Westlake Fire Dept. seeks sales tax hike

Additional levy of 0.015 cents on Saturday ballot would help buy firetrucks.

On the ballot Saturday for residents in the unincorporated areas in Emergency Services District No. 9 is a proposition for a 0.015-cent tax levy to the Westlake Fire Department, which Chief Mike Elliott said should go a long way toward replacing the property tax that vanished when Lost Creek was annexed by Austin in 2015.

Currently, the ESD’s property tax is about 7.3 cents per $100 property valuation.

The sales tax would only be levied in areas of the district that are not within the cities of Austin, Rollingwood or West Lake Hills. This patchwork area includes the Granduca Hotel, County Line Barbecue and Speedy Stop Gas Station.

“A lot of commuters come through our district, and our taxpayers are paying for their service,” Elliot said. “And a sales tax would definitely help augment the cost of that . ... We’re looking at purchasing some new fire engines, and they’re pretty expensive. A sales tax could help pay for those.

“We could just increase the property tax, but I think most homeowners would probably say that tax is pretty high right now,” he added.

Currently, the sales tax breakdown in ESD No. 9 is that 0.0625 percent goes toward the state, and 0.005 percent goes to the Westbank Library District. ESD No. 9 wants to increase the overall sales tax rate by 0.015 cents.

The ESD projects the revenue from the sales tax will handily make up for the $500,000 or so a year lost in Lost Creek property tax revenue.

“We’re encouraging people to get out and vote,” Elliot said. “The election is not a huge election with bonds for the Eanes area or anything. It’s not a presidential election or anything like that. But we’re urging people to get out and vote.”