Lago Vista taxpayers' $799.54 ESD bill isn't double, Evert says

Mark Evert, the president of the board that runs Lago Vista's fire and ambulance service, told us on Oct. 17, 2026, that residents are not paying twice for the same ambulance service.^1,2 A median-valued home pays $399.77 to Travis County Emergency Services District No. 1 (ESD 1) and $399.77 to ESD 7 this year, or $799.54 for both.^3,4 ESD 7's 2027 budget sends $6,000,000 of that money to ESD 1, which runs the district's ambulances.^5,6 Separately, Travis County would pay the City of Austin up to $19,546,639 in 2026-27 for ambulance service outside Austin and dispatch help for its medical helicopter, as Evert said.^1,7

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AI voices

A two-host briefing. The voices are AI generated. Read the transcript.

The interview

Real voices

ESD 1 board President Mark Evert, interviewed by editor Jack Britton

Recorded October 17, 2026 · 16 minutes

The full recording, unedited. Evert agreed we could publish it. It was recorded outdoors at the Lago Vista Brewery, so you may hear wind, children, and a helicopter.

A tilt-shift model of a small limestone fire station at sunset with two open bays, a red ambulance in one and a yellow ambulance in the other, beside a winding road through live oaks toward a lake. AI illustration, not a real scene from Lago Vista. — AI illustration. Image credits.

The two-district total is our calculation from the cited records.

Quotes from the interview come from our recording, which Evert agreed we could publish. For the full context of his remarks, listen to the whole interview in the player near the top of this page, or read the transcript.

What an ESD is and who runs it

An emergency services district (ESD) is a local government created by voters to fund fire protection, ambulance service, or both.⁸ State law calls it a political subdivision of the state, a local unit of government.⁹ The Travis County Commissioners Court appoints its five commissioners to two-year terms.¹⁰ ESD 1 is Lago Vista's fire department.¹¹

ESD 7 pays ESD 1 to provide ambulance service within ESD 7's boundaries.⁶

The same five people sit on both boards, and the two boards meet together.^12,13 Evert is ESD 1's president and ESD 7's treasurer.^2,14 Both districts set a rate of $0.10 per $100 of taxable value for 2026.^2,15

What we reported before

Our Oct. 13 story, Lago Vista fire district keeps 10-cent tax, plans $15.2M budget, found that ESD 1 kept its $0.10 rate and plans to spend $15,241,048 in 2027.¹⁶ Our story on ESD 7's tax rate found that ESD 7 set its rate at the 10-cent limit and sends most of its budget to ESD 1.^5,15 This story adds Evert's on-record account of why there are two districts and two tax lines, and our check of what he said against public records.

Who Evert is

Evert met with editor Jack Britton at the Lago Vista Brewery. He said, "I'm the longest serving commissioner right now." He said he has served about 12 years and has been reappointed six times.¹

The Commissioners Court first appointed him to ESD 1 on Jan. 14, 2014.¹⁷ It reappointed him to ESD 1 on Jan. 14, 2020. His ESD 7 seat was renewed on Jan. 8, 2019.¹⁸ We did not find records of each of his reappointments.^17,18

The other four commissioners joined later.^19,20 Commissioner Mary Cameron took her oath in January 2022.¹⁹ Commissioners Colleen O'Brien, Clint Surginer, and Steve Finley took theirs in January 2025.²⁰

The board elected him president in January 2025 and kept its officers in January 2026.^12,20 He said, "We don't take direction from the county." He said the county's only real power over the board is to not renew a commissioner's term.¹

Evert said he will lobby at the Texas Capitol for the district and for the State Association of Fire and Emergency Districts (SAFE-D).¹ SAFE-D is a statewide group for ESDs that has existed since 2001.²¹

Why there are two districts

Evert said voters created ESD 1 "sometime in the early, early 90s."¹ The district's 2025 audit gives an earlier date. Voters approved the district on May 6, 1989, and before that it was a rural fire prevention district.²²

