Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2 is committed to providing information concerning the use of taxpayer funding in an open and transparent manner.
The information below is provided in accordance with the local government transparency standards encouraged by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
The population for ESD2 has grown significantly over the past few years. The population growth has led to an increase in call volume and longer response times due to additional congestion on roadways.
The Budget information below reflect the District’s current fiscal year budget as well as the two preceding fiscal years’ final amended budget amounts.
Tax Year 2019: $0.10 per $100 valuation; Tax Year 2020: $0.10 per $100 valuation; Tax Year 2021: $0.09 per $100 valuation; Tax Year 2022 $0.08 per $100 valuation. The proposed tax rate for 2023 (that would be due from taxpayers 1/31/2024) has not yet been determined.
The District has had a zero-debt service taxing rate and revenue for tax rates set for fiscal years 2019 through the current year (FY23, tax year 2022).
The tax rate for 2022 was decreased from the 2021 rate of $0.09 to $0.08 per $100 property valuation. The District approved 2022 tax rate fell between the no-new revenue rate of $0.0736 and the voter-approval rate of $0.084. Revenue from the 2022 tax rate is received in FY23. The 2023 tax rate will be set in September 2023.
The TCESD2 Revenue per capita has risen over the past few years due to an increase in construction of new residential and retail establishments along with a significant increase in property values. Sales tax revenue has increased as a result of this growth as well. The District’s expenditures per capita continues to rise as the District adds new emergency response staff positions, purchases equipment and builds additional response stations needed to respond to increasing call volumes. In FY20 expenditures were significantly reduced as the District discontinued non-essential services to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and temporarily paused construction projects related to construction of new response locations and related equipment. These projects were restarted and saw significant progress in FY22 with continuation through FY23.
New construction of residential and retail establishments along with increasing population have led to an increase in both property and sales tax revenue. Additionally, the real estate market in the area has experienced continued pricing increases leading to increased property tax revenue.
TCESD2 has included detailed debt information on this page for transparency purposes. TCESD2 doesn’t currently have any tax-supported debt and hasn’t held a bond election since 2005. The needs of TCESD2 don’t generally rise to a level large enough to offset the expenses related to a bond issuance so TCESD2 typically acquires debt directly from financial institutions through a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process to ensure the lowest rate opportunity. TCESD’s Board-approved financial policies guide the level of debt acquired by the District and is reviewed each time new debt is considered and annually during the fiscal year Budget development process.
Total Outstanding debt obligations: $17.7 million as of 9/30/22
Tax-supported debt obligations expressed as total and per capita: TCESD2 doesn’t have any tax-pledged debt.
Total lease-purchase or lease-revenue obligations: TCESD2 doesn’t currently have any lease related obligations.
Historical bond election information that includes date of election, purpose and amount: There have been no recent bond elections for TCESD2. The last bond election was held in 2005 and all related obligations have been fully paid off.
Historical Trends
Principles of Sound Financial Management establish a foundation for the fiscal strength and stability of Travis County ESD No. 2. These Principles guide the Board of Commissioners and Executive Team as they make fiscal decisions regarding resource allocations and annual appropriations. Fiscal principles assure sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars as they guide the District in the planning of expenditures, revenues and funding arrangements for public services and ensure budget flexibility and structural stability to weather economic cycles. The financial condition of the District must be maintained at the highest level to assure resources are available to meet the community’s ever-changing needs and these Principles reflect the District’s commitment to continued fiscal strength. To learn more about the District’s financial policies please click below.
Learn more about the District’s financial policies here.
Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, gives you the right to access government records; and an officer for public information and the officer’s agent may not ask why you want them. All government information is presumed to be available to the public. Certain exceptions may apply to the disclosure of the information. Governmental bodies shall promptly release requested information that is not confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision, or information for which an exception to disclosure has not been sought.
