Richardson Coalition News

The Richardson Report

Helping Richardson become the BEST it can be!

Summer Edition · June 1 – July 31, 2026

Everything below actually happened, and every item links to its source. We just refuse to be boring about it.

The Summer, In One Gulp

What In the Wide World of Sports Is Going On Here?

Somebody resigned from the Richardson City Council. Sit with that a minute. People leave this council the way people leave a good fishing spot — reluctantly, and usually only when the term limit truck comes to tow them. But at the July 13 meeting, Dan Barrios (Place 3) stood up and announced he’s stepping down to run full-time for U.S. Congress, District 32. He said the timing preserves continuity through budget season and allows a “thoughtful appointment process that allows for public input” (Community Impact, July 14).

Now here’s the part to actually pay attention to: you don’t get to vote on the replacement. The six remaining council members do. Applications ran July 22 through Aug. 7 (Community Impact; city application page), the names go public in the Aug. 11 agenda packet, interviews happen out in the open through September, and the appointment vote and oath land Sept. 28. Whoever gets the nod serves until the May 1, 2027 election. So yes, watch this one like it’s fourth and goal.

Your Water Bill Went to the Gym

For years, Richardson’s $8 monthly water base charge has been the cheapest in DFW — the happy hour special of municipal utilities, sitting there smug while everybody else charged $20 to $30. Well, the tab finally came. A June 8 rate study laid it out: the water district’s wholesale rates jump 9% in 2027 and 12% in both 2028 and 2029, the system needs $83.89M in capital work over five years, and 80% of the pipes are older than most of the people reading this (Community Impact, June 9).

So on June 22, council picked its poison: the base charge goes to $9.60 this November and $20 by 2030, with average bills climbing 7.9-9% a year for five years. The one genuinely warm-and-fuzzy detail: residents 65 and up with standard meters keep the $8 rate — that’s 6,878 households, about 23% of residential accounts (Community Impact, June 23). Formal adoption rides along with the September budget.

Half a Billion Dollars Walks Into a Council Chamber

The big list. On July 13 the city rolled out a $528M five-year capital program — the largest in city history, which is the municipal equivalent of ordering one of everything on the menu. Year 1 alone: design work on six streets (Presidential, Waterview, S. Weatherred, Martha Manor, Hidden, Ridgehaven), Canyon Creek Pool and Breckinridge bridge design, three playgrounds actually getting built, a fire apparatus building and Station 6 heading to construction, and about $110M in water and sewer work (Community Impact, July 15).

Wildflower! goes on a diet. The 2027 festival drops Sunday and the Plaza Stage, saving about $800K and roughly halving the city subsidy. The 2026 edition drew 18,164 people — up about 1,500 — but brought in $585,980 against a $1.62M subsidy, which is the kind of math that gets festivals put on diets (Community Impact, June 24).

And the budget. The proposed $406M FY 2026-27 budget showed up in early August wearing its most reassuring outfit: tax rate flat at $0.54218. Before you high-five anybody, the average bill still rises about $70 because property values did what property values do. Also in there: the new water and sewer rates, 5.5% merit raises for sworn staff, and 19 frozen positions quietly shown the door (Community Impact, Aug. 5). Hearings Sept. 14 and 21, adoption Sept. 21.

The Interurban District: From Napkin Sketch to Actual Buildings

Cities talk about “edgy redevelopment districts” the way the rest of us talk about getting in shape. Richardson actually did it. First, in June, council unanimously let Solow Garage — the BMW-certified collision shop — stay on Interurban at a trimmed-down scale, with Mayor Pro Tem Hutchenrider calling it the closest the city has come to the Interurban vision in his eight years up there (Community Impact, June 11).

Then in July, property owner Stephen Graham won approval for six one-story “industrial flex” buildings — 41,000 sq ft of retail, restaurant, showroom, and design space at about 500 N. Interurban St. The Plan Commission split 4-2 over parking, Graham added 10 spaces, and council waved it through unanimously on July 27 (CI, July 8; CI, July 29). Also this summer: the 540-acre Main Street form-based code got restated, downtown businesses can now put accessory buildings by rear alleys (CI, July 30), and Habitat for Humanity is building a home on 604 Vernet St. on a lot the city sold for $25,000 (CI, July 21).