He said ESD 1 handled only firefighting until 2016, and Travis County ran two ambulances in the area.¹ In an email on Oct. 19, he wrote that the same two county ambulances served the area from 2014, when he started serving, until 2016.²³ He said the board then asked voters to approve ESD 7 to pay for ambulance service.¹ Voters approved ESD 7 on Nov. 8, 2016, to provide medical services and no other emergency services.⁶

Today's ESD 7 is the second district with that name. An older ESD 7 merged into ESD 1 after an election on Nov. 8, 2005.²²

ESD 7 has a contract with ESD 1, called an interlocal agreement, for fiscal years 2018 to 2037.⁶ Evert said ESD 7 "basically just, just pays the bill." He said ESD 1 runs fire and ambulance service as one unit.¹

County ambulances and district ambulances

Residents had asked why they see county ambulances and district ambulances. Evert said, "It's not really a duplicative service." He said county ambulances sit at or near two ESD 1 stations, and the district has three more at other stations.¹

A county map of stations for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) lists two of its medic stations in ESD 1. The map marks both as funded by an ESD.²⁴ It lists one at 3605 Allegiance Ave. in Lago Vista, which ESD 1's website still shows as its Station 109.^24,25 Appraisal district records show that property was sold to a private owner in December 2022.²⁶ Evert wrote on Oct. 19 that ESD 1 no longer owns it and now hosts the county ambulance at Station 103 on Lohman Ford Road.²³ ESD 1's website puts Station 103 at 4711 Lohman Ford Rd., and the county map lists Fire Station 103 as a shared site for that medic unit. The map lists the other medic station at 18310 Park Dr. in Jonestown, on the same street as Station 102.^24,25 Evert wrote that ATCEMS owns that building.²³

In 2021, the boards approved an amended contract that added a third district ambulance starting in fiscal 2024.²⁷

Evert said all units are dispatched by who is closest to a call. He said, "Their trucks are yellow, ours are red." He added, "it's not like you're paying twice for the same thing."¹

The county's ambulance bill

Evert said the county pays Austin $19 million a year for ambulance service.¹ A Sept. 10, 2026, Austin City Council item sets the county's payment under that contract at up to $19,546,639 in 2026-27. That is 3.5% more than the year before.⁷ The county's share for 2025-26 was $18,884,963.²⁸

Evert said the county has begun what it calls an "efficiency audit."¹ The record we found describes a study. On June 4, 2024, the Commissioners Court approved up to $400,000 for a consultant on options to fund emergency medical response outside Austin.²⁹ County Executive for Emergency Services Charles Brotherton told the court that "the sustainability of the county's financial commitment should be examined."^30,31 Evert wrote on Oct. 19 that Brotherton told him the consultant is taking longer than expected. He wrote that Brotherton does not expect the final report until early 2027.²³

Evert said he thinks the county may want to hand ambulance service to ESDs and other local bodies. He said, "that's pure speculation on my part." He said the district would be happy to take on the work and could do it "more cost effectively than what the county does."¹

Wildfire deployments and the district's cash

Britton asked if the district was doing well with cash. Evert said it was, partly because of money from the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS).¹ TIFMAS is a Texas A&M Forest Service program that sends local fire crews where the state needs them.³²

He said the district collected about $4.5 million from it last year, and most of that pays the salaries of firefighters it sends out. He said the state also pays for the use of the district's equipment, and that may pay more than it costs the district. He said, "We have people deployed right now."¹

ESD 1's 2025 audit covers the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2025.²² For the year that ended Sept. 30, 2026, a district budget report shows $4,562,311 on its line for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and TIFMAS.^33,34 That amount was 94.07% of the line's $4,850,000 budget. That one line combines both programs, so it does not show how much came from TIFMAS alone.³³ The board's Oct. 14 agenda listed the treasurer's report for the period ending Sept. 30.³⁵ Evert sent us the report's first page on Oct. 19. He wrote that FEMA also pays the district back for deployments out of state, such as the California wildfires in early 2025.²³

