PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — A report commissioned by the City of Pflugerville has concluded a City subsidy to Travis County’s Emergency District No. 2, which serves around 139,000 residents over an area of 77 square miles, is not needed.
The study was presented at Pflugerville City Council’s work session on Monday, June 21, as the Council discussed options to continue emergency medical services after Sept. 30.
Third-party consultant AP Triton conducted the study based on an assessment from February through June 2021.
A summary of the report said ESD No. 2’s financial crisis is “self-imposed,” and it does not need an annual payout of $2.79 million that it has requested from the City of Pflugerville. It also laid out five options for the City of Pflugerville going forward.
Voters in this year’s May 1 election approved a measure 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.
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 at 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.
Pflugerville City Council on Tuesday will discuss further action based on the options presented in the report:
- The first option is to maintain the status quo, without any changes to staffing or resources.
- The second option includes contracting with a private EMS provider, which is a common method in many cities and counties.
- The third option presented is for the City to assume the role of ambulance provider as a City-owned “third service” EMS provider.
- The fourth option would have the City use Austin-Travis County EMS services, which was utilized prior to the creation of ESD No. 2 in 2016.
- The final option presented by the study is that the 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.”
It said this could take three to four years to implement.
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