A decade of fire & EMS decisions, on one page
Every major turn in the Pflugerville fire and EMS dispute, from ESD 2 taking over ambulance service in 2017 to the 2026 vote handing it back. Drawn from public records, court rulings, and local news coverage.
ESD 2 takes over ambulance service
Travis County ESD No. 2 begins providing ambulance transport in Pflugerville, taking it over from Austin-Travis County EMS. ESD 2 says the new service is funded by sales tax. From this point on, the taxes residents pay ESD 2 cover both fire and ambulance service.
Petition filed to create a NEW tax district (ESD 17)
The Pflugerville Professional Firefighters Association files a petition to create Travis County ESD No. 17, a second emergency services district stacked on top of ESD 2, to raise more tax money for EMS. The stated reason: a worst-case projection that ESD 2 would run out of money by 2024.
The 'financial calamity' claim
ESD 2 warns it faces a 'financial calamity' in fiscal year 2024 without more money or 'drastic cuts.' At the time, its unrestricted reserve was about $9 million, roughly four months of expenses. It offered no detailed justification for the shortfall.
City says no, orders an independent study
Pflugerville City Council declines to consent to the ESD 17 overlay and instead hires AP Triton, an independent national fire and EMS consultant, to assess ESD 2's finances and the City's options.
Independent audit: the crisis is self-imposed
AP Triton's 131-page Fire & EMS Assessment concludes that ESD 2 meets or exceeds fire and EMS response standards, but that its financial crisis is self-imposed and the $2.79 million subsidy it wants from the City is unsubstantiated. High staffing hasn't improved service, facilities and equipment are underused, and the District holds excess revenue.
City sues to block the ESD 17 annexation election
Pflugerville City Council unanimously authorizes legal action against the ESD 17 annexation. The City also adopts a franchise requirement so it can charge the ESD a fee for using City roads.
Valuation study: ambulance service can pay for itself
AP Triton's EMS System Valuation Study finds that the ambulance system can meet the City's performance standards with no new tax funding. Three ambulances meet demand, and modernizing the rates would raise revenue to about $3 million.
Residents reject the ESD 17 tax overlay
Pflugerville voters defeat both ESD 17 propositions by a wide margin, about 61% against in the city. Residents refuse to be added to a second taxing district.
ESD 2 quits ambulance service
After the City refuses its subsidy demand, ESD 2 stops providing ambulance transport to Pflugerville. The City had already lined up a private provider, Acadian Ambulance, to keep residents covered.
Allegiance Mobile Health takes over EMS, at no cost to the City
After ESD 2 refuses to negotiate a reasonable rate, the City contracts with Allegiance Mobile Health for ambulance service. The contract comes at no cost to the City's general fund.
7,097 residents petition to roll back the ESD 2 sales tax
A citizen group turns in a petition with 7,097 signatures, well over the roughly 4,400 required and the largest signature drive in Pflugerville history, asking for an election to reduce ESD 2's sales tax, since ESD 2 no longer provides the ambulance service that tax was meant to fund.
ESD 2 refuses to call the election
The unelected ESD 2 board declines to call the election, saying the petition's wording is 'legally insufficient.' Critics note that ESD 2 used its taxpayer-funded website and mailers to campaign against the petition.
Residents sue (writ of mandamus)
Three voters, represented by former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire, sue to force ESD 2 to call the election.
Texas Supreme Court orders the election
The Texas Supreme Court rules that the ESD 2 board has to verify the petition and call the election. The board can set the ballot language, but it can't refuse to let voters decide.
City locks in Allegiance through 2028
The City approves a contract with Allegiance Mobile Health for July 2024 through September 2028: $1.3 million a year, flat, with no annual increases and monthly performance reporting.
ESD 2 calls the election, on the last possible day, at 9 p.m.
ESD 2 finally calls the sales-tax election. By calling it at the last available moment, it pushes the vote past November, and the City loses the chance to schedule a companion measure.
The Prop A campaign and vote
Proposition A would reclaim a half-cent of ESD 2 sales tax so the City could fund ambulance service. ESD 2 and the firefighters union run an intense campaign warning of layoffs and station closures and casting the measure as an attack on firefighters. The measure fails.
Council hands ambulances back to ESD 2 at 1:30 a.m.
In a vote held around 1:30 in the morning, a City Council majority ends the private ambulance contract and hands the service back to ESD 2, effective October 2026 — reportedly about $600,000 a year more than the private provider, with a built-in annual increase, and despite ESD 2's slower response times. A late-night vote by a handful of members drew little public scrutiny.
Want the sources behind each entry? Every claim on this timeline traces back to the documents listed on the Sources & methodology page: the City’s official Fire/EMS record, the AP Triton studies, ESD 2’s own financials, court records, and reporting from the time.