On April 8, 2026, the board voted 3-0 to raise its budget for federal and TIFMAS reimbursements to $2.25 million. Commissioner Mary Cameron made the motion, and Commissioner Colleen O'Brien seconded it. The same vote raised the budget for TIFMAS overtime pay from $1.6 million to $2.5 million.³⁶ The chief's report to the board on Sept. 9, 2026, said 15 people and six vehicles were deployed, at $6,000 a day for the vehicles.³⁷ Evert wrote that the district budgets this income conservatively because the amount it receives is not guaranteed.²³

Wildfire risk and the lake

Britton asked what happens if a wildfire cuts off roads near a lake park. Evert said evacuation routes depend on the wind and where a fire is, so they are "situational in nature." He added, "Getting close to the lake in most cases would be a good thing." He said the district would coordinate with the city.¹

He said Lago Vista sits where homes meet wild land, as Bastrop did in 2011.¹ The Texas A&M Forest Service says that fire destroyed 1,660 homes and 36 commercial buildings.³⁸ Evert said, "we feel that we're prepared for it."¹

The emergency center and the 2025 floods

Evert said ESD 1 runs an emergency operations center in the building that holds its offices.¹ ESD 1's 2027 budget sets aside $125,000 for office space and the center.¹⁶ He said the center last opened for the July 2025 floods, with the sheriff's office, other fire departments, and county emergency staff.¹

The federal government added Travis County to the July 2025 flood disaster declaration on July 10, 2025.³⁴ On July 21, 2025, Fire Chief Donald Norman told the board how the district responded to the flood, which the minutes date July 5.^36,39

A flood siren at Station 104

Evert said the county will put a test flood siren on Sandy Creek at ESD 1's Station 104.¹ Station 104 is at 14401 Round Mountain Rd.²⁵ He said the board agreed to let the county build a tower there, under a contract between the two governments.¹

The board's Oct. 14, 2026, agenda lists an item on an agreement with the county to put a flood siren at Station 104.³⁵ On Sept. 29, 2026, Brotherton told the Commissioners Court the county had hired a contractor for a three-site test, and the Sandy Creek area is one of the sites.⁴⁰

Sales tax and other districts

Evert said residents have backed the districts at the polls. He said they voted for ESD 7 and in five other elections, which were about sales tax and one expansion of ESD 7.¹

We found records of two of those elections.^41,42

On May 1, 2021, voters were asked to add areas near Leander, including the Sandy Creek neighborhood, to ESD 7. Those areas were already in ESD 1 for fire service.⁴¹

On May 7, 2022, ESD 1 asked voters to raise its sales tax from 1% to 2%.⁴² The chief later told the board, "We won the sales tax election by 122 votes."⁴³

Evert said, "We don't get a lot of revenue from sales tax."¹ He put it at about $650,000 a year, the amount in ESD 1's 2027 budget.^1,16 The district collected $836,228 in sales tax in fiscal 2025.²²

He compared that with ESD 6, the Lakeway-area district, which he said gets almost $10 million a year.¹ ESD 6's 2027 budget plans $9,662,000 in sales tax.⁴⁴ Evert put ESD 6's budget at $35 million a year.¹ Its 2026 budget planned $35,810,000 in total revenue, and its 2027 budget plans $37,800,000.⁴⁴ Evert said ESD 1 covers a bigger area but has less retail.¹

