2024: YEAR IN REVIEW
Wastewater treatment a big issue for 2025
HUTTO — During 2024, the city played catch-up on infrastructure projects to serve its booming population, in addition to overseeing large industrial developments moving to the area at the same time.
According to the U.S.
Census Bureau’s American Community Survey released on Dec. 12, Hutto grew from an estimated population of 23,980 in 2018 to 32,188 in 2023, adding over 8,000 residents in just five years.
Officials expect to continue grappling with issues of growth in 2025, following a year that saw new subdivisions, more roads, planning for water needs, controlling the tax rate and many retail and entertainment venues locating to the city to capitalize on population trends.
“I am very proud of the significant progress we have made … with muchneeded road projects. A majority of (the City) Council saw the importance of borrowing the remainder of our 2018 authorized funds to start these projects this year, knowing they can take years to complete,” said Mayor Pro Tem Peter Gordon. “We have also been forward-thinking to ensure we have the water and wastewater capacity for our growing city, approving a significant expansion of our wastewatertreatment plant and reserving water from additional suppliers.”
New businesses for Hutto include Jack Allen’s Kitchen, Chuy’s Tex Mex, Academy Sports and EVO Entertainment.
HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Hutto has thousands of residential units in varying stages of development, from Meadow Brook, a newly annexed site north of FM 1660 South that plans to build 520 homes, to Olander Farms, a mixed-use project that will include up to 800 apartments, 122 townhomes and over 200 rental homes on about 90 annexed acres on Limmer Loop at FM 1660.
There is also abundant development happening outside the city limits, with projects such as Flora, a master-planned community spanning 835 acres now under construction in Hutto’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The council has implemented impact fees that help pay for the infrastructure Hutto has to make to ensure developments within the town have adequate roads and access to water and wastewater utilities. Connecting water and wastewater lines to developments outside of the city has become problematic with the current shortage of drinking water and wastewater- processing capacity.
The city has been working to procure new sources of water, warning residents to expect increases in their water-utility bills.
Perhaps even more of an issue is handling wastewater. Flora, like some other ETJ developers, is creating its own wastewatertreatment plant on its own property rather than paying to connect to the city’s treatment system.
Meanwhile, the city has no choice but to increase treatment capacity. Leaders approved a $180 million expansion of its wastewater plant which the city broke ground on in August. The new plant will handle an additional 6 million gallons a day of waste.
That is not all attributable to residential wastewater, officials said. Hutto’s industrial footprint is growing as well.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
In 2024, the city’s industrial sites saw tangible evidence of growth with new buildings rising and changing the skyline along U.S. 79.
The council recently approved a $500 million development agreement with Ironwood Realty Partners for a roughly 180,000- square-foot data center, located near the corner of 79 and Texas 130.
Hutto Crossing Industrial Park is building 1.6 million square feet of industrial space along 79 across from the new EVO development. The 1455-acre Hutto Megasite and Hutto Mega TechCenter, located about 4 miles from Taylor’s Samsung Austin Semiconductor chip factory on 79, have also gone vertical this year.
TRANSPORTATION
The city and Williamson County broke ground on the second segment of what Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles called the largest project in the history of the county.
Segment 2 of East Wilco Highway is now under construction, with an expected completion date of summer 2027. The project has a $64.4 million budget and will eventually connect 130 just north of the Travis County line to CR 101, creating a southern loop around Hutto’s city limits and adding a western access point to the Samsung Highway.
Hutto also saw progress this year on road maintenance as well as necessary capital improvement transportation projects, including roads that service the Hutto Megasite and other industrial areas.
LEADERSHIP
With so much growth, keeping costs under control has been the council’s major struggle, leaders said.
In May, Hutto voters elected business owner Evan Porterfield to the council, replacing first-year Councilwoman Dana Wilcott. Dan Thornton successfully retained his position, so only one seat changed on council.
The hardest-fought battle in council this year was the decision on setting a tax rate. Some members on the dais believed that without additional tax revenue, the city could not fulfill its obligations to the residents and businesses. Others believed that tax increases would harm those same ratepayers.
In the end, city leaders took a red pen to the city’s operating budget and eliminated enough items to keep property taxes stable. The tax rate went down enough to offset the rise in appraised values, resulting in most property owners paying the same amount to the city as the previous year.
OF NOTE
The increased investment in the Hutto Police Department paid off in numerous ways, including having enough officers to rapidly respond to developing situations, according to city officials.
When a neighbor called about suspicious activity, police deployed in time to capture a gang of teens from out of town who investigators said had been targeting Hutto neighborhoods with a string of car burglaries.
The city approved the budget for a project to implement a more effective ironremoval process for customers’ drinking water.
EVO Entertainment broke ground in July at Town West Commons on its eight movie theaters, 10 bowling lanes and 72,000 square feet of gaming and attractions that should open in the summer. The town’s leaders approved a Hutto Veterans Memorial. The project is still in the bidding stage and will be west of City Hall in the Co-op District.
Plans for a $39.8 million public-works facility to be built on city-owned land were approved in 2024. The city expects its public works staff to double in the next 10 years.
Phase 2 of the Fritz Park renovations kicked off, which means the majority of the park will be closed through the new year as the city adds a splash pad, expanded shaded playgrounds, lighted walking trails and new restrooms among other amenities. Total costs for the project come out to $11 million.
The council will meet in the next few weeks to discuss wastewater management, parks, trails and utility capital improvement projects planned for fiscal years 202529.
