HUTTO — The contention between the city and Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 3 is edging toward a resolution after the City Council approved a new sales-tax allocation agreement.
Also during the April 2 session, city leaders OK’d reimbursements for an art festival, discussed bidding for road projects and heard about a candidate forum leading up to the May 2 municipal races.
The agreement approved by the council with the ESD resulted from meetings held by councilmen Evan Porterfield and Dan Thornton with representatives of the first responder protection service.
“ESD No. 3 has been sharing back 60% of their sales tax with the city for some of those (annexed) properties,
and this agreement will clarify and expand the properties affected,” Councilman Peter Gordon explained after the April 2 meeting.
Final details of the interlocal agreement for the allocation of salestax revenue were ironed out in executive session and not disclosed.
The agreement must be approved by the ESD 3 board by April 15 to become effective.
The city and the ESD have been butting heads over the share of sales tax the ESD collects on properties that are annexed into the city. In Texas, up to 2% of the sales taxes collected in an area can be claimed by eligible local jurisdictions, such as an ESD, if voters approved.
Since 2016, ESD 3 has collected all available sales tax from businesses in the Hutto extraterritorial jurisdiction, officials said. The ESD can choose whether to share any of those taxes with the city when a property annexes out of the ETJ.
Mural fest set for May 21-22 The council approved reimbursing costs for a May 21-22 Hutto Mural Festival from hoteloccupancy tax funds.
Elizabeth Bonura, president of Hutto Arts Today, said the two-day event corresponds with the Hutto Sunset Block Party, Hutto High School graduation weekend and Memorial Day weekend festivities.
Bonura said the event will be interactive with live painting on mural panels temporarily installed in the Hutto Co-op District, 420 U.S. 79. The main event is May 22 with painting and live music during the day, transitioning into the Sunset Block Party in the afternoon.
After the festival, finished murals will be moved to locations around the city where they will remain for at least a year, Bonura said.
Transportation projects hit roadblocks
Council members voted to reject all bids for two big road projects, one for repairs to downtown streets including Live Oak, and another to fix a failing section of road in the Brooklands neighborhood.
Now, city staffers will look at updating the scope of the projects and clarify some specifications.
Billy Bennett of Bennett Paving asked the city to consider rebidding due to ambiguity in the project descriptions. Bennett Paving put in bids for both projects but was not the lowest bidder and was not selected to win the contracts.
“Without standardized quantities, each bidder’s left to estimate independently, resulting in unequal assumptions and an unfair bidding environment,” Bennett
said.
Candidate forum scheduled
Hutto Community Watch has arranged a question-andanswer forum for council candidates 10 a.m. to noon April 18 at Christ the Rock Church, 3250 Limmer Loop.
All six candidates in the May 2 race have confirmed they will attend.
Two seats are up for election, Place 1 and Place 4.
Jerrel Reynolds, Sarosh Jafri, Brandy McCool and Luiz Dunham are vying for Place 1, with Brandon DeLeon and Corina Zepeda facing off for Place 4.
Current Place 1 Councilman Charles Warner has chosen not to run, and Place 4’s Gordon has met the city’s term limits and is now ineligible.
