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ESD1 and ESD2 audits show rapid growth, new facilities and rising staffing costs
Summary
Emergency Services Districts 1 and 2 presented clean audit opinions for fiscal year 2025 and discussed capital investments, new stations and hiring. Both districts reported rising assets and increasing operating expenses tied to staff growth and new facilities.
Two local emergency services districts told Commissioners Court on March 9 that audit reviews for fiscal year 2025 resulted in clean, unmodified opinions and showed substantial growth in assets and capital investments.
ESD1’s auditor said the district ended FY2025 with about $61 million in assets, roughly $40 million of which are buildings and land related to three recently completed or near‑complete facilities. The audit listed $16 million of capital spending during the year and reported that cash and investment reserves remain strong. The auditor added there were no audit findings or indications of fraud, waste or abuse.
Chief Chris Mendez and administrator Katherine Ames told the court ESD1 has increased career firefighter staffing and added roughly 28 full‑time positions during the audit year to staff new facilities; the district also reported reimbursements of roughly $400,000 from state deployment grants tied to disaster deployments.
ESD2’s auditors reported similar trends: rapidly rising net position over the last five years driven by tax base growth and capital spending. ESD2 said it is moving forward with a new station design and is seeing call volumes increase year to date compared with the prior year. Officials told the court the districts are adjusting staffing and equipment plans to accommodate local development.
Commissioners asked about utility and land‑use impacts and thanked district leaders for the presentations. The court voted to accept both audit reports.
