“This road project was started in 2019 and then halted.”
“
HUTTO — The City Council passed a fiveyear capital improvement budget that relies less on new debt, but in exchange pushes some projects several years into the future.
The plan lists more than $1.2 billion in projects over fiscal years 2026-30. It passed on a 5-2 vote with councilmen Peter Gordon and Brian Thompson dissenting during Thursday’s meeting.
“We have $322 million in cash and $135 million is unencumbered. Our (capital-improvement program) is funded for the next two years, all the projects,” Mayor Mike Snyder said during the Sept. 18 session.
The budget includes a new Police Department facility and designing a new public works facility and parks headquarters over the next few years.
— Councilman Peter Gordon
Some roadwork projects are anticipated to be fully funded by revenues from increased industrial development, including from Skybox Power Campus Austin, a 160acre data center being built in Hutto.
Several projects, including $3.6 million of trail expansion in city parks, are to be done only if sponsorships are available to fund them.
One of the most anticipated projects, removal of iron from city water lines, has taken a back seat to other water projects.
The study, which will run about $100,000, is in this year’s budget, but the $19.9 million cost to fix the issue is now scheduled for 2030.
Some residents say they are dealing with water that runs brown or orange.
Gordon voted against the capital-improvement budget in part because he didn’t feel another iron study was necessary and didn’t want to extend the problem several more years.
“The industry professionals have assured us the issues with our water is the excess iron. I feel the $100,000 for an unnecessary study is wasteful and we’re only delaying the inevitable,” Gordon said.
Snyder said the original study used water samples from miles away, and he wants another study done with samples taken from closer to the source before committing to the nearly $20 million in repairs.
Gordon also strongly objected to delaying reconstruction of Live Oak Street, a project now pushed to 2028.
“This road project was started in 2019 and then halted. The road has been torn up since 2019, and the project has been delayed over and over again,” the councilman said.
“The project is fully funded and design is complete. The project has significantly increased in cost due to inflation due to the delays. Further delays will only increase the cost more, making it less and less likely we will ever do the project.”
Live Oak residents have asked for help during the last several years, the council heard, but Snyder said priorities come down to usage.
“It was really based on the amount of people using the road. There are hundreds of cars a day but the price tag was over $10 million and the thought was if we’re going to spend $10 million, let’s spend it on a road that’s got maybe 20, 30 or 40,000 cars versus a few hundred,” Snyder said.
The mayor said road work is also scheduled to cause less disruptions by ensuring the main detour road remains open during repairs.
Gordon said the project was about more than just the residents.
“We committed to the citizens that we would do this project and here we are six years later saying it’s moved out another three years. Live Oak is a primary through-street for many citizens wanting to bypass (U.S.) 79 and is used to access Fritz Park, City Hall and the Co-Op,” Gordon said.
In addition, during town hall meetings residents frequently say they want a new community center or a larger library. The $200,000 required for a study to start that process will now be funded in 2030.
The delay of a community- driven amenity was cited by Gordon as another reason he opposed the budget.
“While I liked the idea of combining the Library Study with the Community Center Study, I strongly objected to moving it out to 2030. I felt that is too far out, since it could take up to another five years to actually build the facility once the study is done,” Gordon said.
Finance Director Alberta Barrett said the budget might be amended over the year as the projects came online and estimates changed.
A dashboard of the city’s capital improvement projects with their expected timelines and costs can be found at city-hutto-tx-projects. cleargov.com.
