Do Austin taxpayers have to supplement Lake Travis Fire and EMS Services ? (Houston: sales, purchases)

[ImOnFiya]

I just found out that Lake Travis suburbs (including Lakeway, Bee Caves, Lago Vista, and Spicewood) do not have adequate fire and EMS staffing.

Lake Travis Fire Needs More Funding | Texas-Fire.com (http://www.texas-fire.com/2010/01/26/lake-travis-fire-needs-more-funding/ - broken link)

Chief Jim Linardos says he’s operating under budget constraints.

Lake Travis is an Emergency Services District which runs differently from a city fire department and gets less money from the state. But as the Lake Travis area expands, the budget they have just isn’t cutting it.

“The population has grown so much that we’re in an area where people believe they deserve city-type service,” Linardos said. “That’s what we’re trying to give them, is what people want. We just can’t do that with the revenue we’re receiving.”

And this potentially-dire situation still exists, even after the paltry 3/4 cent local sales tax raise approved by voters last May.

http://laketravisview.com/2010/05/09...cliff-decided/

Which means for major fire calls, City of Austin taxpayers are paying extra to assist these upper-middle class to wealthy homeowners who actually pay lower taxes on average.

Is it right for Austin taxpayers to subsidize Lake Travis suburbia ??

[verybadgnome]

If it is paid through sales taxes I would think most of the homeowners in this area go shopping in their areas or in Austin, so they pay into some though it may not be sufficient.......Reading the comments from the story there is some debate as to what constitutes adequate staffing.

My first impression is that this is another example of how inefficient low density sprawl is when providing these types of services. That the number of residents served by each fire department must be lower - and thus each station less cost effective - because there must be minimum spacing requirements between them to ensure fast response.

This reminds me of that hospital district issue years ago that supposedly had classes of donors and donees.

[hoffdano]

The first article in the original post is dated January 2010. That is before the 3/4 cent sales tax increase approved in May 2010. I think it means the funding issue is now addressed, doesn't it?

[FalconheadWest]

I would think the areas in Travis County that aren't within any city limits paying any city taxes would be more of a concern taking Austin's taxpayer's money for these services...

[verybadgnome]

It's good to keep an eye on equity issues like this. I've always got the impression (I could me wrong of course) that people living in West Travis county want their cake and eat it to. That is they want to be able to do whatever they want with their land, damn the aquifer, but also don't want any power plants, dumps, industry, race tracks, airports, etc. on their pretty side of town.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

It's good to keep an eye on equity issues like this. I've always got the impression (I could me wrong of course) that people living in West Travis county want their cake and eat it to. That is they want to be able to do whatever they want with their land, damn the aquifer, but also don't want any power plants, dumps, industry, race tracks, airports, etc. on their pretty side of town.

Where did you get this impression?

I'm not aware of any power plants, dumps, airports, etc. that have been an issue anytime recently. As for race tracks - must of western Travis County is probably too hilly - not to mention too expensive for a track like the upcoming F1 track. I know from LTISD land purchases that large parcels of land suitable for building are hard to come by.

In my area (Spicewood) - water quality is a great concern - as it is for most who live around Lake Travis. Very little of Travis County is in the Edwards Aquifier recharge zone - but I think most around still care about the Aquifer's health.

Travis County (and its western residents) successfully fought to have the damage to Hamilton Pool repaired/negated.

Finally, Karen Huber was elected county commissioner for precinct 3 in 2008 - defeating the pro-growth Gerald Daugherty. I think western Travis County is concerned about a wide range of issues - just like the rest of Travis County.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Where did you get this impression?

I'm not aware of any power plants, dumps, airports, etc. that have been an issue anytime recently. As for race tracks - must of western Travis County is probably too hilly - not to mention too expensive for a track like the upcoming F1 track. I know from LTISD land purchases that large parcels of land suitable for building are hard to come by.

In my area (Spicewood) - water quality is a great concern - as it is for most who live around Lake Travis. Very little of Travis County is in the Edwards Aquifier recharge zone - but I think most around still care about the Aquifer's health.

Travis County (and its western residents) successfully fought to have the damage to Hamilton Pool repaired/negated.

