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Task force urges election to form Emergency Services District to secure local EMS funding
Summary
A task force recommended forming an Emergency Services District (ESD) to provide dedicated funding for EMS and fire after vendors said operating costs would far exceed current subsidies; the city council voted unanimously to continue working with the county to pursue an ESD election.
Mark Rose, chair of the task force on emergency services, told a joint session of the city council and commissioners court on March 17 that the group unanimously recommends asking voters to create an Emergency Services District to secure stable funding for local emergency medical services and fire protection.
“We either don't have an EMS service for the community,” Rose said, warning that the community faces a gap in coverage if a sustainable funding vehicle is not created. He said the subsidy that has supported services in recent years (about $350,000) no longer covers realistic operating costs and that vendors indicated a practical operating floor in the roughly $900,000 range.
The task force presented two main options: the city and county could jointly run EMS under local government control, a path that would likely…
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