Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2007 - (Page 20)

while others will remain due to various insulating factors. However, the larger issue at hand is no different than any other form of government, and that is funding. For ESDs to provide service on par with medium and large municipalities, the allowable tax rate will have to be addressed. In simple terms, you cannot provide 45 cents worth of service per $100 with only 10 cents per $100. Those districts that have a small land area or high value will fare bet- ter than those with several hundred square miles and moderate value. Stations, equipment, fuel, land and personnel are not getting cheaper, and yet most ESDs are on a fi xed income that cannot be adjusted by simply raising the tax rate to meet the service needs. ESDs can issue bonds and accumulate debt, but the structure for repayment is still based on the operating budget of the district, as additional taxes cannot be dedicated to the debt, thus making conventional New NFPA 1500 Standard Allows ONLY Quantitative Fit Testing Respirator fit testing doesn’t have to be a chore. The PORTACOUNT® Plus Respirator Fit Tester is designed to make OSHA-compliant, quantitative fit testing fast, accurate and user-friendly. Consider the advantages • • • • • Flexibility to fit test any tight–fitting respirator Fast and accurate fit factors Unmatched software that runs tests for you Comprehensive recordkeeping and available fit test card printer Eligible for DHS/AFGP/HSGP grant assistance funding – AEL Ref. 1.1.6.1–Tester, Mask Leak/Fit Visit www.tsi.com/SCBAfittest today. PORTACOUNT® Plus–absolutely the easiest way to fit test. Any other way is the hard way! TSI Incorporated 1 800 874 2811 loans an equivalent to bonds for issues below the $10 million mark. Sales tax is the low-hanging fruit for addressing the needs of ESDs, and thanks to the work of several fire chiefs and ESD commissioners from around the state, but most notably Travis County ESD 6 and several Harris County districts, new options have been created for sales tax revenues through the 80th legislature. To illustrate these new options, I give you the example of my ESD. We cover 120 square miles and have 1 cent of the available 2 cents of localuse sales tax revenue. Our district includes two municipalities that also have 1 cent of the sales tax, so in one part of my district, if you bought a taxable good in a store, you might pay 8.25 percent sales tax, and in another you would pay 7.5 percent sales tax (the library district has 0.25 percent). In the end, there is 0.75 percent of 1 cent still on the table in at least half of our district. Prior to the passage of Senate Bill 1502 this year, we would not have been able to obtain the remaining 0.75 percent of 1 cent because we could not legally exclude the municipalities from the sales tax proposition due to the requirement of a uniformed tax across the district. However, SB 1502 allows us to hold an election in the areas outside of the municipalities and thus potentially obtain the remaining 0.75 percent of 1 cent. This three-quarters of a cent could amount to as much as a $900,000 annual benefit to the department if we are successful. We will have to wait and see the results of the changes brought by SB 1502, but it will likely be positive for both the ESDs and the communities we serve. In closing, the single largest factor for the future of an ESD is annexation. As many ESDs try to build a sustainable department infrastructure with staff, stations, training and equipment, they must always keep in mind the expanding presence of the municipalities next door. TEXAS FIRE CHIEF Fall/Winter 2007 20 325287_tsi.indd 1 5/23/07 1:17:49 PM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2007

Contents Executive Director’s Report Fire Chief of the Year What is an Emergency Service District (ESD)? Tax-Exempt Financing 101 The Benefits of Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) Southwest Fire Rescue 2008 Preview Membership Application ‘Courage to be Safe’ Program Aims to Save Lives Red Truck, Green Building Index to Advertisers

Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2007

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