"Envision a Better EMS" defunds your fire department and hurts our public safety.
Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation have no plan in place to capture the .5 cent sales tax to establish a better EMS. Ask them about their plan, they don't have one.
Here's what they say:
The Truth: The sales tax collected in the City was voted on in 2000, seventeen years before the first ambulance, and had nothing to do with EMS OR Ambulance Transport. It was to fund the fire department. Taking away this sales tax will defund the Pflugerville Fire Department.
Ambulance transport is not a requirement for ESD 2 and was not on the 2014 sales tax ballot measure. The vote in the 2014 sales tax election was for the Pflugerville ETJ (Extra Terrestrial Jurisdiction) and not the city of Pflugerville. It was to support funding Advanced Life Support and ALS training in the Pflugerville community and is funded by the ETJ. The department has been able to use this money to equip ALS units and train firefighters as paramedics so they could provide Advanced Life Support Services.
The Fire department has a paramedic program now and 29% of Pflugerville Firefighters are certified Paramedics. Often the engine is first on scene responding to medical emergencies and having these trained paramedics SAVES LIVES.
The Truth: In 2017 ESD 2 added 1 ambulance to supplement the 2 ambulances Austin-Travis County had in place. Why? The two ambulances operated by Austin-Travis County EMS would regularly get sucked into the city, never returning to Pflugerville as they responded to calls in other parts of the county, which increased call times and made it less safe for citizens in Pflugerville. ESD 2 had discussions with the City and the County for joint funding to cover the cost of two ambulances and were trying to do the right thing to support residents, as they have done for decades. Listen to Chief Moellenberg tell the history of this decision in Episode 1 of the Pflugerville on Fire podcast
After standing up the new ambulance, Austin Travis-County pulled out leaving to support other areas of the county, leaving ESD 2 to run all EMS Transport. This meant there were no longer enough ambulances to support our growing city. ESD 2 quickly stood up three additional units and operated 4 units in ESD 2 from 2018-2021. Each year calls increased and the cost of running these ambulances was impacting the fire mission and fire protection to residents. ESD 2 went to the city and asked for support funding ambulance services, since 40% of medical calls were in the city of Pflugerville, the City said NO.
Unfortunately, this good faith effort to serve the community has come back to be a liability to its funding source and ability to provide quality service.
The truth: The ESD 2 Board does budget projections and works to ensure that there is sufficient funding. They said they would no longer be able to support Ambulance Transport Services and support the fire mission unless the city and County pitched in to help. With the population growth in the area ESD 2 said they need to prioritize building new stations and a new cadet academy in order to be able to meet the growing demands of the community. At the time, ESD 2 had not built a new station in 20 years.
ESD 2 has never mismanaged government funds. Even Melody Ryan, the spokesperson for the sales tax abolishment has said that “I have never alleged that they (ESD 2) are mismanaging funds.” Watch here.
The county and residents in ESD17 (Wells Branch area) are now providing funding for ambulance transport because they voted to approve an overlay in 2022. The city blocked the overlay election and ultimately the city residents voted against the annexation of the overlay ESD 17 in 2022. Now, the Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation want the Pflugerville Fire Department to provide ambulance transport without a funding source.
Also, some residents in the district are paying for the service. How is that fair?
The truth: 16M Surplus? It looks like a $6.7 Million surplus based on simple math:
2021 Revenue: $45,014,175
-2021 Expenses $38,320,974
($6,693,201)
The ESD was able to secure funding to provide ambulance transport service in the North Town and Wells Branch area thanks to an EMS Overlay District, ESD 17, and the county provided funding to the ESD for ambulance transport in the areas outside the city. Yet, City of Pflugerville leadership was shocked that they would not receive the service at no cost.
Unlike politicians, the fire department did EXACTLY what it said and continues to focus on the mission of providing fire services to a rapidly growing district.
