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Tough decision over future of Pflugerville’s ambulance service
The pandemic's heavy financial strain has forced Pflugerville to make a tough decision about the future of its ambulance service. FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak talks about that and a rally that's planned.
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - The pandemic has put a heavy financial strain on cities and towns across our area. In Pflugerville, that means a tough decision about the future of the city’s ambulance service.
A "Save Our Ambulance" car rally is planned for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday across from the Central Fire Station.
That rally is happening ahead of the 7:00 City Council meeting—where the seven-member council is expected to discuss options for the city’s EMS service. There will also be an opportunity for the public to weigh in via Zoom.
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This comes after the fire chief notified the City Council in November that the Pflugerville Fire Department was likely going to run out of money to cover ambulances.
The council will vote Tuesday evening on whether to create a new emergency services district—which would allow more funding to be made available for ambulance and emergency transport services. That, however, would result in a tax hike for people within that new district.
Another possibility is that the service could be put under the control of a private company— though a final decision on that would have to be made by the local fire district.
The local firefighters union, Pflugerville Professional Firefighters, supports the creation of the so-called "overlay district", arguing that hiring an outside company would negatively impact the speed and quality of service.
The two Travis County Commissioners whose precincts include Pflugerville say they support letting voters decide whether to create that overlay district.
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