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After the city of Pflugerville did not sponsor a fireworks show at Typhoon Texas this Fourth of July, city officials assured residents that fireworks will be in the 2027 budget.
The background
“There’s no ‘P’ in fireworks this year,” a June 25 post on the city’s Facebook page read.
The city said in the post that it “chose not to sponsor a fireworks show this year so resources could be focused on the priority services our community relies on every day.”
What they’re saying
The decision was met with some backlash from the community, and council members discussed how the fireworks show slipped through the cracks at its July 28 council meeting.
“I’ll start by saying this next budget will be the first one with my name on it, and it does have fireworks,” City Manager James Hartshorn said. “The other thing I’ll say is, and I don’t want this to come off as an excuse, but I think that context is important. Around the March timeframe, we were still engaged with Typhoon Texas, and we still thought at the time that they were going to do fireworks, even without our support.”
Hartshorn went on to explain that in March, he was informed of Pflugerville’s water issues. This had implications for Typhoon Texas, which now had a different outlook for revenue as the waterpark was unsure if it would be able to open in the summer, Hartshorn said.
“I think certainly communication could have been enhanced; there’s no question about that,” Hartshorn said. “I think if any of us could go back in time, we absolutely would have done it ... All I can say is that it won’t happen again. I’m very sorry we didn’t do fireworks, and we’ll just get better.”