In an effort to replace the ambulance transport service, the City of Pflugerville hired a consultant to conduct a study. The AP Triton report recommended ESD.2 as the best option but the City chose the CHEAPEST option and went with a for-profit ambulance company instead.
The truth:
2020 Medical/EMS Calls 9,583
2021 Medical/EMS Calls 9,183
2022 Medical/EMS Calls 9,179
2020-2021 AMBULANCE CALLS decreased 47% from 9,253 to 5,837 because ESD 2 stopped running ambulances in the city limits. There was still a net neutral in total EMS response in the ESD. ESD2 still runs ambulances in half of their District.
To say that EMS calls decreased by 49% is EXTREMELY misleading to our residents.
The truth: Calls did not decrease.
There were 12,521 total calls in in 2022 and 13,029 in 2023.
This assertion suggests frivolous spending when 3 additional fire stations were added to support the growth west of 130 and south. Station 6 off Weiss Lane opened in 2023, and Stations 7 (Cameron Road) & 8 (Crystal Bend) are running out of temporary facilities currently, with plans in the budget to build new stations.
Also, the department started a Cadet Academy to relive the shortage of qualified firefighters in the region. The addition of a cadet academy is very expensive but ensures that we get top candidates that are well trained to protect our community.
The truth: ESD 2 has a 6-month reserve fund policy. $32 million is a little less than 6 months of operating expenses for ESD 2 and will be required if we have a catastrophic emergency, such as: pandemics, winter storms, wildfires. The reality is that these types of emergencies have and will continue to happen. Drawing from reserve funds to pay for normal operations is not fiscally responsible!
ESD proposed a $1.9M contract to run ambulances in the city that would have been the SAME price for the City of Pflugerville in 2023 because Travis County agreed to pay the difference. The city chose to go with a for-profit ambulance service instead even through it would be the same cost.
They said it was because of the 20-day exit clause, which is customary in contracts. No one mentioned this in meetings prior to the decision and the contract was reviewed by city leaders prior to the vote. The city did not want to pay ESD 2 for ambulance transport. They want them to do it for FREE.
ESD2 has also secured funding from ESD 17 and the County. Those entities have helped the district maintain financial stability.
he Truth: ESD 2 has $57 million in NET ASSETS, not reserves. Net assets, include stations and equipment. ESD, currently maintains a 3 months of the operating budget in reserves and is moving to a 6 month reserve. The goal is to increase to 6 months to be able to continue to operate in times of disaster and economic uncertainty. ESD2 does not have the option to sell fire engines to pay salaries or shut down stations to save money. Almost 70% of the operating budget is spent on salaries and benefits. Layoffs are the primary source of savings if it came to that and it did happen during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic when the department had to furlough several staff members.
Net position is a good measure of the health of an organization.
When compared to other ESDs in Texas ESD 2 has less reserve funding than most.
The truth: Cutting between $14-17 million dollars from the budget will result in laying off firefighters and closure of 3 stations (Kelly Lane, Pflugerville Parkway and Weiss Lane). ESD 2 will not rely on reserve funds for daily operational expenses because it is fiscally irresponsible. You could liken this to using your retirement money to pay for your mortgage. One day you will retire, and you will need that money. One day we will have another emergency (pandemic, winter storm, wildfire) and ESD 2 will need these reserves to pay for the personnel to operate.
What?? The truth: The ESD 2 board did vote to increase property tax rates in preparation for the defunding. The rate was .0776 cents for 2024 and went up to .0939 for 2025.
This was in reaction to possibly being defunded and would not have happened if this group weren't trying to defund their own emergency services.
Voting Yes for Prop A ensures that stations will close, firefighters will be laid off, call times will increase, the ISO Rating will increase, homeowners' insurance rates will increase, and people will be less safe in the Pflugerville community.
The median home price in Pflugerville is about 364,000 currently. This tax increase from $282 to $341, a change of about $60/ year of around $5 a month.