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CITY GROWTH

Temple, Belton and other Bell cities see thousands of new residents

BY JOEL VALLEY, TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER • Photos by Nan Dickson

More than 60,000 new residents have moved to Temple, Belton and other Bell County cities over a decade from 2010 to 2020.

It’s not slowing down any time soon.

The cities of Temple, Belton, Killeen and Harker Heights each saw its populations increase by at least 15% over the past decade. Temple increased by 24.2% from 66,102 to 82,073, Belton by 26.6% from 18,216 to 23,054, Killeen by 16.4% to 153,095, and Harker Heights by 19.3% from 26,700 to 33,097, according to census data. However, that growth did not occur evenly and forced some city councils to realign respective districts. Although the maximum deviation between an entity’s highest- and lowest-populated districts should be 10% according to redistricting criteria, Gunnar Seaquist, an attorney with Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP, highlighted how the city of Temple’s deviation had registered around 54.2%. “So we had some rebalancing to do,” he said during a meeting in December. Yet redistricting was viewed by many elected officials as a routine procedure for a fast-growth region that is seeing a consistent influx of new residents and businesses. The county, already a military and distribution hub, is seeing more tech businesses arrive. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced a $800 million data center campus in Temple’s industrial park. Another data center, for $225 million, will be built by Temple Data Green LLC will also build a $225 million data center on the city’s east side.

Businesses continue to grow in Temple and Belton.

Temple saw an increase in its allocation of sales tax revenue for May rise to about $3.23 million, a 6.93% increase from last year. In Belton, the city also saw an increase in its sales tax allocation. Belton received $831,794 in revenue, a 12.99% rise over last year.

IT’S NOT SLOWING DOWN ANY TIME SOON.

Belton growth, like that in neighboring communities, can be seen in the several actively building and planned subdivisions. Last April, Belton City Council approved an agreement for Bell County’s third municipal utility district. MUDs are taxing entities that provide basic utilities, such as water and sewer, to residents through a partnership with a nearby city, and are often used as a way to take on debt to fund the development of a subdivision’s infrastructure. This move stemmed from the Utley family of Dallas, who own 481 acres near the Lampasas River. They are opting to transform their land into a sprawling, riverfront subdivision with an estimated 1,775 homes that will be called River Farm Belton, and cited Belton’s recent multi-million dollar investments to extend wastewater lines as far as the Lampasas River for doing so. “The vision the city had to move forward with the design and the development of water and sewer in this area is quite visionary — especially given the lack of development the city has had on the south side of town,” developer Steve Utley said early in the process. “It prompted our thoughts — I’m sure it prompted other landowners and their thoughts.” jvalley@tdtnews.com