Hutto council adopts five-year capital improvement plan, shifts police facility and street projects

The Hutto City Council voted 5–2 on Sept. 18 to adopt a five-year Capital Improvement Plan that adjusts timing and funding for major building, street and water projects and incorporates a separate fund for revenues from the Skybox data center.

Finance Director Alberta Barrett told the council the city moved design costs for a new public works facility into 2028 and corrected the police facility estimate to $5,000,000, pushing roughly $500,000 into 2027. Barrett also said the city pushed several large street projects into later years and combined two Live Oak intersection projects to begin a $500,000 design phase in 2026. “For '26, the borrowing we have, of course, is $5,000,000 for the new police facility, and then about $72,559,000 for sewer projects,” Barrett said during the presentation.

Council members asked detailed questions about project timing and funding. Barrett said the council had asked to isolate Skybox assessments in a separate fund (fund 98) and that estimated Skybox receipts in a later year could eliminate the need to borrow for some 2027 street projects. “Based on the estimated assessments from Skybox in '27, we’ll use $6,089,782 for that project, which would prevent us from having to borrow funds for street projects in year '27,” Barrett said. Councilmember Thompson and another member voted against the ordinance; the motion carried 5–2.

What happens next: staff will incorporate the approved timing and fund changes into the fiscal plan and proceed with design work and bond planning where indicated. The ordinance is listed as O-2025-537 in the meeting materials.