What we could not find

When the county's two medic stations in ESD 1 opened. Evert suggested asking Brotherton's office at Travis County.^23,24
A current county list of where its ambulances are stationed. The map we found carries no update date.²⁴
A record showing who owns the medic station building on Park Drive in Jonestown.²³
A record of what the county's 2024 consultant study found. Evert wrote that the final report is not expected until early 2027.^23,29
How the $4,562,311 splits between FEMA and TIFMAS money.³³
When the board raised that budget line from $2.25 million in April to $4,850,000. Later minutes approve "any budget amendments" without listing them.^13,33,36
Records of all five elections Evert described.¹
The board's vote on the Station 104 siren, until the Oct. 14 minutes are posted.³⁵

What you can do

Sign up for emergency alerts. Travis County says to register a cell phone at WarnCentralTexas.org, because the system otherwise calls only landlines.⁴⁵
Make your home safer from wildfire. Lago Vista Firewise, a resident group that is not a government agency, runs the Firewise USA program from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).⁴⁶ Evert said the program is coordinated with the department but not sponsored by it.¹
Go to a board meeting. The next regular ESD 1 meeting is Nov. 11, 2026, at 3:30 p.m.³⁵
Ask for records. Anyone can ask ESD 1 for the Station 104 siren agreement and a split of its FEMA and TIFMAS income.^33,35

Podcast transcript

Read the transcript

Host 1. This is the Lago Vista Watchdog briefing. The two voices you are hearing are AI generated. Every fact in this episode is sourced in the full story on our website, and a person validates each story before it is published.

Host 2. Here is the bottom line. Mark Evert is the president of the board that runs Lago Vista's fire and ambulance service. He told us on October 17, 2026, that residents are not paying twice for the same ambulance service.

Host 1. The district tax notices show that a median-valued home pays 399.77 dollars to Travis County Emergency Services District Number 1, called ESD 1, and 399.77 dollars to ESD 7 this year. That is 799.54 dollars for both, by our math.

Host 2. ESD 7's 2027 budget sends 6 million dollars of that money to ESD 1, which runs the district's ambulances. Separately, Travis County pays Austin for ambulance service outside Austin and dispatch help for its medical helicopter. An Austin City Council item caps that payment at 19,546,639 dollars for 2026 and 2027.

Host 1. First, some background. An emergency services district, or ESD, is a local government created by voters to fund fire protection, ambulance service, or both. Under state law, the Travis County Commissioners Court appoints its five commissioners to two-year terms.

Host 2. ESD 1 is Lago Vista's fire department. ESD 7 pays ESD 1 to provide ambulance service inside ESD 7's boundaries, according to ESD 7's audit. The same five people sit on both boards, and the boards meet together. Both districts set a rate of 10 cents per 100 dollars of taxable value for 2026.

Host 1. Our earlier stories covered each district's tax rate and budget. This one adds Evert's own account, and our check of what he said against public records.

Host 2. Evert met with our editor, Jack Britton, at the Lago Vista Brewery. He said, quote, "I'm the longest serving commissioner right now." He said he has served about 12 years and has been reappointed six times.

Host 1. County records show the Commissioners Court first appointed him to ESD 1 on January 14, 2014. Board minutes show the board elected him president in January 2025, and kept its officers in January 2026. He also said, "We don't take direction from the county."

Host 2. Next, why there are two districts. Evert said voters created ESD 1 sometime in the early nineties. But the district's 2025 audit gives an earlier date. Voters approved the district on May 6, 1989.

Host 1. He said ESD 1 handled only firefighting until 2016, and Travis County ran ambulances in the area. Then the board asked voters to approve ESD 7 to pay for ambulance service. ESD 7's audit says voters approved it on November 8, 2016, for medical services only.

Host 2. ESD 7 has a contract with ESD 1, called an interlocal agreement, for fiscal years 2018 to 2037. Evert said ESD 7, quote, "basically just, just pays the bill."

Host 1. Now the question residents asked. Why do they see county ambulances and district ambulances? Evert said, "It's not really a duplicative service." He said county ambulances sit at or near two ESD 1 stations, and the district has three more at other stations.

