Georgetown Fire Chief John Sullivan said he is humble and grateful by the results of the election. He thanked Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 8 voters for approving the proposition, which he said allocates much needed funding to emergency services in the Georgetown area.
"The results of the election speak to our genuine and deep appreciation to each voter," Sullivan said.
The funds will help the ESD and the Georgetown Fire Department—which together provide services to the greater Georgetown area—execute on a 10-year plan to add staff and build new stations. Sullivan said together, the measures will "stabilize response times" and "increase the footprint of emergency services" within the growing community.
New sales tax revenue from the proposition will likely be received starting in April, Sullivan said. The next steps will be for the ESD board to meet and look at what items in the plan it can begin funding this year, and which it will prepare to budget for next year.
Updated Nov. 6, 6:30 a.m.
With Williamson County reporting results from all in-person Election Day votes, a majority of the electorate has passed a proposition that would increase sales tax in Georgetown's extraterritorial jurisdiction by 2% and allocate those dollars toward Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 8.
The proposition has received 7,784 votes in favor, or 56.19% of the vote, and 6,068 votes against, or 43.81% of the vote.
Georgetown Fire Chief John Sullivan was not immediately available for comment.
According to the county elections website, mail-in ballots are still being totaled. All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
Posted Nov. 5, 7:31 p.m.
A measure that would allow Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 8 to retain 2% of local sales tax revenue is supported by a majority of early voters.
Called Proposition A, the ballot item has so far received 6,950 votes in favor of it, or 56.36% of the vote, and 5,381 votes against it.
What you need to know
If approved, the measure would increase the sales tax in Georgetown’s extraterritorial jurisdiction to 8.25%, the maximum rate allowed in the state of Texas.
ESD 8 and the Georgetown Fire Department partner to provide fire and emergency medical services to the city of Georgetown and the ETJ. The additional funding provided by the sales tax revenue would allow ESD 8 to keep up with its portion of the cost sharing agreement between the two entities, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
Additionally, it would allow the organizations to execute on their 10-year plan, which includes hiring six additional fire fighters every year for the next 10 years, and opening a new station every three years during that time. These positions and new stations would help quell growing response times, Georgetown Fire Chief John Sullivan said in early October.
If the measure fails, officials with the ESD said it would not be able to execute on its 10-year plan, and response times risk getting longer.
The background
ESD 8 put the same measure on the ballot last November. It failed that time around with 53.17% of voters voting against it.
At the time, Sullivan said he was surprised to see there wasn’t sufficient support for the proposition.
This year, Sullivan said one of his goals was to better educate voters about what the proposition means.
Next steps
This story will be updated as more results from Election Day are reported. All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
