Bergheim residents officially will have the final word on whether an emergency service district will be created to serve their area.
The Kendall County Commissioners affirmed a petition last week that means the creation of a Bergheim ESD will be on the November 8 ballot.
ESDs are an individually recognized political subdivision that can be developed by a public vote after a petition with 100 signatures is presented to the county.
The independent districts have a board of commissioners which establishes an ad valorem tax rate – which, by state law, cannot exceed 10 cents per $100 of taxable valuation – and can collect part of county sales taxes in the district. The ESD commissioners also would be the overarching entity for all emergency services incorporated into the district and would approve budgets and expenditures.
While there has been some public pushback on the creation of a localized ESD, Bergheim Fire Chief Adam Hawkins repeatedly noted the increased call volumes in the area that have become increasingly difficult to service with volunteers.
“If you’d asked me 10 years ago if I ever thought we’d be in the position we are now at the Bergheim Fire Department, I’d say, ‘No way,’” Bergheim VFD Chief Adam Hawkins, who has been the chief for six years and a volunteer firefighter for 20 years, said in previous discussions. “In fact, when I heard Bergheim Fire Department was going to be a fire department, I said, ‘Why?’ … As of today, the 11th of April for 2022 we’ve already responded to 153 runs. We probably have another 20 or 25 runs we should’ve responded to, in my opinion, that we were not dispatched for.”
In previous meetings to address the ESD’s creation, a resident questioned the increased call volumes, noting very few of the historical structure fires in Kendall County have been in Bergheim. However, Hawkins said the VFD responds to more than just structure fires, including responding to non-major vehicle accidents – with extraction of victims from vehicles and patient care – gas leaks, lift assists, grass fires and even changing out smoke detector batteries for resident who can’t get on a ladder.
In all, Hawkins has said the call volumes in Bergheim have more than doubled in the past four years.
During the meeting last week, a resident urged the commissioners to turn down the ESD’s progress, saying the creation of the Bergheim ESD will lead to other areas in the county following suit. The resident noted a countywide ESD may be a better option.
This wasn’t the first time this concept had been suggested to the commissioners. An attorney specializing in the creation of emergency services districts, Ken Campbell, spoke before Kendall County commissioners, several volunteer fire department heads and the Boerne city manager in December 2020 to discuss the pros and cons of establishing an ESD in Kendall County, “warts and all.”
Campbell warned against having sections of the county haphazardly developed into ESDs independent of each other without advanced planning because the last district to form will most likely end up with little revenue in ad valorem taxes to support the district. Citing Travis County as an example where there are 13 ESDs, Campbell said all the previous districts will have taken “what was good” by the time the final district is developed.
Campbell said the county needs to plan now before it’s behind the curve, and it’s up to it to figure out how many districts, if any, to develop so nobody ends up a “rump steak” with everyone snatching up high property tax income areas for their district, leaving the last district to make no revenue.
An example to warn the commissioners and fire chiefs against breaking the county into smaller ESDs, Campbell said the Sisterdale VFD’s 150-mile-service area could pull in as a little as $44,000 a year in ad valorem taxes if it created its own ESD.
Beyond the concern for a money grab rushing the creation of several ESDs around the county, Sisterdale VFD Chief Brian Reilly expressed concern early on in the ESD discussions that such districts are created at the destruction of the VFDs that have generational legacies in the county. Further, Reilly said there are residents in places like Boerne or Bergheim who have resources to fund such districts, but he said much of the county, like Sisterdale, are “a lot of old German families” that don’t have the same resources.
In the end, the commissioners had no real leg to stand on in way of stopping the Bergheim ESD from ending up on the ballot, according to state law assessed by county counsel Bill Ballard.
Once the 100 required signatures on the petition were met – there were 300 signatures on the ESD petition – the commissioners were left only to determine if the ESD was financially feasible and if it would serve to promote the public safety, welfare, health and convenience of a person in the service area. State law states if those requirements are met, the commissioners “will approve” the ballot item.
Once the 100 required signatures on the petition were met – there were 300 signatures on the ESD petition – the commissioners were left only to determine if the ESD was financially feasible and if it would serve to promote the public safety, welfare, health and convenience of a person in the service area. State law states if those requirements are met, the commissioners “will approve” the ballot item.
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