The Georgetown Fire Chief has been looking to continue the growth of his department's budget. First he convinced the City Council to take the award winning EMS from Williamson County, make it a city fire department responsibility, and he is well on his way to making the EMS profitable by instituting fees and effective collection of money from insurance companies.
Now he has come up with a justification for increasing the payment from ESD#8 for fire services. In fact, ESD #8 will increase its payment to Georgetown by 42.7% due to this change in methodology. ESD #8s annual payment will increase from $1,611,608 to $2,300,000. That's a whopping $688,392 increase.
How did the Chief accomplish this magical feat? He hired a contractor, Emergency Services Consulting International, to come up with a rationale for the massive increase in revenue to Georgetown Fire Department. Here is the key take-away for the taxpayers of ESD#8!
Current ESD revenue streams are not expected to provide adequate funding in the future. Given the expectations of the District, it is projected that ad valorem taxes alone will not provide adequate funding to sustain fire protection services at desired delivery levels. It is imperative that the District consider securing additional revenue through alternative sources such as the adoption and collection of fees and/or sales and use tax to meet future service level expectations and debt service obligations.
ESD#8 taxpayers better get prepared for increased costs, either through increased property taxes or increased fees or even imposition of sales taxes.
It is extremely doubtful that the taxpayers of ESD #8 will experience an increase in level of service commensurate with the increased payment to Georgetown. Increased service only comes with decreased response times which means more fire stations and crews, which this methodology does not provide.
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