Little bits of big news
Police Department earns industry recognition
HUTTO – After two years of working through an in-depth compliance process, the Hutto Police Department has earned the Law Enforcement Agency Best Practices Accreditation from the Texas Police Chiefs Association.
Fewer than 10 percent of state police agencies have been recognized with the professional honor, officials said.
“The TPCA best-practice program has 170 challenging standards for Texas law enforcement,” said Georgetown Police Chief Cory Tchida as he presented the award during last week’s City Council meeting.
Tchida is one of the 1,700 active law enforcement leaders who make up the TPCA. He also serves on the accreditation committee.
“This program has become the new gold standard for professional law enforcement in Texas and agencies across the state are working diligently to meet the requirements. It is not easy to comply,” he added. “The agency does a complete audit of all of the policies, processes, training and operations in order to ensure they meet the standards.”
According to TPCA, there are over 2,800 law-enforcement agencies in Texas and only 213 statewide have received the accolade. Participation in this best-practices program is voluntary.
Tchida said the real value of the program is the process the department went through to attain the award and align its entire operation with recognized best policing standards.
“It means your agency is one of the very best in the state,” he said.
Hutto sesquicentennial committee formed A big anniversary deserves a big celebration, so the City Council is creating a committee to help plan for the historical event – Hutto’s 150th anniversary.
“I envision it as them giving a wish list to City Council and giving us a presentation so it can be budgeted and the city can put it into action,” said Councilwoman Amberley Kolar, who introduced the idea. Kolar said a committee would allow residents and existing city commissions to work together with staffers on ideas for the celebration.
The new committee will comprise 10 members of the public and two each from the Economic Development Corp., Diversity and Inclusion Commission, Historic Preservation Commission, Parks Advisory Board and Library Advisory Board.
Although some records indicate Hutto was established as early as 1855, a city spokesperson said the milestone anniversary will be celebrated in 2026 based on the Great Northern Railroad coming through in 1876.
Once available, an application to join the committee will be on the boards and commissions page of the city’s website, https://www.huttotx.gov/.
City reduces utility credit card fees
City staff received approval last week to switch to a new credit card company for utility billing, which officials hope will result in lower fees charged to customers when paying by credit or debit cards.
The new provider is called Invoice Cloud.
“Right now, the utility fund is being charged about 4.35 percent by its credit-card processor for utility fees. We’re passing on 4.25 percent of that to our customers. On top of that we’re currently being charged $2 per transaction from our software,” City Controller Christina Bishop told the City Council. “Despite all the costs we’re moving to our customers, the utility fund is still set to lose about $220,000 in fees this year.”
Bishop said criteria for choosing a replacement included being compatible with existing software, getting costs as low as possible, offering a seamless transition for the customers and ensuring the benefits would outweigh the cost of changing.
The controller said Cloud Invoice had good reviews from other municipalities and is known to integrate well with other software the city uses. It will also remove the $2 transaction fee the city was paying, substantially reduce processing fees and save Hutto at least $220,000 annually over the existing software, officials said.
“For customers, your creditcard fees will be reduced from 4.25 percent to 2.7 percent. We will still be offering free bankdraft options. We will also be entering the 21st century and being able to offer ApplePay, PayPal, ACH and EFT,” Bishop said.
City documents indicate the use of Automated Clearing House or Electronic Funds Transfer will incur a 95-cent fee.
The new system will take about three months to implement.
Superintendent search narrows
The Hutto Independent School District board will conduct final interviews with candidates for the superintendent’s job July 30 and 31. Trustees reviewed applications and performed initial interviews earlier in the month.
“Because virtually all qualified candidates will currently be employed by a school district, it is standard practice for the identity of superintendent candidates to not be made public, and this allows school districts seeking a superintendent to attract a wider range of qualified candidates,” according to a statement on the district’s website.
Under state law, the board observes a 21-day waiting period after the finalist is announced before signing a contract with the candidate.
The board is expected to announce the name of the lone finalist at its Aug. 6 meeting, with a final vote on Aug. 27.
