Fleet maintenance is a major horn for us. There trucks are used a lot. They’re used hard. They require a ton of maintenance. We are required to use backups,” Sutherland said.
Correction: In the previous version of this article, the presenter was misidentified. The person pictured in the top photo is Health Sutherland, not Mac McLaughlin.
by Michael Robinson |Uvalde Hesperian
10-21-24
In a second-floor room located above the Uvalde Volunteer Fire Department’s station located on South Getty Street Heath Sutherland and about a dozen people, primarily UFD members and a few local citizens met Thursday evening, October 17th for a slide show presentation on the proposed Emergency Services District or ESD ballot item.
If approved by the voters, a new taxing entity would be created providing tax funding for Uvalde, Knippa, Sabinal and Reagan Wells Fire Volunteer Fire Departments. The new ESD would cover most of Uvalde County barring the Concan and Utopia areas which are covered under ESD 1.
Currently the Uvalde, Knippa, Sabinal and Reagan Wells fire Departments are funded by Uvalde County Commissioners and Uvalde VFD receives funding from the City of Uvalde.
According to Sutherland an ESD can impose a property tax to support or provide emergency services within the district and the property tax cannot exceed 10 cents per $100 property valuation.
Each ESD has a board of five members appointed by the Commissioners Court and the board governs the amount of money each fire department receives. The Board and Commissioners Court approves the tax rate up to the 10-cent maximum.
If the ESD election is passed the money the County and the City are allocating the respective fire departments would go back to their respective budgets.
“Our budget hasn’t really increased in I don’t know how long, and prices have gone through the roof,” Mclaughlin Jr. said.
Aging Equipment
Sutherland also stated the average fire truck age of a Uvalde VFD is 35 years.
By NFDA standards these trucks should be retired.
“Fleet maintenance is a major horn for us. There trucks are used a lot. They’re used hard. They require a ton of maintenance. They are required to use backups,” Sutherland said.
Individual Fire Fighter Equipment
“The total cost per fire fighter is just under $18, 000. It’s extremely expensive.” he said.
Sutherland said the new ESD tax is roughly estimated to bring in about $2 million.
The ESD tax money would also enable the fire departments to attend more trainings and ultimately improve response times as additional stations could be built reducing response times,
“We’ve always had great support from the community. Whether or not the ESD passes, we’re still going to do the best we can every time.” he said.
