a historic fourth term, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has fortified his campaign staff, trained a legion of volunteers and amassed close to $100 million in his war chest, a figure that will grow substantially between now and the November 2026 general election. Abbott’s intense campaign mobilization isn’t reflective of his odds for reelection. He faces little opposition in the March Republican primary. And like his previous campaigns, he’s heavily favored against any of the Democrats looking to challenge him. What’s different this time? Winning another term will position him to become the longest-serving governor in Texas history, eclipsing the 14 years served by Republican Rick Perry.

It also gives him more time to define his legacy, one he’s said involves keeping Texas an economic powerhouse, while shepherding conservative policies that reshape public education, economic policy, higher education and Texas’ relationship with the federal government. If he secures a fourth term, Abbott would likely try to tackle his toughest challenges to date, including an overhaul — or perhaps abolishment — of Texas property taxes. Another victory would also put Abbott in the 2028 presidential sweepstakes that will likely include fellow Texan and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. “He’s in the strongest position he’s ever been in,” said Dave Carney, Abbott’s chief campaign strategist.

“He has a solid foundation of accomplishments. People are pumped up and ready to go. You can just feel it.” Abbott’s campaign style in high-stakes races is to leave nothing to chance. He’s running like an underdog. His campaign is developing an aggressive get-out-the vote effort featuring a “full ground game with digital advertising, texting, voter registration drives” and traditional television ads. Abbott’s team recently held an El Paso get-out-the vote rally for Tuesday’s elections that attracted about 450 people, Carney said, suggesting it’s a harbinger of the more anticipated 2026 primary and general elections… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ How a growing form of 'invisible government' is driving up Texans’ tax bills (Houston Chronicle)

Gov. Greg Abbott recently told a room of GOP faithful that he is determined to stop cities and counties from raising property taxes, slamming Austin for proposing a rate hike to raise $110 million to spend on parks, public safety and social services. “Do you think they're spending your money in the rightful, conservative, judicious way right now?” Abbott said.

“Of course not. What they need to do is start cutting what they're spending, as opposed to continuing to raise your taxes.” It’s a pitch the Republican governor has rolled out often as he gears up to run for a record fourth term in office. But while cities and counties have been a frequent target of Abbott and other Texas leaders, a large and growing chunk of many Texans' tax bills has mostly been ignored: the thousands of special purpose districts that operate across the state. The districts — which encompass an enormous variety of government functions, from wildlife management to health care to waste disposal — have largely avoided the same rate limits that lawmakers have put on other taxing entities, even as more Texans pay property taxes to a special purpose district than ever before.

The number of special purpose taxing districts has nearly doubled since 1998, reaching 2,300 last year and far outpacing the state’s population growth. Those districts are collecting a greater share of the state’s total property tax revenue — nearly 16% in 2023, up from 13% the year before, according to the latest available data from the Comptroller. In sum, they collected more than $12.7 billion in taxes in 2023, up from $3.1 billion two decades before.

That’s a larger jump than those for cities and counties during that two-decade period. Roughly half of the state’s special purpose districts are municipal utility districts, known as MUDs, which are especially prevalent in fast-growing parts of the state, where developers use them to issue bonds to build outside city limits and impose taxes to pay off that debt. In some areas of the state, homeowners in MUDs are charged triple the tax rate as those who live in city limits.

State Rep. Erin Zweiner, who represents Hays County, the fastest growing county in the state, said special districts make up the vast majority of her tax bill. She said her constituents are often shocked by what they owe to the districts, which can charge for everything from water to emergency services — things that historically have been provided by cities… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas airports see major delays, long security lines as government shutdown continues (Texas Tribune)

Travelers are facing hourslong delays at Texas airports as the federal government shutdown drags on and continues to spawn shortages of air traffic controllers and airport security workers.

Passengers at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport are experiencing three hour wait times Monday, according to the Houston Airport System. The Federal Aviation Administration announced a ground delay at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Monday afternoon due to staffing issues. And Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport had experienced more delays and cancellations Monday than all but one other airport in the country, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

Monday’s issues followed a weekend of scheduling woes at Texas’ two largest airports. On Sunday, 23% of all flights from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 32% of flights from Bush Intercontinental Airport were delayed, according to FlightAware.

Airports problems have accelerated as the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, has gone on and led to missed paychecks for airport personnel, including air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration agents. While those workers are expected to continue on the job without pay, air traffic controllers have increasingly called in sick, which the Federal Aviation Administration said was “straining staffing levels at multiple facilities” for a workforce that already faced a shortage before the shutdown… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ SNAP benefits will restart, but will be half the normal payment and delayed (NPR)

The Trump administration says it will restart SNAP food benefits but it will pay out only half the amount people normally get.

The administration will use money from an Agriculture Department contingency fund. The administration says there's only $4.65 billion available in that fund to pay for SNAP benefits, which is roughly half of the $8 billion in food assistance payments people receive every month.

In a court filing, officials said depleting that fund means "no funds will remain for new SNAP applicants certified in November, disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely." The Trump administration declined to tap any additional funds for SNAP saying that could take money away from other child nutrition programs, like school lunch and breakfast programs… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats (Associated Press)

The government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans has dragged into a new month. Millions of people stand to lose food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real talks between the parties over how to end it.

President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Echoing congressional Republicans, the president said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” he’ll negotiate only when the government is reopened.

Trump said Democrats “have lost their way” and predicted they’ll capitulate to Republicans.

“I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”

Trump’s comments signal the shutdown could drag on for some time as federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss additional paychecks and there’s uncertainty over whether 42 million Americans who receive federal food aid will be able to access the assistance. Senate Democrats have voted 13 times against reopening the government, insisting they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Anger over ICE raids is driving some Latino voters to the polls (New York Times)

For months, immigration crackdowns in Southern California have transformed life in Bell Gardens, the majority-Latino suburb where Alo Hurtado lives. Neighbors have been hauled off by masked federal agents. Families have curtailed trips to supermarkets and churches. Many people have stopped going out without their passports, including Mr. Hurtado’s mother, a naturalized citizen.

So when it came time to vote in California’s special election, Mr. Hurtado, 42, decided not to vote by mail, as many in the state do. Instead, he went to a polling place in a landmark park with his Mexican-born parents this week to vote early and in person. Given all his community had gone through, he was worried about mail tampering — and he was angry. “Especially here in California,” he said, “we need to speak up.” Elections on Tuesday in California, New Jersey and other states are unfolding as the Trump administration’s immigration raids have spread fear in Latino communities across the country. That fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity has become an X factor in next week’s elections.

Democratic officials and Latino voting-rights activists worry that the ICE crackdown will dampen Latino turnout and that the presence of Justice Department election monitors at polling sites in California and New Jersey will intimidate voters. Voter data of the turnout so far in California, New Jersey and Virginia shows that Latino participation is roughly on pace with past elections. And for some Latino voters, the Trump administration’s escalation of force appears to be not a deterrent to casting a ballot but a motivation.

In Virginia, where the Republican nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, is running against Abigail Spanberger, a Democratic former congresswoman, one Hispanic business owner said the most important issue in the election was the ICE raids. “It is something we are feeling morning and night, and it stirs a lot of sadness,” said the business owner, Carlos Castro, a naturalized U.S. citizen from El Salvador and an independent voter who runs Todos Supermarket in Woodbridge, Va. He cast his ballot during the early-vote period. Elvis Cordova, 49, a government relations consultant in Alexandria, Va., who plans to cast an early vote for Ms. Spanberger, said the federal crackdown had raised the election’s stakes… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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