Hays ESD: Vote will shift tax burden

By Anita Miller
News Editor

San Marcos May 17, 2008 04:04 pm

— Long and winding roads are normally avoided when South Hays County volunteer firefighters rush to the scene of a fire or wreck — but that’s just what their governing board had to take to fulfill a promise made a year ago.
But despite the delays and detours, voters on May 10 overwhelmingly approved a one and a half cent sales tax within Emergency Services District 3 that is designed to shift tax burden from homeowners.
The measure was approved by more than 73 percent of those who voted in the May 10 election. The vote is to be canvassed on Tuesday, May 20.
That was actually the second time voters had given their OK. The issue was approved by voters in May 2007 but after the election, the measure was rejected by the State Comptroller’s Office because a handful of businesses near the Junction on Ranch Road 12 between San Marcos and Wimberley were already charging a two percent tax, the maximum the law allows.
And although the most recent Texas Legislature approved a bill allowing ESD’s to exclude areas assessing the maximum sales tax it wasn’t retroactive, explained ESD board member Buddy Martin.
“We had to wait another year and carve out that area” before putting the measure back on the ballot, Martin said.
“Not everybody we provide services for in our district owns property,” Martin said. “The sales tax is a way to level the playing field and make sure everybody shares the burden.”
The 116-square-mile area around San Marcos that the district serves includes a lot of renters, he noted, as well as people just passing through. “Our firefighters don’t check IDs for residency before they put out a car fire or pull someone from a wreck,” Martin said.
He added that the sales tax will be a more reliable source of income in the future that will couch against property taxes lost when areas are annexed by nearby cities like San Marcos.
According to the Texas Constitution, ESD’s can only assess 10 cents per $100 of property value. Hays County ESD 3 had been at that ceiling for years. Martin said, reiterating a promise made a year ago, that the district will pass on the savings to homeowners by reducing their taxes by 11 percent.
Even though the sales tax didn’t go into effect last year when approved by voters, Martin said the district has reduced property taxes by 4.2 percent and after the sales tax goes into effect, will follow with an additional 6.8 percent reduction.
The district says it needs to raise additional money to replace obsolete fire engines, acquire new firefighting and emergency medical technology and purchase land for a new station serving the southern part of the district.
Once the vote is canvassed, Martin says, everything goes back to the Comptroller’s Office.
“We think we have been a very responsible ESD in that our debt to asset ratio is in an extremely favorable position, our books are open and audited every year, and anyone is welcome to attend our meetings,” Martin said.