Early Voting Underway For May 7 Election

Early voting began Monday for local elections and two proposed constitutional amendments relating to property tax reductions. Early voting continues through Tuesday, May 3, with election day on Saturday, May 7.

One proposed amendment would authorize the Legislature to limit property taxes on homesteads of elderly or disabled residents, while the other would increase the homestead exemption for school taxes from $25,000 to $40,000.

Voters return to the polls later in May for runoff elections in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Voters cannot switch parties if they voted in the March 1 primary, but voters who didn’t vote in the primary can participate in either party’s runoff. A full list of runoff races can be found on the secretary of state’s website: sos.texas.gov. Early voting for the May 24 runoff begins on May 16.

“With multiple opportunities to vote in the upcoming May elections, I strongly encourage all Texas voters to get informed about what’s on the ballot and make a plan to cast one,” Secretary of State John Scott said. To find out what is on local ballots, contact your county’s local election office.

Material Shortage Bedevils TxDOT Projects

Shortages of steel and concrete are slowing down road projects and driving up costs, according to an internal memo from the Texas Department of Transportation’s construction division director, reported last week by the Quorum Report and kut.org.

“Due to recent circumstances affected by world events, there has been significant volatility in the market for various construction materials. We have seen the availability of some materials become very limited or the material lead time has increased significantly. We have also seen significant increases (over 100% in some cases) in some material prices,” Duane S. Milligan wrote. TxDOT has more than 15,000

TxDOT has more than 15,000 projects in the pipeline across the state. The jobs total $156 billion, with about half either underway or set to start soon. Milligan’s memo to district engineers and construction managers suggested substituting construction materials when feasible, or removing work or materials from a road project “when the deletion will not affect the safety of the completed project.”