Host 2. A county map of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services stations lists two of its medic stations in ESD 1. It lists one on Allegiance Avenue in Lago Vista. But appraisal district records show that property was sold to a private owner in December 2022. In an email on October 19, Evert wrote that the county ambulance is now at ESD 1's Station 103 on Lohman Ford Road. The map lists the other medic station on Park Drive in Jonestown, on the same street as Station 102. And in 2021, the boards approved a contract change that added a third district ambulance.

Host 1. Evert said all units are dispatched by who is closest to a call. He said, "Their trucks are yellow, ours are red." And he added, "it's not like you're paying twice for the same thing."

Host 2. Next, the county's bill. The Austin council item says the county's payment rises 3.5 percent from the year before. County minutes put the county's share for 2025 and 2026 at 18,884,963 dollars.

Host 1. Evert said the county has begun what it calls an efficiency audit. The record we found describes a study. On June 4, 2024, the Commissioners Court approved up to 400,000 dollars for a consultant on options to fund emergency medical response outside Austin.

Host 2. Evert wrote on October 19 that Charles Brotherton, the county's emergency services chief, does not expect the final report until early 2027. He said he thinks the county may want to hand ambulance service to districts like his. But he said, "that's pure speculation on my part." He said the district could do the work "more cost effectively than what the county does."

Host 1. Then, wildfire deployments. Evert said the district is doing well with cash, partly because of money from a Texas A and M Forest Service program that sends local fire crews where the state needs them. It is called the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System.

Host 2. He said the district collected about 4.5 million dollars from it last year. A district budget report for the year that ended September 30, 2026, shows 4,562,311 dollars on its line for reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and that program. That one line combines both, so it does not show how much came from the Texas program alone. Evert sent us the report on October 19. He wrote that FEMA also pays the district back for deployments out of state.

Host 1. On April 8, 2026, the board voted 3 to 0 to raise its budget for those reimbursements to 2.25 million dollars, the minutes show. The same vote raised the budget for deployment overtime pay from 1.6 million dollars to 2.5 million dollars. The year-end report shows a budget of 4,850,000 dollars for that line. Evert wrote that the district budgets this money conservatively, because the amount it receives is not guaranteed.

Host 2. On wildfire risk, Evert said evacuation routes depend on the wind and where a fire is, so they are, quote, "situational in nature." He added, "Getting close to the lake in most cases would be a good thing."

Host 1. He said ESD 1 runs an emergency operations center in the building that holds its offices, and that it last opened for the July 2025 floods. ESD 1's 2027 budget sets aside 125,000 dollars for office space and the center.

Host 2. Evert also said the county will put a test flood siren on Sandy Creek, at ESD 1's Station 104. The board's October 14 agenda lists an item on that siren. And on September 29, 2026, the county's emergency services chief told the Commissioners Court that the Sandy Creek area is one of three test sites.

Host 1. Last, sales tax. Evert said, "We don't get a lot of revenue from sales tax." He put it at about 650,000 dollars a year, which is the amount in ESD 1's 2027 budget. The audit shows the district collected 836,228 dollars in fiscal 2025.

Host 2. He compared that with ESD 6, the Lakeway-area district. Its 2027 budget plans 9,662,000 dollars in sales tax. Evert said ESD 1 covers a bigger area but has less retail.

Host 1. Some things we could not find. We found no record of what the county's 2024 study found, and no record of when the board raised that budget line to 4,850,000 dollars. The October 14 minutes, with the siren vote, are not posted yet.

Host 2. Here is what you can do. Travis County says to sign up your cell phone on the Warn Central Texas website, because the alert system otherwise calls only landlines. And the next regular ESD 1 board meeting is on the afternoon of November 11, 2026.

Host 1. You can hear the full interview with Mark Evert, and read the transcript and every source, on our website. Thanks for listening to the Lago Vista Watchdog.

Sources and documents

Every fact in this story comes from the records below. The small numbers in the story point to them. Links go to the exact moment in the meeting video or the page in the document.

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