ESD 7 sets 10-cent tax rate, sends $6M of budget to ESD 1

Percentages, differences, and per-home figures in this story are our calculations from the cited records. Tax rates are dollars per $100 of taxable value, which is a property's value after exemptions.

What ESD 7 is and who decides

An emergency services district (ESD) is a local government created by voters to fund fire protection, emergency medical services, or both.⁶ Voters approved ESD 7 on Nov. 8, 2016, to provide medical services and no other emergency services. Its audit says it serves Lago Vista, Jonestown, and Point Venture, along with a large portion of unincorporated Travis County.⁵

ESD 7 has an interlocal agreement, which is a contract between two governments, with ESD 1. Under it, ESD 1 provides emergency medical services within ESD 7's boundaries for fiscal years 2018 to 2037.⁵

The district's website says a county commissioners court appoints an ESD's five commissioners to staggered, two-year terms.⁶ The 2026 resolution is signed by Mary Cameron as president and Steve Finley as secretary. It also names commissioners Clint Surginer, Mark Evert, and Colleen O'Brien.¹

The district's fiscal year, its budget year, ends on Sept. 30.⁵ The 2026 tax rate helps pay for its 2027 fiscal year, which this story calls fiscal 2027.³ So a rate set in September 2026 pays for a budget that runs from Oct. 1, 2026, to Sept. 30, 2027.^3,5

A district's tax rate has two parts.¹ The maintenance and operations (M&O) part pays day-to-day costs, and the debt service part pays back borrowed money.^1,7 The no-new-revenue (NNR) rate is the rate that would raise the same tax from the same properties as the year before. The voter-approval rate is the highest rate a district may adopt without an election.⁷

ESD 7's website says the Texas Constitution lets ESDs levy no more than 10 cents per $100 of property value.⁶ The $0.10 rate sits at that cap.^1,6

Our earlier story on ESD 1's budget found that ESD 1 also kept a $0.10 rate and receives $6,000,000 from ESD 7 in 2027, and that a property inside both districts pays both rates. This story looks at ESD 7's side of that payment, its own rate, and what its taxpayers pay.

How the rate got to $0.10

The board adopted $0.091 for 2024 on Aug. 22, 2024, split into $0.0719 for M&O and $0.0191 for debt service.⁸ The 2026 rate is $0.009 above that 2024 rate.^1,8

On Sept. 10, 2025, Commissioner Mark Evert moved to adopt a $0.099967 rate, Commissioner Clint Surginer seconded, and all voted aye.⁹ That rate split into $0.075222 for M&O and $0.024745 for debt service. The 2025 resolution said the rate would raise taxes for maintenance and operations on a $100,000 home by about $3.32.²

The district's 2025 worksheet put its voter-approval rate at $0.099967, and the board adopted exactly that rate.^2,10 The same worksheet put the NNR rate at $0.091783.¹⁰

The Aug. 12, 2026, meeting

At 3:36 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2026, Commissioner Steve Finley called the joint meeting of ESD 1 and ESD 7 to order. Commissioners Cameron, O’Brien, Surginer, and Finley were present, and Commissioner Evert was not.¹¹

Early in that meeting, the board voted on borrowing. Commissioner Colleen O'Brien moved to approve a resolution on a promissory note and security agreement to finance “fire apparatus, emergency vehicles and equipment,” Surginer seconded, and it passed 4-0. In plain terms, the board approved a loan to pay for fire vehicles and equipment. The minutes say ESD 1 did not consider the item and give no amount or lender.¹¹

The board heard a presentation of the preliminary 2026-27 budget, and the minutes say no action was needed. Surginer then moved to propose a 2026 ESD 7 tax rate of .10, O'Brien seconded, and all voted aye in a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Mary Cameron next moved to set a public hearing for Sept. 9, 2026, at 2:30 p.m., and Surginer seconded. The minutes say all voted aye, but they give no tally.¹¹

The Sept. 9, 2026, hearing and vote

The district posted a notice of a public hearing and special meeting in Lago Vista at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2026. It listed a public hearing and then votes to adopt the 2027 budget, the M&O rate, the debt rate, and the total rate. A 2025 state law, House Bill 1522, requires such a notice to carry a taxpayer impact statement. That statement compares the tax bill on the median-valued homestead this year with an estimate for next year.³

