PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A ballot battle is brewing in Pflugerville. This November, voters there will ultimately decide whether to continue a 1% sales and use tax. It helps fund Emergency Services District Two, otherwise known as the Pflugerville Fire Department.
The Pflugerville Fire Department Chief Nick Perkins said it will affect response times, and staffing, if approved. A group of locals claims the department is wasting taxpayer’s money.
Chief: ‘This would defund the fire department’
“[Passing] this would defund the fire department. This would reduce our budget by approximately 40%,” Perkins told KXAN. He’s worried about what will happen if the current 1% sales and use tax is rolled back a half-percent.
“That would result in us having to eliminate 130 positions, we’d have to lay off over 80 firefighters. Without having those firefighters we would have to close at least three fire stations,” he said.
Not the only ESD in central Texas
The city of Pflugerville is nearly the same size as nearby city of Kyle. The difference is only about 10,000 people. Both cities use Emergency Service Districts (ESD) to perform emergency services for residents.
Perkins said the city would have to find other ways to fund “critical and essential services,” adding “the only thing we have left at that point is property tax.”
Local group differs on chief’s opinion
When asked if this would defund the fire department, David Rogers, who is the spokesperson for Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation (PfRRT), denied that claim.
“[This is] absolutely not [defunding the department.] Defunding implies you’re taking all the money away. That is not true,” Rogers said.
“When [the fire department] projected it was going to be completely out of money they have gone on a wild spending spree,” he said.
Rogers added, “ESD 2 falsely claimed impending bankruptcy. Despite having the funds to provide ambulances, [ESD 2] opted to cease service. ESD 2 has actually experienced record net surplus, debunking [its] financial distress narrative.”
Rogers: ‘Pretending something they’re not’
Rogers said ESD 2 is “also pretending to be something they’re not.”
PfRRT claims language on the ballot could end up confusing voters beside it’s listed as “Emergency Services District Two, also known as the Pflugerville Fire Department.”
“There is no Pflugerville Fire Department. The city of Pflugerville doesn’t run a fire department. There is an Emergency Services District that covers a wide area that includes Pflugerville, but it also includes Wells Branch [and other areas],” Rogers said.
The group claims it is also one of the largest cities in Texas that does not have their own fire department. However, the fire department’s website said many cities of similar size and population do not have their own fire department, including places like Waco, Temple and Fort Worth.
Chief explains where money has gone
“When voters granted that sales tax to us in 2014, what we’ve done since we’ve received that money is we’ve trained more than 50 firefighters as paramedics. We’ve also been able to add the necessary resources,” Perkins said.
Rogers argues “faulty financial projections that have been pointed out to [ESD] over and over again, often times not corrected, and they haven’t gone back to say ‘hey, we made a mistake, we thought [ESD] couldn’t afford it, we were wrong, we’ll provide you the service.'”
“If they had done that, voters wouldn’t have had to say it’s time. You can provide the service or you can take the taxes, but you can’t not provide the service and take the taxes,” Rogers said.
“I don’t know what you can say to people who refuse to correct their mistakes over and over again except I’m not paying you again for the job you’re not doing,” Rogers added.
Chief: ‘It’s been a challenge already’
“We’re limited as an ESD. We are limited to 10 cents property tax ad valorem,” Perkins said. “That’s not enough money to run an adequate fire department. What you see with most fire departments in central Texas, they’re upwards of 30 cents ad valorem in order to run a fire department.”
He adds “It’s been a challenge already, and that’s why the sales tax offset and be able to provide the level of services we have today.”
“We would be removing that ability with the sales tax [change],” Perkins said.
Where to learn more information
For more information on Pflugerville FD’s stance, view more about the petition on the fire department’s website.
To read more about PfRRT’s stance on the petition, it can be viewed on its website here.