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ESD No. 6
Continued from | 1
No. 6 is something that Linardos is planning
for, he said.
“It will have an estimated impact on [ESD
No. 6] in the $500,000 range,” Linardos said.
“If the same thing [annexation] happens to
Steiner [Ranch], the impact would be even
more dramatic.”
The potential annexation of Steiner Ranch
by the City of Austin—although not currently
in the works, according to Austin City
Planner Virginia Collier—is something that
Linardos and ESD No. 6 are planning for.
“I don’t know if [Austin is] ever going
to annex [Steiner Ranch],” Linardos said.
“When I look at it from a long-term planning
point of view, it’s something we have to
be concerned about and something we have
to plan [for]. It will impact us if and when
that happens.”
The annexation of Steiner Ranch would
be a big decision and would take a number
of years to plan, Collier said.
Fire departments generally plan 10 to 20
years ahead because of the time it takes to
add a new fire station to the books, Linardos
said.
Limited tax dollars
ESDs by state law can only tax property
owners in the county up to 10 cents per $100
of valuation. ESD No. 6 also receives funding
from a 1.75 percent sales tax on qualifying
goods sold in the ESD’s jurisdiction.
This results in the district receiving
roughly $10 million in funding each year,
about half the amount received by comparable
city fire departments, Linardos said.
The money brought in by tax dollars is an
unsustainable business model, said Barker
Keith II, Lake Travis Fire and Rescue Commissioner-President.
“A vast majority of ESDs are really hampered
with what they can do,” Linardos said.
“It’s a problem. We want to do the right
thing for the community, and the community
wants good fire protection with what
they pay their taxes for. It’s something we are
working on in our long-term plan.”
If annexations continue and tax dollars
are not increased, the funding for ESD No. 6
will continue to erode and force the district
OPEN FOR LUNCH AND DINNER
to start closing fire stations, Linardos said.
The approximately $517,000 that will be
lost from the planned annexation of River
Place will not force ESD No. 6 to close any
stations, but it will keep the district from
growing and could affect response times,
Linardos said.
“That’s going to put a squeeze on a problem
that we already have, and that is we are
underfunded,” Keith said. “We have to find a
mechanism to solve that.”
“I’m not a big enough district to absorb
a half a million bucks without there being
an impact,” Linardos said. “If I lose another
half-million-dollar chunk, I have to start
looking at closing stations. I don’t want
to scare people, but that’s what’s going to
happen.”
Teamwork
ESD No. 6, whether a fire station is in
Bee Cave or Steiner Ranch, works together
as one unit, Linardos said. Closing stations
or cutting staff in any location will affect
the quality of service for the entire district,
he said.
Service to both Lakeway and Bee Cave
could suffer as a result of closed stations,
Linardos said. A series of four or five fire
engines from across the district will be
sent to fires. This includes the ladder truck,
which is currently stationed in Steiner
Ranch.
“If you don’t get an engine [to a fire] in
10 minutes to 15 minutes, it’s over,” Linardos
said. “That’s just the business we’re
in, and that’s part of the problem. People
expect city service, but they aren’t paying
city prices.”
As people move out of the city and
move to the suburbs they’re not expecting
county-type fire service. They are expecting
urban delivery results, Keith said.
“They expect when they dial 911 for
someone to be there in four minutes, like
downtown Austin. We can’t do that here. We
don’t have enough fire stations,” Keith said.
Possible solutions
One of the possibilities going forward is
for ESD No. 6 to contract for service with
the City of Austin, something administrations
on both ends are currently discussing,
Linardos said.
E S D
No. 6
lohmans Crossing rd.
71
Hamilton Pool rd.
Crumley ranch rd.
ESD No. 6 is working
on a long-term
plan to cope with
the planned annexation
of River
Place in 2017 and
other possible
budget changes.
601
15516 General Williamson Drive
602
1211 Lohmans Crossing Rd.
General williamson dr.
esd no. 6
620
603
13333 W. Hwy .71
Comanche trl.
“It is one thing we are looking at right
now to help solve this to where we have a
seamless [transition],” Linardos said. “If
[more annexation] looks like it’s going to
happen, this could be one way to minimize
the impact of that.
“If you do a contract for service with the
city—there are a handful of districts looking
at that now, not just us—I think it is a
viable option we need to consider,” Linardos
said.
ESD No. 6 is also looking at a potential
overlay district, in which two districts overlap,
effectively doubling the taxable income
from 10 cents to 20 cents per $100 valuation,
Linardos said. To overlay the district,
the ESD would need approval from the
cities in the service area as well as voter
approval, he said.
“[Overlaying distracts] is very complicated,”
Linardos said. “It would be raising
taxes, and the question is, would that be a
impactnews.com • August 2012 | NEWS | 25
• Austin plans to annex
River Place in 2017
• 3,125 approximate
population
• 974 single-family homes
• approximately $517,000
in lost tax revenue for
ESD No. 6
Cooperation
With the City of Austin migrating west, it
becomes more involved with fire service in
the area served by ESD No. 6, Linardos said.
“The neat thing is we are working together,
and the public doesn’t know that,” Linardos
said. “The public doesn’t care what it says on
the side of the engine when they show up.
They don’t know the difference, and we don’t
tell them the difference.
The public wants good staff, friendly
service and they want it to be competent.
The agencies here do a great job of working
together to the point where the public
doesn’t even realize, Linardos said.
“People don’t care what their fire response
time is until they call 911. Then they care,”
Linardos said. “It’s a little slower than I want
it to be, but I can’t fix that until I add more
[fire] companies, and I can’t do that if we
keep losing revenue.”
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2222
steiner ranch Blvd.
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Bee Caves rd.
360
605
3048 Steiner Ranch Blvd.
290
Lake Travis
620
esd
no. 6
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Hudson Bend (Fire Station 601)
Fire Station 601 services the Hudson Bend,
Apache Shores, Vineyard Bay, Costa Bella,
Lake Wind and Cardinal Hills areas.
Lakeway (Fire Station 602)
Fire Station 602 services the Lake Travis
shoreline, City of Lakeway and The Hills of
Lakeway.
Bee Cave (Fire Station 603)
Fire Station 603 services the Village of Bee
Cave, Lake Pointe, Uplands, Deer Creek
and Hamilton Pool developments.
Comanche Trail (Fire Station 604)
Fire Station 604 services the River Place,
Steiner Ranch, Comanche Trail and Marshall
Ford areas.
Steiner Ranch (Fire Station 605)
Fire Station 605 services the Steiner
Ranch and Quinlan Park areas.
Linardos or Fire safety