2024 Local Election: Group Seeks
to Defund the Pflugerville Fire Department/ESD 2
In the upcoming November election, there will be a proposition (Proposition A) on the ballot of District voters. The proposition will ask voters if they want to abolish the .5 percent local sales and use tax imposed by Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2 (also known as the “The Pflugerville Fire Department”) in the City of Pflugerville and to decrease the sales and use tax from 1.0 to .5 percent in all other areas of the District (this affects Wells Branch).
If the measure passes, it would remove approximately $17 million dollars from the department’s budget, which is approximately 40% of the department’s annual budget. The fire department would need to make reductions in personnel, facilities, and services to offset the loss of revenue.
Loss of Personnel. If the Petition effort is successful, the department would have to make budget cuts to offset the lost revenue. These cuts could include eliminating 132 employee positions, which would include over 80 firefighters being laid off.
Loss of Stations. Closure of at least 3 of the 8 current fire stations throughout the department’s service area. Fire stations 3, 4 and 6 may close, which could increase the area served for Station 2 (Bratton Lane station). This means the fire truck from Station 2 would be pulled into other areas more often.
Increased Response time. Current projections show that response time would increase from under 10 minutes (current) to more than double that (20 minutes).
Decreased Insurance Services Office (ISO) Rating. Fewer firefighters and longer response times would likely decrease the District’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating, which can lead to residential and commercial property rates to increase as much as 30% to 50%.
Property Tax Impact. Currently emergency services are funded by two kinds of tax dollars- property tax and sales tax. The Pflugerville Fire Department handles the majority of your emergency services, responding to all types of emergency calls- fire, medical emergencies, car accidents, water rescues and more. If the funds collected from sales tax are abolished, property taxes would likely have to be increased to offset operating costs.
If the measure passes, the sales tax would likely still be collected since it would likely be pursued by other eligible entities (such as the City of Pflugerville, CapMetro, health or college districts).
If the measure does not pass, the Fire Department will continue to receive a portion of local sales taxes and the services the Fire Dept. provides would be able to continue at the present levels.
Disclaimer: The WBNA is not advocating FOR or AGAINST this petition. The information provided is intended to help educate voters as they head to polls. This proposition will be on the ballot for Wells Branch residents inside of Travis County.