There will be a community meeting to discuss the need for an Emergency Services District on Bolivar Peninsula. The meeting will be held on Thursday, April 11th, at 6pm at the Galveston County Annex (Judge Vondra’s courtroom), 946 Noble Carl Road, Crystal Beach, Texas.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the upcoming election on May 11, 2013 to authorize the creation of the Galveston County Emergency Service District No. 2.

The District is supported by the High Island, Crystal Beach and Port Bolivar Volunteer Fire Departments and the Peninsula Emergency Medical Services organization.

The District is also supported by the Bolivar Chamber of Commerce, The Bolivar Peninsula Special Utility District and over 100 of your neighbors, property owners and registered voters, who petitioned to place this issue on the ballot.

If approved by the voters, the District could levy a property tax up to $.10 per hundred (10 cents) of assessed value and the tax revenue will be used to provide fire protection/prevention services and other emergency services (i.e.,EMS) to the Bolivar Peninsula.

COME TO MEETING AND GAIN VALUABLE INFORMATION TO ASSIST YOU IN MAKING YOUR DECISION ON HOW TO VOTE ON THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE.

Below is a commentary from Galveston County Commissioner Ryan Dennard:

In the last few years, the cost of ambulance service alone on Bolivar has increased to over $800,000 per year, and it is on an upward trajectory. That is much higher on both a total cost and a cost-per-service call basis than in other unincorporated parts of the county. And it consumes a greatly disproportionate share of the county’s budget.

Assuming the ESD passes (I hope it does), it will provide independent local revenue to support a robust ambulance and fire protection service. The county will continue to provide funding to the fire departments, I anticipate at current funding levels. And the county will continue to provide funding for ambulance service. We will be considering the level of such supplemental ambulance funding based on the level provided before Hurricane Ike (I’m told that was about $150,000) as well as the funding level provided for ambulance service in the county’s other unincorporated areas. I believe the majority on Commissioners Court agrees that Bolivar should receive funding for emergency services on equal footing to the county’s other unincorporated areas.

The reality is that, in the county’s other major unincorporated area of Bacliff-San Leon, emergency services receive some funding through the local municipal utility districts. The tax rate in Bacliff, due in part to the taxes paid to the MUD is $2.649 per $100 of valuation.

Bolivar actually pays among the lowest taxes in Galveston County. In Crystal Beach, the rate is $1.983225. In High Island it is $2.11875.

Compare that to $2.581309 in Galveston. Or $2.60475 in League City. And Bacliff is higher than both.

I hope and expect that Galveston County will cut its tax rate again this year (the third time in three years). Money saved by reducing the county’s cost of ambulance service will be translated directly into spending reductions and tax cuts at the county level.

Beyond emergency services, we are looking to cut spending and reduce your tax rate wherever practical. We will be cutting printing cost in half, saving over $400k per year. We are looking to restructure the JP system and save over $500k per year. A portion of these savings will be spent on modernizing our operation, so we can get some operational efficiencies and achieve additional long-term savings. But the vast majority of the savings will be used to provide immediate tax rate cuts.

The advantage of an ESD is that it gives local residents an opportunity to provide emergency services in a unified way and to supplement a basic service level provided by the county. The other advantage of an ESD is that it can be a vehicle to collect sales tax. In its adoption, an ESD must be based on property tax (per statute). But after it is created, the ESD can then move to adopt a sales tax, and use the sales tax revenue to reduce its property tax charges. This is logical in this context because a good chunk of the emergency services demand on the Peninsula is by tourists; funding from a sales tax helps put some of the operating burden on them. (The county does not have authority to charge a sales tax.)

I hope this information helps clarify the issue some. I’m happy to have further discussions on the issue.

Ryan Dennard
Galveston County Commissioner, Pct 1