Pflugerville firefighters petition for new emergency services district

The Pflugerville Professional Firefighters Association initiated a petition for the formation of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 17 to support EMS services in northeast Travis County. A Keep Pfire-EMS Strong PAC campaign and political action committee was established as part of the efforts, according to a Sept. 11 news release.

“September 11 will forever be a solemn day in our nation’s history. On this day we lost more than 3,000 American lives including those brave firefighters and EMS who ran into the Towers to do what they were trained to do ... save lives," said Josh Stubblefield, PPFA's president, in the release. "Today, I stand here asking the support of the citizens in Northeast Travis County to begin the process so we can continue to do our jobs of saving lives here at home.”

TCESD 17 would be "dedicated to providing funding" for EMS and ambulance services in northeast Travis County and Pflugerville, per the release.

Travis County voters approved in the 1990s the formation of TCESD 2, which encompasses 80 square miles in the northeastern portion of the county. The service area includes more than 140,000 residents and receives greater than 10,000 911 calls each year, per the release.

State law governs that ESDs can be funded with no more than $0.10 per $100 valuation of property taxes. The same property tax rate stipulation would apply to TCESD 17, if approved.

"With our fast-growing population, we are falling behind our ability to provide enough ambulances and staff to serve the growing area and maintain fire protection as well," Stubblefield said. "That is why we are recommending that ESD #2 will provide the fire protection and the newly created ESD #17 will provide the EMS and ambulance transport services these communities expect."

A minimum of 100 property owner signatures is required on the PPFA's petition to begin the election process, per the release. Each city included within TCESD 2 will then host an election on whether its citizens opt into inclusion within the proposed district.