Airbnb, Meet the 500-Foot Rule

After a summer of committee meetings that we attended so you didn’t have to, council reached consensus July 27: new short-term rentals have to keep 500 feet between each other — about seven houses of personal space — and the annual registration fee triples from $100 to $300. Existing registered rentals are grandfathered in; everybody else plays by the new rules. The city’s monitoring software counted 170 STRs around town (Community Impact, July 28; Richardson Today). Adoption comes Aug. 10, sliding in just before the registration moratorium expires Aug. 25.

2,300 Jobs and a Crawfish Boil

Celestica went big. The electronics manufacturer is expanding to roughly 1 million sq ft at 2801 Telecom Parkway — the old Fujitsu campus — bringing about 2,300 jobs and $300M in investment over two years, helped along by a $3M city tenant improvement grant (Community Impact). Texas Instruments pocketed a $33.6M state semiconductor grant for its RFAB expansion, part of a project headed toward $700M (Community Impact).

Meanwhile, at the dinner table: Ocean Crawfish opened (June 18), along with Hong Kong dessert shop Hui Lau Shan (June 8) and Tayta Peruvian (July 20). We tip our caps to Tuscany Italian Bistro (June 16) and Selda Doner & Gyro (June 10), gone but not forgotten. HomeGoods is coming to Richardson Heights (CI, June 15), Frost Bank opened on Coit (CI), and the number of layoff notices filed all summer was a nice round zero (TWC).

100 Years of Running Toward the Fire

The Richardson Fire Department turned 100 on June 27 and celebrated at Fire Station 1 — a century that took them from four paid firefighters in 1956 to 179 fire personnel today, holding an ISO Class 1 rating since 2014, which is the fire department version of a perfect SAT score (Community Impact, June 29).

The less festive number: the proposed $79.7M public safety budget is wrestling with a 20% dispatcher vacancy rate and 7.3% officer vacancy, while Richardson sits 10th of 13 North Texas cities in police pay and 9th in firefighter pay (Community Impact, Aug. 5). You don’t stay ISO Class 1 by paying like it’s a hobby.

School Bells and Scholarship Checks

The University of Texas at Dallas. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

UT Dallas made the big leagues. As of July 10, UTD is a full NCAA Division II member — all 15 sports get postseason eligibility Sept. 1 in the Lone Star Conference, and for the first time ever, the Comets can hand out athletic scholarships (UTD Athletics; CI, July 13). The chess team remains terrifying.

RISD did hard math. Trustees adopted a budget with a $20.8M shortfall — $403.8M in, $427.7M out — while absorbing $25.7M in cuts and still finding $1,000-$2,000 teacher raises (CI, June 5). The silver lining came July 21 when Moody’s and S&P handed the district Aaa and AA+ ratings for its $285M bond sale (RISD) — credit scores your brother-in-law can only dream about. School starts Aug. 12, and this year every student wears an ID badge (RISD, July 31).

Follow the Money

July 15 was campaign finance filing day, and the TX-32 numbers tell a story. Barrios’s FEC report: $27,002 raised in Q2, $6,043 cash on hand at June 30, about $94.4K for the whole cycle (FEC filing). Republican nominee Jace Yarbrough’s report: $865.9K raised, $125.4K cash on hand (FEC). That’s about a 20-to-1 cash gap, which in political terms is bringing a butter knife to a chili cook-off. Election day is Nov. 3. Closer to home, council members’ semiannual reports are posted on the City Secretary’s campaign finance page if you enjoy reading scanned PDFs with your morning coffee.

Arches, Trains, and $26 Million Coming Home

Galatyn Park DART station. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

DART is paying us back. Under the General Mobility Program, Richardson gets about $26M of returned sales tax over six years — first check by Oct. 1 — earmarked for street rehab starting with Coit, Abrams, and Floyd (Community Impact, June 16).

The arches are up. Those roughly 400-foot spans over the US 75 DART bridge, standing 80 feet tall, were finished July 27, with white and blue gateway lighting on the way (Week in Review; CI, Aug. 5). Richardson now has a front door you can see from the highway.

And the diplomatic corps was busy: Mayor Omar signed a Friendship City agreement with Keelung City, Taiwan on June 24 (CI, June 25), former Mayor Ray Noah picked up the Key to the City July 20, the Chamber named Tony Moline its next President/CEO starting Sept. 1 (CI, Aug. 7), and Richardson Life Magazine kicked off its first-ever “Best of Richardson” contest, so go vote for your favorite taco.

Mark Your Calendar