BG Reads // September 18, 2025

Author

A.J. Bingham
September 18, 2025

austin a

Presented By

www.binghamgp.com

September 18, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Austin moves to slow displacement, preserve thousands of affordable units with new fund (Community Impact)

🟪 Samsung gets $250M in state incentives for Taylor plant (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Demolition of Austin Convention Center nearly complete; new building to open in 2029 (Community Impact)

🟪 Austin FC to host U.S. Open Cup final at Q2 Stadium on October 1 (Austin FC)

🟪 Dallas approves budget amendment to cut lobbyists funding to lower property tax rate (Dallas Morning News)

🟪 Texas cities, counties pinch pennies amid slowing economy (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Facing Trump's pressure, the Fed cuts rates for the first time this year (NPR)

READ ON!

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

CMO Executives and Advisors_July 2025.pdf519.20 KB • PDF File

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at the 2025 Taylor Chamber of Commerce’s Growth Symposium: Infrastructure, Influence & Insight. Together with lobbyist and former Taylor Mayor Jesse Ancira, I discussed the recent legislative session what its outcomes mean, and what is potentially ahead for communities like Taylor.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Austin moves to slow displacement, preserve thousands of affordable units with new fund (Community Impact)

Officials are moving to preserve "naturally occurring" affordable housing across Austin through a new public fund intended to rapidly grow over the coming years with support from private sources.

“That’s part of the value here, is that we’re able to take a minimum amount of city resources and build on that over a period of time to create a large program to basically prevent displacement," said council member Marc Duchen, who proposed the program.

Since the 2000s, Austin has spent hundreds of millions of public dollars on developing income-restricted housing available at lower rents or purchase prices. Some city housing funds have also been spent on land for future construction or the acquisition of residential properties with cheaper housing.

In part given the wide cost difference between developing a project from scratch and buying or maintaining existing sites, City Council voted Sept. 11 to pursue new programs centered around the preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing in Austin. Duchen said he drafted his proposal based on concerns about local cost of living and displacement pressures… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Samsung gets $250M in state incentives for Taylor plant (Austin Business Journal)

Samsung Austin Semiconductor LLC will get $250 million from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sept. 17.

The news comes as the South Korean electronics giant gets closer to opening its multibillion-dollar fabrication facility in Taylor, and it marks another hefty incentive for Samsung. The company previously secured incentives from the federal government, and city, county and state authorities to help close the deal on one of the largest foreign direct investments in U.S. history.

The new manufacturing plant northeast of Austin is expected to become largely operational in 2026 — later than many expected, but there are signs of the chipmaking slowdown easing at least for Samsung's new plant.

Samsung recently signed a $16.5 billion supplier deal with Tesla Inc. that provides a linchpin customer for the site and is looking for more, as it initially struggled to do so. That came on the heels of securing $4.7 billion through the federal CHIPS and Science Act for more than $40 billion in investment in both Taylor and Austin.

"Texas is home to the future of technology and innovation,” Abbott said in a statement. "With approximately $40 billion invested in Texas, Samsung is helping to cement Texas’ position as the leading state for semiconductor manufacturing, bringing in more business investment to Texas communities and creating thousands of good-paying jobs for hardworking Texans. This $4.73 billion investment by Samsung in their Taylor semiconductor fabrication facility will provide a more secure domestic supply of chips for critical U.S. industries and ensure the most advanced chips that will power next-generation technologies are Made in Texas."… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Demolition of Austin Convention Center nearly complete; new building to open in 2029 (Community Impact)

Demolition of the former Austin Convention Center is nearly complete, project leaders told Community Impact on Sept. 12.

The center closed in April and construction crews began demolishing the 365,000-square-foot building in May. They are scheduled to finish tearing down the existing building in late October and will construct a 620,000-square-foot convention center in its place, which is expected to open in early 2029.

The new convention center is designed to bring larger events to Austin while increasing walkability downtown and making the center more welcoming for residents, ACC Acting Deputy Director Katy Zamesnik told reporters.

“This is the beginning of delivering on a promise that we've made to the community. ... We want this to be a building that locals love just as much as our visitors do,” Zamesnik said after journalists and local leaders toured the construction site Sept. 12… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin FC to host U.S. Open Cup final at Q2 Stadium on October 1 (Austin FC)

Following Austin FC’s victory over Minnesota United FC on Wednesday night in the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal Round, U.S. Soccer confirmed the details of the 2025 U.S. Open Cup Final. Austin FC will host Nashville SC on Wednesday, October 1 at Q2 Stadium, marking the first time that the Club will host the championship match of a major tournament.

The winner will lift the U.S. Open Cup trophy and qualify for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup. The match will kick off at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be available to watch on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+.

Members of the Oak Collective Waitlist have access to a ticket pre-sale beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT on Thursday, September 18. Tickets go on sale to the public at 10:00 a.m. CT the following day, Friday, September 19… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Welcoming Melissa Barragán Taboada as the first editor-in-chief of our new Austin newsroom (Texas Tribune)

We are excited to announce Melissa Barragán Taboada will serve as the inaugural editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune’s new Austin newsroom.

When we set out to find a new newsroom leader, we wanted someone who could marry editorial excellence with a deep community-oriented vision. Melissa brings exactly that: the experience, talent and passion to help Austin residents better understand their city and shape its future.

“I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help launch this newsroom and to be part of building a community-centered publication from the ground up,” Melissa said about this new role. “Austin is home — it’s where we raised our sons, built lasting roots, and where my heart has always been. I want to live and serve in the city I love.”

Melissa is uniquely prepared for this role. She spent more than 20 years at the Austin American-Statesman, where she launched two local newspapers in surrounding communities and mentored young journalists. She is a proud alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin and served as an adjunct professor of journalism… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin's life sciences sector is poised for growth, experts say (Austin Business Journal)

The Austin metro is home to nearly 300 life sciences companies that employ more than 21,000 people, and experts contend the sector still has plenty of untapped potential here.

