City Of Pflugerville: Fire And EMS Assessment Overview

Press release from the City of Pflugerville:

06/21/2021 8:45 PM

The City of Pflugerville initiated an assessment of fire and emergency medical services following a petition brought to the Pflugerville City Council in December 2020 requesting consent to create an additional Emergency Services District overlay to fund emergency medical services. The City is committed to ensuring we make quality, sound decisions related to emergency paramedic and fire services, both in the short-term and long term. AP Triton, an expert in service delivery methodology and practices for fire and emergency care services, provided Pflugerville City Council a detailed analysis of Travis County Emergency Service District 2’s operations and options for emergency medical services. Currently, residents of Pflugerville and its extraterritorial jurisdiction pay $.10 on every $100 of property valuation plus an additional $.005 to $.01 sales tax to fund fire and EMS services as part of TCESD2.

Travis County ESD No. 2 currently provides emergency services to approximately 139,000 residents over an area of 77 square miles. See Figure 3 (to the right).

In April 2021, Travis County ESD No. 2 issued a revised statement of services indicating it would no longer provide emergency medical services to the City of Pflugerville or its extra territorial jurisdiction after September 30, 2021, based on their projections of a financial deficit. 

The City of Pflugerville chose not to participate in the election process to create a new emergency services taxing overlay, called ESD 17. Instead, the City Council authorized the engagement of AP Triton in January 2021 as an independent, third party to review our unique circumstances and provide City Council with options for emergency care service delivery. Since 2014, AP Triton, industry experts with a wide-range of experience in many areas of fire and ambulance services, have helped agencies across the country capture additional revenue, which has been reinvested into communities in the form of improved services, decreased response times and increased safety measures. 

AP Triton’s assessment was conducted from February through June 2021. The findings and conclusions are based on best practices, comparisons of similar-sized cities, and publicly available data provided by the City of Pflugerville, Travis County ESD No. 2, and Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.  

The Triton Report concludes that while Travis County ESD No. 2 provides service that meets or exceeds all fire service and EMS response standards, their financial crisis is self-imposed and the need for $2.79 million from the City of Pflugerville to subsidize services is unsubstantiated. The following is a summary of the findings included in the report:

Cost Savings Can Be Achieved Through Cooperation and Efficiencies

There are multiple opportunities to achieve cost savings, in particular for administrative staffing, through collaboration and cooperative agreements with the City and other agencies. Training program costs can also be shared by other agencies, encouraging regional collaboration. Current projections by Travis County ESD No. 2 overestimate the need for growth of staffing positions. A comparison to a slightly larger department in Sugar Land, Texas, showed that Travis County ESD No. 2 has double the administrative/support staffing, yet continues hiring additional staff. The report reveals a significant disparity between the City of Pflugerville and Travis County ESD No. 2’s financial projections. A re-evaluation of fiscal practices, staffing plans, and capital resource allocation would provide emergency services without additional funding.

High Staffing Levels Do Not Improve Quality of Service Delivery

It appears that the current staffing levels for paramedics exceed industry standards, and the report suggests a cost/benefit analysis to align staffing with actual needs. For example, research supports that having more than two paramedics per emergency response call does not translate to improved care. See Figure 10 (below).

A new fifth fire station was added in May 2020, and Travis County ESD No. 2 is in the permitting process for building their sixth station. The report suggests that the current call volume and location of the incidents do not currently justify additional stations. Station construction should be predicated on population, risk analysis, incident location, the ability of existing stations to meet response time goals, and the number of incidents. See Figures 39 & 48 (below).

The report also recommends a cost/benefit analysis and potential reduction of capital medical equipment based on limited utilization. In addition, the report calls for implementation of a partially-automated inventory control system to reduce expiration waste and lost supplies. 

District Holds Excess Revenue and Projections Inflate Reserve Balances

The Triton Report lays out five options that require minimal or no additional tax burdens or subsidies from residents and do not diminish the quality of emergency services. 

Option 1: Maintain Status Quo

This option continues the status of service to the jurisdictions without change. Travis County ESD No. 2 and the City of Pflugerville continue to do business as usual, with no change to governance, staffing, or resource deployment. This option might preclude the increased efficiency, effectiveness, ability to add additional services, and possible cost-savings that may be realized in a long-term integrated environment. 

The amount of time needed for full implementation can range from four to 18 months, depending on the action taken by Travis County ESD No. 2 and if an election is necessary.

Option 2: Private Ambulance Provider for the City

The City can consider contracting with a private provider to provide advanced life support ambulance service/transport. The use of a private provider is a common method that cities and counties use to secure ambulance services. This option removes the City from becoming the provider of record and simply contracts for services from an outside ambulance company.

The amount of time needed for full implementation is approximately eight months.

Option 3: City-Owned Third Service EMS

The term “Third Service” refers to the City assuming the role of ambulance provider, meaning the City becomes the ambulance “provider of record.” This can be accomplished in three common ways:

The amount of time needed for full implementation is eight months for establishing response system and implementation, and 18 months for a repeal of sales and use tax.

Option 4: Transport by Austin-Travis County EMS

Prior to Travis County ESD No. 2 taking on EMS service in 2016, Austin-Travis County EMS provided EMS service to Pflugerville. Due to the short notice and limited capacity, ATCEMS would initially only be able to provide two units. Based on this analysis, a minimum of three ambulances would be required within Pflugerville city limits, with one additional ambulance for the ETJ. The analysis showed that a four-ambulance system could meet or exceed the required performance objectives. However, with additional time, ATCEMS could acquire the additional staffing and units to provide adequate coverage. 

The amount of time needed for full implementation is approximately 12 months. 

Option 5: City Fire & EMS Department

The provision of a municipal fire/EMS department requires a significant commitment of financial resources. A multi-year phased process starting with the creation of a third service EMS/ambulance transport system could later support the creation of a municipal fire department. The City could begin to acquire facilities for the provision of EMS services and later utilize the facilities to house fire apparatus and staffing.

The amount of time needed for full implementation is approximately three to four years.

Read the full report at pflugervilletx.gov/ems. 

This press release was produced by the City of Pflugerville. The views expressed here are the author’s own.