Pflugerville Fire, EMS Assessment Finds No Need For City Subsidy

PFLUGERVILLE, TX — The city of Pflugerville has concluded a city subsidy to Travis County's Emergency District No. 2 is not needed, officials said.

Officials said a study presented to the city council's work session Monday offered five options for the city as it moves forward on options for continued emergency medical services after Sept. 30.

The study, which was conducted by third-party consultant AP Triton, reported ESD No. 2’s financial crisis is “self-imposed,”and does not need an annual payout of $2.79 million that it has requested from the city.

Voters approved a measure on May 1 to add an additional district called ESD 17 within the ESD 2 boundaries, which includes Pflugerville, parts of Austin and unincorporated Travis County.

The creation of ESD 17 would establish a separate property tax rate to help fund staffing and equipment for fire and rescue, EMS and advanced life support services, according to the proposition that passed.

The Pflugerville City Council, however, chose not to include the ESD 17 proposition on its May ballot.

In response to funding issues that would affect services after Sept. 30, ESD 2 requested $2.79 million from the City of Pflugerville.

The AP Triton study showed that from 2018 to 2020, the district’s call volume increased from 9,422 to 10,703. Projected call volume in 2030 is at 12,286, according to the report.

But the highest concentration of service calls come from the western area of the district, mainly the Wells Branch neighborhood of North Austin, and not the Pflugerville city limits.

AP Triton suggested five options to the city, which include:

1. Maintain the status quo, without any changes to staffing or resources.
2. Contracting with a private EMS provider, which is a common method in many cities and counties.
3. The city assumes the role of ambulance provider as a City-owned “third service” EMS provider.
4. Have the city use Austin-Travis County EMS services, which was utilized prior to the creation of ESD No. 2 in 2016.
5. City creates a fire and EMS department.

“The provision of a municipal fire/EMS department requires a significant commitment of financial resources,” the report states. “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 report said this could take three to four years to implement.

Pflugerville City Council planned to discuss further options presented in the report on Tuesday.