Travis County ESD No. 2 · Pflugerville, Texas
Pflugerville Fire Department
The “Pflugerville Fire Department” is the public name of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2, a separate government that provides fire and emergency medical services to Pflugerville and parts of northeastern Travis County. It runs on its own property and sales taxes, and its board is appointed by Travis County, not elected by the residents who pay for it.
Overview
What it actually is
Most people assume the City of Pflugerville runs the fire department. It doesn’t. Fire and ambulance service come from Travis County ESD No. 2, a separate government with its own taxes and an appointed board. The City doesn’t employ its firefighters, write its budget, or hold a seat on its board.
About 97% of the department’s calls are medical, not fires. It ran Pflugerville’s ambulances from 2017 until it stopped at the end of 2021, forcing the City to hire a private company — and in 2026 the City Council voted to hand the service back to ESD 2 at a higher price.
The pages that follow document the budget and reserves, response times and staffing, the ambulance dispute, the full timeline, and a fact check of what the district has claimed.
The number to remember
The “financial calamity” that never came
In 2020, the district warned it would run out of money by 2024 unless it got more taxes. Instead, its savings climbed to a record $57 million.
View the data
| Year | Actual net assets | ESD 2's 'doomsday' forecast |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $18M | $16M |
| 2018 | $20M | $14.5M |
| 2019 | $25M | $14.5M |
| 2020 | $32M | $14.5M |
| 2021 | $41M | $13M |
| 2022 | $51M | $9.5M |
| 2023 | $57M | $4M |
Source: ESD 2 audited financial statements, budgets and forecasts.
Firefighters do hard, necessary work. The question is where the money goes. See the full budget breakdown →
Their claims, next to the numbers
Every election season brings the same warnings about the fire department: layoffs, station closures, “you hate first responders.” The financial records behind them are public.
See the claimsThe full record
Explore in detail
01What is an ESD?
Why it’s not the city, why the board is appointed, and what Texas law does and doesn’t require.
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02Budget & finances
Revenue, reserves, and the “financial calamity” that never came. Where the surplus went.
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03The ambulance service
How it took over ambulances, cut them off to pressure the City, and got them handed back for more.
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04Response & staffing
Staffing tripled and spending doubled, but response times never reached the 8-minute standard.
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05Full timeline
Every major decision from 2017 to today, sourced to public records and news coverage.
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06Claims vs. facts
The talking points you hear at election time, checked against the district’s own numbers.
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