Round Rock Firefighters Union on Staffing Crisis and Prop B Fight

Billy Colburn, past president and current election manager for the Round Rock Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 3082 in Round Rock, Texas, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to sound the alarm on a firefighter staffing crisis in one of the fastest-growing communities in the country.

With Round Rock's population on track to reach 350,000 and the fire department unable to meet the national minimum standard of four firefighters per apparatus, the union has put Proposition B on the ballot — a fiscally responsible 10-year plan to bring staffing up to standard without cutting other city services.

The plan has the funding. It accounts for police staffing needs. But it is facing fierce political opposition from city leadership and, unexpectedly, the local police union. Colburn's message to the community is clear: when the house is on fire, the staffing on that truck is the difference between life and death.

• A study conducted in partnership with the International Association of Firefighters found that the Round Rock Fire Department has zero capability of meeting the national minimum staffing standard at nursing homes and apartment complexes and only 10 percent capability of meeting that standard for a typical 2,000-square-foot residential structure. This can have severe repercussions as the city has numerous nursing homes, hospitals and trauma centers that serve both Round Rock and parts of Austin.
• Proposition B is structured as a 10-year plan — deliberately extended from a preferred five-year timeline to ensure fiscal responsibility — and was designed to accommodate 30 new police officer positions that the Police Officers Association told the union it needed. This concession was built into the plan without the police union's knowledge, and Colburn said they would have known about it had they chosen to engage rather than oppose.
• Despite strong community support and a fully funded plan, city leadership and the local chamber of commerce have mobilized against the proposition. The police union reversed its earlier pledge of neutrality, Colburn said. Further the city's mayor told Colburn directly that residents are not knocking on his door asking for fire stations. They are asking for walking trails, a spending priority Colburn said reflects a fundamental misalignment in how the city is managing its growth.

A Firefighter's City, a City That Is Growing Too Fast

Billy Colburn did not come from a firefighting family — he came from law enforcement and the military. His father offered him some simple advice: be a firefighter; people love firefighters. He took that advice 31 years ago and never looked back. He spent his entire paid career with the Round Rock Fire Department and served as president of IAFF Local 3082 for nearly 23 years before recently stepping down. He believes he knows the department, the city and the problem better than almost anyone.

Round Rock sits just north of Austin. Texans call it a super suburb, and it is rapidly growing toward a projected population of 350,000. It has the traffic, density and emergency service demands of a major city, while its fire department has fallen behind on every measurable standard. Roughly 180 frontline firefighters serve the community, with about 165 of them represented by the union. The department is organized, committed and deeply embedded in the community it protects. It is also critically understaffed.

The Standard They Are Not Meeting

The national minimum standard for firefighter staffing is four personnel per apparatus. That standard is grounded in federal OSHA regulations and reinforced by research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The two-in, two-out rule, where two firefighters enter a burning structure, and two remain outside ready to perform a rescue if those inside get into trouble, requires a minimum of four on scene to function.

Round Rock is not meeting this standard, Colburn explained. Communities surrounding the city have already reached the four-person staffing level. Round Rock has not. A study conducted in partnership with the International Association of Firefighters found that the department lacks the capacity to meet the minimum standards for a nursing home fire. It also lacks the capability to properly respond to an apartment complex. It has 10 percent capability for a typical 2,000-square-foot residential structure. Round Rock has multiple hospitals and major trauma centers, a dense concentration of nursing homes and homes that routinely exceed 4,000 and 5,000 square feet.

Proposition B: A Ten-Year Plan Built to Last

The union's response is Proposition B — a ballot measure that would fund a structured, 10-year plan to bring Round Rock's fire department up to the national minimum staffing standard. The plan was developed with direct involvement from the International Association of Firefighters and would be phased in over a decade to be more financially responsible.

Colburn was careful with his words, but emphasized that the funding for their plan exists. The plan asks the city to reallocate existing resources toward a public safety need.

There is also a detail the public has not heard until now. During the planning process, the union met with the Police Officers Association and learned that the police department needed 30 new hires. Rather than compete for resources, the union built those 30 positions into the Proposition B plan—an accommodation that extended the timeline from eight years to 10. The Police Officers Association does not know it is in the plan, Colburn said. They never asked.

Opposition From an Unexpected Corner

That detail matters because the Police Officers Association is now actively opposing Proposition B. The union had initially pledged neutrality, Colburn said. When city leadership and the chamber of commerce began suggesting that the fire staffing plan could threaten police funding and other city budgets, the police union reversed course.

City leadership has not been a quiet opponent either. A sitting mayor told Colburn that residents are not coming to city hall asking for fire stations. They are asking for walking trails. Round Rock has spent more than $300 million in bonds on parks over the past five years, including a $5.6 million walking trail currently under consideration. That $5.6 million could fund a fire station in a part of the city where response times currently run 10 minutes, Colburn said.

Professional, Positive and Fighting for the Community

Colburn has been through this before. In the early 2000s, the union ran a successful campaign for state civil service protections for firefighters under Texas Chapter 143. The campaign faced opposition from the same coalition — the city council, the chamber of commerce and the police association. Colburn said he expected the challenge and prepared accordingly.

Colburn said community support has been strong, and his confidence in the outcome is genuine. The mission statement on the union's website captures it simply: not for self, but for others. It is the promise Round Rock firefighters make every shift. Proposition B is the community's opportunity to make the same promise back.

More information is available at roundrockfirefighters.org.

EDITOR’S NOTE: THE ELECTION FOR PROPOSITION B WAS HELD ON MAY 2, 2026. AT THE TIME OF THIS EPISODE, ROUND ROCK’S CITY COUNCIL HAS NOT RELEASED OFFICIAL RESULTS. THE NEXT MEETING FOR THE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE ON MAY 14, 2026. YOU CAN STAY UP-TO-DATE ON THE FIGHT FOR FAIR STAFFING IN ROUND ROCK, TEXAS, BY VISITING THE CITY WEBSITE, HERE.

UNOFFICIAL VOTING POLLS SHOW THAT PROPOSITION B WAS OPPOSED BY VOTERS WITH 68.55% VOTING AGAINST PROPOSITION B.

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