Rural Collin County residents have struggled to get fire and ambulance services. That鈥檚 a problem throughout in unincorporated parts of Texas.
But in Tuesday's election, a proposition to create an Emergency Service District in parts of the county that aren't annexed into a city or a town had attracted strong support.
Unofficial final results show that about 72.6% of rural Collin voters cast their ballots in favor of the proposition and about 27.4% voted against it.
The Emergency Service District, or ESD, will levy a tax on homes in unincorporated Collin County to help pay for fire and ambulance services in area.
Setting up the district could take some time. Officials say the county would continue the current fire protection agreements with various cities through the 鈥済ap鈥� year until the ESD is funded. But that would depend on the cities providing those services agreeing to partner with the county.
Currently, Collin County pays cities and towns to have their fire department answer 911 calls in neighboring unincorporated areas. The county鈥檚 budget for those services is $950,000.
Some cities have opted out of serving the unincorporated areas, saying they need more funds to meet 鈥�the demand鈥� for services.
The following cities opted to have the unincorporated areas included in the ESD. The town of New Hope also requested to include its city limits in the district.
- Blue Ridge
- Celina
- Farmersville
- Fate
- Josephine
- Lavon
- Lowry Crossing
- McKinney
- Melissa
- Murphy
- Nevada
- New Hope
- Parker
- Princeton
- Royse City
- Weston
- Wylie
Other cities didn鈥檛 consent to have their coverage area included in the district or didn鈥檛 respond when the county reached out about the ESD:
- Garland
- Allen
- Anna
- Fairview
- Frisco
- Hebron
- Lucas
- St. Paul
- Trenton
- Van Alstyne
What's next
Forming an ESD is a slow process. The Collin County commissioners have to appoint board members to manage the district and levy and collect taxes.
Emergency Services Districts can levy a property tax rate on homes in the district鈥檚 service area of no more than $0.10 per $100 of a property鈥檚 value of homes in its jurisdiction according to the鈥�
The funds the ESD would collect should increase funding for emergency services, Collin County administrator Yoon Kim told county commissioners at an August meeting.
鈥淭his is a tenfold increase to provide the fire protection,鈥� Kim said.
But he said it would be at least a year before services could begin. Collin County Judge Chris
Hill said at an August commissioners鈥� court meeting he wants to maintain coverage in the meantime.
鈥淓veryone who lives the county drives through it at some point or visits the unincorporated part of county at some points,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淲e just never know when we're going to need a first responder to come and help us. And it benefits everyone to know that we have county-wide coverage that's seamless.鈥�
But, he said, it鈥檚 not up to the county alone 鈥� cities and towns would have to agree to continue coverage at the current level while the ESD was formed.
Jo Ann Graham, an unincorporated Collin County resident who helped petition the county to call for the ESD election, urged the county commissioners at a March meeting to adequately fund emergency protections for the unincorporated areas in the interim while the Emergency Services District process is ongoing.
鈥淲e cannot again wait 43 minutes for the Weston Fire Department to respond to a house fire or a serious car accident east of Melissa,鈥� she said.
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