In September 2016, Travis County Fire Rescue ESD No. 11 was informed about the City of Austin's intention to annex a small portion of land within ESD No. 11. The area was a 27-acre tract along Interstate 35, south of Slaughter Lane. The site is occupied by a Holt Cat construction equipment dealership, whose sales tax proceeds contributed greatly to ESD No. 11’s sales tax revenue. Losing the business to the city would cost the district approximately 32 percent of its annual $3.4 million budget. Link
In order to supplement the sales tax money being lost from the annexation (which took effect in April 2018), the ESD proposed the creation of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 15. ESD No. 15 would create a new taxing entity that would lay over the exact boundaries of ESD No. 11. Unlike ESD No. 11, ESD No. 15 wouldn’t collect sales tax, only property tax. It would have an independent board and the authority to set a tax rate up to the maximum 10 cents per $100 of property value. The additional tax revenue would provide fire protection to the district, by contracting with ESD No. 11 to provide it.
On May 6th, 2017, 94% of voters approved the creation of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 15. Links: 1 & 2
