De-Taxed, But Not Defunded
On September the 26th, the commissioners of Harris County ESD 47 met. At that meeting, we approved our budget for next year, 2023, and set our property tax rate for this tax cycle. Good news! First, we held our expenses at the same overall amount as last year. Secondly, we lowered our property tax rate from $0.084 per $100 valuation to $0.080 per $100 valuation. Over the last seven years, ESD 47 has lowered its property tax rate by over one and a half cents, or about 16.5%. I know that is not much, but when other taxing authorities are constantly raising their rates, we again have lowered ours. We are able to do that this time around because we have budgeted for the same total expenditures for 2023 as this current year. You may have heard through news outlets and other means how taxing authorities are having a tough time of things and need more money. We here at ESD 47 suggest that they either sharpen their pencil or reign in their priorities. Believe me, it's not that difficult.
Holding the line on spending does not mean that we have cut our budgetary commitments to our service provider, the Westlake Fire Department. Instead we have increased our commitment to them to an all time high of over $3.1 million. No defunding of first responders here! Our mission is to increase services while lowering property tax rates. As Westlake's call volume increases (and it has by more than 150% as compared to year 2019), their cost of providing services have increased even more. In addition to that, we are always looking to upgrade any vehicles or equipment that may no longer provide the service that is required to be a professional fire suppression and emergency medical first responder.
Unfortunately, other first responders are caught in the middle of political battles. Quite frankly, many local law enforcement agencies are suffering from cuts in funding which results in fewer officers on the streets. How does this affect fire and EMS you ask. Great question. Here is an example that Westlake and other fire/EMS agencies face daily: There is an accident on the freeway. Fire and EMS respond immediately. The ambulance transports the injured to the hospital if necessary. The fire truck stays on scene to provide traffic control and order until law enforcement arrives. This wait for the arrival of law enforcement may be thirty minutes, forty-five minutes, maybe an hour or more. It’s not the fault of the officers on patrol. They are all jumping from one assignment to another. There’s just not enough of them to cover this highly populous county. So a fire truck is basically out of service for much longer than it should be because there is no law enforcement officer available or he/she has to travel from a far off location to work the accident. Going further, should there be another response in that fire truck's territory, a fire truck would need to drive from a neighboring station to cover it. There is a snowball effect. Defunding law enforcement has consequences that go beyond that particular department and because of it we are seeing an increase in costs on our end.
The good news is that at Harris County ESD 47, we know how to control costs so that we can continue to lower property tax rates while giving you, the public, outstanding professional service and care.
Until next time, stay safe
Brian Havran