Travis County Commissioners Court

The local public hospital district must receive final approval from Travis County before Oct. 1.

The county's public hospital district doubles its investment in direct health care services in the proposed budget.

If approved, the 2.5 cent increase would generate nearly $77 million to help low-income families.

The declaration allows the county judge to coordinate and control traffic and other needs during the eclipse.

Travis County Commissioners expressed concerns with the expensive price tag and the consultant chosen to do the work. It will perform an internal review of its homeless services separately.

The commissioners' approval came after they expressed frustration about approving a tax rate increase while Central Health has hundreds of millions of dollars available in reserves.

In the first six months of 2022 alone, there were 118 fentanyl-related overdoses in Travis County. That’s the same number the county saw in all of last year.

Commissioners voted to lower the property tax rate, so the owner of an average home should expect to pay about $18 less annually.

Travis County has extended voting hours at five polling centers on the Saturday and final day of early voting.

For years, the county has been trying to give defendants access to lawyers at their first hearings in jail. Staffing shortages and, now, privacy concerns may kill that effort.