City leaders hear about rise in tuberculosis cases
HUTTO — The city is willing to forgo its plans for a municipal fire station depending on three options that voters or county officials must decide.
For the last several months, Hutto leaders have debated building a city-owned fire station near the Hutto Megasite and splitting or acquiring the sales taxes that currently fund Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 3.
Three choices discussed during the Aug. 6 council meeting could change that balance, said Mayor Mike Snyder.
“Make it equally beneficial for both sides and we’ll put this to bed and start working on other things,” he said.
Also during the meeting, Hutto council members heard an update on the rise of local tuberculosis cases, cyclosporiasis outbreaks and West Nile virus detection in the county, as well as a study to determine why some residents’ water supply is still brown.
In addition, Hutto leaders approved incentives for a development many believe is tied to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Enterprises LP aeronautics company, though council members declined to confirm the details.
However, the fire-department debate took center stage after council members emerged from an executive session and voted to send three separate options to ESD No. 3 and to Williamson County officials.
Option A is a request for the ESD or the county to call an election so the public could vote on a change in the sales-tax split between the ESD and the city.
The current agreement gives the city a 60% share of the allotted sales-and-use taxes for undeveloped properties over 5 acres in size annexed into the city after 2016, according to Snyder.
The city is asking for a 80% share regardless of property size or whether it has been developed.
Option B would send a proposed interlocal agreement to the ESD and county that would merge ESD No. 3 with city services, effectively transforming ESD 3 into a city department. Snyder said if this option is approved, there would be no change in ESD services; the ESD would continue with business as usual, but there would be a change in ownership.
“We wouldn’t build another fire station, they’d just merge with us and become our fire department,” Snyder said.
Option C is an amendment to the current interlocal agreement, which changes certain clauses in the existing ILA regarding how the city can spend its share of the sales tax revenue and also changes the split from 60/40 to the 80/20 ratio the city is fighting for.
Snyder said if the ESD No. 3 agrees to the changes in the amendment, the city will consider the issue resolved.
“As long as it’s in place, we will not pursue a city fire station and will not petition the voters for a sales-tax split,” he said.
The mayor warns that ESD No. 3 leaders should not tarry.
The property for a new fire station has already been purchased, and the design, cost and timeline are expected to be released soon after an Aug. 10 Economic Development Corp. meeting “We’re going to be building by the end of the year so if you’re going to do this you have to hurry,” Snyder said regarding the ESD negotiations.
Disease update
Though low in number, Williamson County is seeing an uptick in tuberculosis cases that mimic a statewide trend, council members learned at their Thursday session.
That message was part of a health update from Amber Erickson, executive director of Williamson County & Cities Health District.
Local tuberculosis cases increased more than 70% from 2024 to 2025, Erickson said during her briefing.
She told the council the health district tested more than 300 people and recorded 29 positive cases in the county in 2025.
“The numbers are low, but it did increase, and that is concerning. It wasn’t associated with an outbreak. It wasn’t associated with any one demographic. It was an actual increase of disease and that is what’s being seen across Texas. We are expecting that to continue,” Erickson said.
Cyclosporiasis, a food-borne infection caused by a parasite that has been in the news recently due to a nationwide outbreak, is also present in Williamson County.
Erickson said the county has seen 30 cases, which — while still a small number — is an increase over the previous year.
That outbreak is traced to iceberg lettuce shipped to stores and restaurants from farms in Central Mexico, according to reports.
In 2025, WCCHD provided 2,146 immunizations, 664 women’s health visits and received an additional 358 applications for indigent healthcare services. Erickson attributed a hike in need for county health services in part to regional growth, but also to a rise to financial straits among the population.
The agency is also responsible for restaurant inspections and mosquito control. The WCCHD inspected 3,194 food-service businesses and issued 3,586 permits for food establishments in 2025.
It monitored results from 709 mosquito traps and 980 mosquito pools countywide.
So far this year, Erickson said seven mosquito pools in Hutto have tested positive for West Nile Virus.
All three mosquito traps in Taylor have had samples test positive for West Nile this year.
Brown water issue persists
Hutto is narrowing in on the source of the iron deposits that sometimes cause residents to have brown or orange water. The city began a study at the end of last year.
“We have confirmed that neither Taylor nor Manville (Water Supply Corp.) are the source of the brown water and that the recharge water coming online has actually diluted the iron sediment that we previously saw,” said Kate Moriarty, executive director of administrative services.
The city will continue to evaluate operations and system mapping to discover the source of the discoloration.
For more Hutto news, see the story on page 1.
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“The numbers are low, but it did increase, and that is concerning.”
— Amber Erickson Williamson County & Cities Health District
