Sales tax measure passes in Montgomery area

Montgomery area voters approved a ballot measure during the May 7 election that will create a local sales and use tax in Montgomery County Emergency Services District No. 2.

The additional revenue allows ESD No. 2 to provide its firefighters with a salary increase and build a new station south of Montgomery, Montgomery Fire Department Chief Brian Edwards said. Reducing turnover and building a new station will help improve public safety, he said.

“Increasing stations and [improving] staffing is looking at [the] big picture with all of the growth going on in the area,” Edwards said. “It should reduce response times and insurance rates for the entire district.”

Sales taxes within the district will increase by 2 percent on top of the 6.25 percent already levied by the state. Because sales tax cannot exceed 8.25 percent, however, the proposition prohibits the city of Montgomery from levying a sales tax in future areas of annexation within the ESD, City Manager Jack Yates said.

To address those concerns, Montgomery City Council voted on a proposed interlocal agreement between the city and the ESD that would allow the city to share a portion of sales tax collected if it annexed land within the ESD boundaries. Council members, however, rejected the proposal during its April 10 meeting.

“The council voted not to accept the agreement, so not very much is happening with that right now,” Yates said. “The mayor brought it up at the end of the last meeting [on May 10], and nobody on the council wanted to reconsider it.”

ESD No. 2 covers about 233 miles in the northwest corner of Montgomery County. The district contracts with the Montgomery Fire Department to provide fire services to portions of Montgomery County that include the cities of Montgomery and Dobbin as well as other subdivisions, such as Walden and Bentwater.