Finally, Karen Huber was elected county commissioner for precinct 3 in 2008 - defeating the pro-growth Gerald Daugherty. I think western Travis County is concerned about a wide range of issues - just like the rest of Travis County.

Well these are more long-standing issues of where undesirable facilities should go. The folks who live around these areas may not have gotten media attention but that doesn't mean they don't have concerns.

I know of two landfills in Travis, one off of FM 1327 and the other near Sprinkle Rd and US 290 E. According to this (Power Plants) there are power plants in NE Austin and Del Valle, in addition to the defunct ones off of Town Lake and Holly St. Of course the only major airport is in SE Austin.

Yes land values may have precluded an F1 track in W. Travis but I betcha their would have been an uproar if it were designated there.

There is industry in West Travis but its more the high tech variety and not something like this:

Austin Metal & Iron - Home

Finally a lot of West Travis is under the aquifer, recharge and contributing zones:

http://campotexas.org/pdfs/Map4-1.pdf

I was glad to see that the Hamilton Pool incident was rectified, but if it had been the same issue in a less affluent part of the county the result may have been different.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Well these are more long-standing issues of where undesirable facilities should go. The folks who live around these areas may not have gotten media attention but that doesn't mean they don't have concerns.

I know of two landfills in Travis, one off of FM 1327 and the other near Sprinkle Rd and US 290 E. According to this (Power Plants) there are power plants in NE Austin and Del Valle, in addition to the defunct ones off of Town Lake and Holly St. Of course the only major airport is in SE Austin.

Yes land values may have precluded an F1 track in W. Travis but I betcha their would have been an uproar if it were designated there.

There is industry in West Travis but its more the high tech variety and not something like this:

Austin Metal & Iron - Home

Finally a lot of West Travis is under the aquifer, recharge and contributing zones:

http://campotexas.org/pdfs/Map4-1.pdf

I was glad to see that the Hamilton Pool incident was rectified, but if it had been the same issue in a less affluent part of the county the result may have been different.

I can't say with any certainty why some things don't exist in western TC. But I think the biggest reason has to be that for a long time, this part of the county was "too far" from everything. It was just 20 years ago that Lakeway was a retirement and vacation spot.

Industry wants to be near transportation. If they want access to San Antonio, Houston, or Dallas, they probably want to be near both I35 and 290 or 71. As for airports - that's not a very good issue to use as an example. Austin only needs one - and when it outgrew Mueller - Bergstrom was available. Once again an airport is best built on flatter terrain - of which there is little out here.

Don't you think when Motorola, Fairchild, Applied Materials, Tracor etc. located in Austin decades ago they looked for land at a good price near transportation? I seriously doubt they looked in western Travis County and found some arrogant citizens in the way. Dell outgrew Austin and moved to Round Rock - where they had space to grow, where they were welcomed, and once again were close to the interstate.

[CptnRn]

It should be noted that the Austin EMS is actually Austin-Travis County EMS. Welcome to ATCEMS

ATCEMS response selection process is based on closest EMS unit without regard for city/county political boundaries. Ambulances are currently staffed with at least two paramedics and work a 48 hour work week schedule. Employee selection of a schedule/station is through a tenure based bid process every six months. The bidding and the on-call schedule has been developed by Austin-Travis County EMS in close cooperation and the Employee's Association. ATCEMS paramedics must attend department training and maintain their certifications with the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Austin-Travis County EMS System.

The Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Department provides emergency medical services for all residents of the City of Austin and Travis County.

[ImOnFiya]

It should be noted that the Austin EMS is actually Austin-Travis County EMS. Welcome to ATCEMS

It should also be noted that Austin pays the lion share of Austin-Travis County EMS. Whatever resources Travis County (including Lake Travis) lacks, equipment and personnel must be taken from Austin-dedicated EMS and fire units.

State aid to help the Lake Travis area emergency response woes won't be coming until (at least) the next legislative session. In the meantime, City of Austin taxpayers will have to pay more than fair share for expected 'suburban' EMS and fire services within a supposed 'emergency-staffed' district.

It seems to me, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Lago Vista, and Spicewood have some significant tax hikes coming to equal the tax Austinites are contributing for their safety (not to mention LTISD). The question is, are they ready?