WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS VOTE 3-2 TO ACCEPT ESD PETITION; PUBLIC HEARING SET FOR JAN. 14
Washington County Commissioners issued a split 3-2 vote today (Tuesday) to accept a petition for the creation of an emergency services district (ESD) for the Chappell Hill and Meyersville Volunteer Fire Departments.
The action includes the issuing of necessary notices through the county clerk’s office and the scheduling of a public hearing for the ESD, which will take place during commissioners court on January 14, 2025 at 9 a.m. The public hearing will lead into a vote by commissioners on whether to call an election for the ESD and place it on the May 3, 2025 ballot.
Commissioners Kirk Hanath and Don Koester voted against accepting the petition.
The ESD would levy an ad valorem tax of no more than $0.10 per $100 valuation on residents living within the service territories of the Chappell Hill and Meyersville VFDs. That would not include the City of Brenham’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Originally, commissioners had a public hearing scheduled on August 13th to vote on placing a proposition for the ESD on the November 2024 ballot. The hearing was cancelled, though, due to insufficient notice posted in the local newspaper. Since there was not enough time before the election to post notice and call another public hearing, the process had to be delayed to the May 2025 election.
Part of the discussion today involved the proposed ESD boundary lines. Kelly Strader, secretary for the Prairie Hill Volunteer Fire Department, stated that a review of the department’s bylaws and charter necessitated an update to its service area. He said the lines of the fire district and the proposed ESD do not match, and he asked the court to work with them to use roads as the district lines, because right now, the lines run through landowners’ pastures.
Chappell Hill VFD captain and president Dustin Brown said that the ESD is a political subdivision, and its lines are drawn based upon the recommendation of the Chappell Hill and Meyersville VFDs. He said after the public hearing, if the ESD is approved to move forward onto the ballot, the district lines can be adjusted in conjunction with the commissioners court.
County Judge John Durrenberger asked Brown if they could lose some of the signatures on their petition if the district lines are changed. Brown replied that it is a “very high possibility,” but most of the signatures were obtained from Chappell Hill’s area. A total of 186 signatures on the petition were received, above the minimum of 100.
When asked after the meeting the reasons for why they voted against accepting the petition, Commissioner Don Koester said he is not totally opposed to the ESD, but he wants the departments to research other options or plans before falling on the ESD. Commissioner Kirk Hanath answered, “We’re much better together than we are separate, not only for the way we function, but for the taxpayer.”
This new ESD property tax will only be paid by those county residents in the area designated. My hope is that because the EMS Helicopter is based near Meyersville in the new tax area, the new tax revenue can be partially dedicated and paid to keep the helicopter running and benefit all of Washington County. If you want to help the EMS Helicopter then this new property tax plan may possibly be something to help. Stay tuned for details, I’m hoping we can clarify how much the helicopter could receive, if any.
The helicopter is a want and not a need. The real cost of owning a helicopter is never publicly disclosed by ems or its commissioners. Ems has a growth at any cost concept and the county oversight has chosen to sell its concept.
As I stated in a comment the last time this issue came up who is going to pay the bill when mutual aid is requested ,this is a bad idea unless implemented county wide. If I understand correctly 2 of the 3 yes votes don’t live in the affected area ,which means no new taxes for them, I say it’s all or none and none is preferred since other options are available.
No one will be “paying a bill” that is not how mutual aid agreements work. These fire departments have standing mutual aid agreements and those agreements are not going to change cause they are still going to be helping their neighbor like they do now. In 2018 the fire departments “tried a different idea” and the commissioners at the time got scared and “didn’t want to lose control.” So, they offered the fire departments $8,000 each for their services. The same thing happened this time. An ESD was discussed they said “$9,000 more should be enough and yet these departments are not backing down because they are tired of being strung along. They know what the community needs which is more funding for the fire department to ensure they can grow and start staffing these departments, upgrading their equipment, and continue bettering their services in their respective districts. As for the “all for one,” there is a department in the county who continues to mettle in other departments business but no one seems to care about that. The other seven fire departments are waiting to see what happens with this ESD and if it passes they are wanting to join.
From my understanding, this will not change anything related to mutual aid. If anything, with these departments long term plans, their mutual aid areas would benefit from having quicker response times with Chappell Hill and Meyersville already having people staffed at their stations with reliable equipment. The mutual aid areas would benefit without having to pay the bill.