"That trajectory is growing, and we're only expecting it to improve over time," said John ten Bosch, senior vice president of lab operations at molecular diagnostics company BillionToOne, which develops DNA-based tests to detect health problems and announced last year that it's building a 220,000-square-foot "forever lab" at the EastVillage ATX development.

The life science industry — including companies that work in research and development and manufacturing for biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices — is among the sectors being courted by economic development organization Opportunity Austin.

To date, the Austin area has developed a solid life sciences nucleus, though it's not viewed as a major national hub for the industry — although the region's myriad universities and colleges, incubator programs and increasing numbers of startups and established players eventually could change that. Some say bulking up the region's life sciences manufacturing power would help advance the industry even further… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin Power Players list for 2025 (Austin Business Journal)

Some are sculptors of global industries. Michael Dell, Lisa Su, Matthew Reintjes and John Paul Dejoria are examples.

Others are decidedly local — they run small but mighty businesses that make Austin unique, such as Will Bridges, Amy Simmons and Patrick Terry.

A lot of them have worked countless hours after their day job on civic gigs, building then leveraging a robust network to build up the Austin brand. 

Some are actually thorns in the sides of other power players — such as Bill Aleshire and Bill Bunch, whose government watchdog efforts have sometimes caused headaches and setbacks for city and business leaders named here.

The 115 people we identified for ABJ’s third annual list of Power Players all have oversized impacts on this city, their industries or even the world. Now for our annual disclaimer:

• We couldn’t name them all. We’re very aware there are plenty of other power players here, and we rotate some in and out each year… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Texas cities, counties pinch pennies amid slowing economy (Texas Tribune)

Last year, Fort Worth gained a new distinction as Texas’ fourth city with more than 1 million people.

While other major Texas cities grew at a slower clip or struggled to regain residents it lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fort Worth boomed. The city added more than 100,000 new residents between 2019 and 2024, outpacing any other Texas city — including its neighbor, Dallas.

Despite that growth, Fort Worth officials found themselves in a tight spot this summer, facing a nearly $17 million budget deficit.

They’re not the only ones with budget woes. Texas cities and counties, large and small, have had to pinch pennies as economic uncertainty, inflation, strict state limits on property tax collections and uncertainty around future federal funds have crimped their budgets. That’s left local governments to either cut spending or raise taxes and fees to make up the difference… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Dallas approves biggest-ever budget with cuts to libraries, pools (WFAA)

The city of Dallas voted to approve a $5.2 billion budget -- its first under new voter-approved mandates to spend millions more on public safety -- but not without last-minute cuts to library programs, pools and lobbying efforts in Austin. 

The vote was 11 to 3, with Mayor Eric Johnson, Cara Mendelsohn and Jesse Moreno voting against the measure.

The budget increases starting salaries for police officers to more than $81,000 and sets a goal of hiring 350 new officers. It also includes an increase of about $37 million toward investment in street maintenance. 

But the final budget will close a beloved library on the city's Northeast side, close several community pools and re-allocates 277 jobs -- mostly to hire new police officers. 

"Closing libraries makes Dallas less safe," said Skillman-Southwestern Library supporter Caitlin Dolt. "A safe neighborhood is not just built on police and patrol cars but on opportunity, education and trust."… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Dallas approves budget amendment to cut lobbyists funding to lower property tax rate (Dallas Morning News)

Dallas has cut funding for state lobbying for at least the next 12 months as part of its new $5.2 billion budget. The Dallas City Council approved shifting $339,000 originally planned for three lobbyists’ contracts to reduce the property tax rate by 0.015 cents per $100 valuation. Mayor Eric Johnson, who proposed the budget amendment, argued that the city could rely on council members, the city manager, other top officials, and the city’s government affairs office to represent Dallas in Austin instead of paying external lobbyists. Johnson had previously criticized the lobbying team during an Aug. 27 City Council meeting, calling them “not very good” and questioning their influence and relationships at the State Capitol. On Wednesday, he reiterated his lack of confidence in farming out the city’s lobbying efforts.

“I believe that we can do this without actually negatively impacting our effectiveness in lobbying in Austin,” Johnson said. City officials clarified Wednesday that the budget amendment specifically targets three of the four lobbyist contracts, which total $339,000 annually from the general fund. A fourth contract, funded by $60,000 from Dallas Water Utilities, can’t be redirected to reduce the property tax rate. During nonbinding straw votes Wednesday, at least 11 City Council members — Mayor Johnson, Chad West, Jesse Moreno, Maxie Johnson, Jaime Resendez, Laura Cadena, Lorie Blair, Kathy Stewart, Bill Roth, Cara Mendelsohn, and Gay Donnell Willis — expressed support for the amendment.

The amendment became official upon approval of the budget, which didn’t happen until after 1 a.m. Thursday. Last month, the mayor and the 14 other council members unanimously approved renewing two-year deals through the summer of 2027 for all four contracts during the same meeting, each of which includes a single two-year renewal option… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Facing Trump's pressure, the Fed cuts rates for the first time this year (NPR)

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point Wednesday in an effort to prop up the sagging U.S. job market. The move comes as Fed policymakers face mounting pressure from the White House.

As widely expected, the central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate to a range of 4% to 4.25%. That was the first such cut in nine months amid signs of a substantial slowdown in the pace of hiring. Fed policymakers also signaled that on average they expect to cut rates by an additional half-percentage point by the end of this year. 

President Trump wants much lower interest rates, and he has been waging a high-pressure campaign to exert more control over the central bank — bypassing safeguards designed to insulate the Fed from political pressure… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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