An obscure provision in state law is giving Pflugerville residents the opportunity to vote in favor of a tax cut.
At issue is “Emergency Services District #2,” an entity that was originally chartered to provide fire and EMS services in the eastern part of the county.
Emergency Services Districts (ESD) are a form of special purpose districts. Chartered by the legislature, these bodies exist to provide a single service (eg. fire protection or hospitals) and operate independently of other political subdivisions like a city or county. Although prone to abuse, at times this can be the most efficient way to fund certain public services, especially in rural areas.
In this case, however, the emergency services district in question stopped providing EMS services to residents of Pflugerville in 2022. When this happened, the city stood in the gap. Despite no longer receiving these services from the ESD, Pflugerville residents were still required to pay taxes for it.
Following the termination of EMS services, Pflugerville residents sued the emergency services districts. In May, the Texas Supreme Court sided with residents and ordered this election.
November’s election aims to cut the ESD’s sales tax rate by half a percentage point from 1.0 percent to 0.5 percent. Proponents argue it will lower the cost of government on taxpayers. To date, the city’s provision of EMS services has come in at about half the previous cost.
Pflugerville City Councilmember David Rogers told Texas Scorecard, “I am very much in favor of the reduction in sales tax that is the proposition A on the ballot in the Pflugerville area this November. I believe that taxes should follow service, and since the city is providing the EMS Ambulance service that ESD #2 quit providing, ESD #2 should no longer collect sales tax for that. I think that’s fair to the taxpayers and, ESD #2 has tens of millions of dollars in reserves and taxes more than it spends, so that sales tax relief shouldn’t have any impact on their ability to provide the services that they do still provide.”
Pflugerville’s emergency services district tax election will be concurrent with November’s General Election. Election day is November 5.
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