That statement puts the median home at $399,766 for 2026, where it lists $439,088 for 2025. At $0.10, the bill is $399.77. The statement compares that with $434.55 at a rate of $0.1087, which it calls the no-new-revenue rate.³

The district's rate worksheet shows other figures. It puts the NNR rate at $0.1053 and the voter-approval rate at $0.1087.⁷ At $0.1053, the median home would pay $420.95, or $21.18 more than at $0.10.^3,7 The $0.10 rate is below both.⁷

The signed resolution says the board adopted $0.0737 for M&O and $0.0263 for debt service, for a total of $0.10.¹ Compared with 2025, the M&O part fell from $0.075222 and the debt part rose from $0.024745.^1,2 The resolution says the rate “will not raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year's tax rate.”¹

How they voted

The signed resolution shows Mary Cameron, Steve Finley, Mark Evert, and Colleen O'Brien present and voting for the rate. It shows Clint Surginer absent and marks no one against or abstaining.¹

The resolution covers the rate only, and the records we reviewed do not include minutes of the Sept. 9 meeting.^1,12 So who moved and seconded the rate, and whether the board voted on the 2027 budget, is not confirmed.³ The district's posted budget is titled “FY-2027 - Adopted Budget.”⁴

What the numbers show

Total taxable value fell from $6,914,032,320 on the 2025 worksheet to $6,666,378,695 on the 2026 worksheet, a drop of 3.6%.^7,10 The 2026 worksheet puts the adjusted 2025 levy, the tax the old rate raised, at $6,909,494. A $0.10 rate on the 2026 value raises $6,666,379, which is $243,115 less.⁷

As values fell, the NNR rate rose from $0.091783 to $0.1053, and the board set its rate below it.^1,7,10 The voter-approval rate of $0.1087 is above the 10-cent cap that the district's website describes.^6,7

Where the money goes

ESD 7's fiscal 2027 budget counts $7,084,339 in income and $7,079,389 in spending, which leaves $4,950.⁴ The fiscal 2026 budget counted $6,659,339 in income and $5,708,916 in spending, which left $950,423.¹³ Planned spending for fiscal 2027 is 24.0% higher.^4,13

ESD 7 paid ESD 1 $4,550,000 in fiscal 2025.⁵ The largest line in the 2027 budget is $6,000,000 for what the budget calls “ILA TCESD 1,” or 84.8% of spending.⁴ The 2026 budget listed $5,000,000 for the same line.¹³

The audit's payment schedule lists $5,000,000 for 2026 and $5,500,000 for 2027.⁵ The 2027 budget's $6,000,000 is $500,000 above that.^4,5

The budget counts $6,000,000 in M&O tax collections and $964,339 in debt tax collections.⁴ The audit says property taxes were 96.55% of ESD 7's general fund revenue in fiscal 2025.⁵

What it means for you

The district's 2026 notice puts the median home's ESD 7 bill at $399.77 and its 2025 bill at $438.94.³ The 2025 notice had put that 2025 bill at $402.73, on a median value of $402,859.¹⁴ The 2026 notice lists the same 2025 median at $439,088.³ No record we reviewed explains the gap or shows what one median-home owner paid in each year, so we cannot say how much the bill fell.^3,14

On $100,000 of taxable value, the 2026 rate raises $100.00, and the 2025 rate raised $99.97. A home whose taxable value did not change therefore pays about 3 cents more per $100,000.^1,2

About 85 cents of each budgeted dollar goes to ESD 1 for emergency medical services under the agreement.^4,5

Where it stands

The board's next regular meeting after the vote was set for 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2026. Its agenda listed approval of the Sept. 9 minutes. The Oct. 14 results are not posted in the records we reviewed.¹²

What we could not find

• The minutes of the Sept. 9, 2026, meeting, which would show who moved, who seconded, and how each commissioner voted on the budget.¹²
• Why the 2027 budget counts $6,964,339 in tax collections for M&O and debt when $0.10 on the 2026 taxable value raises $6,666,379.^4,7
• Why the worksheet lists $1,756,464 in debt to be paid with taxes while the budget's debt payments total $964,339.^4,7
• Why the 2027 budget prints the debt rate as 0.063, when the resolution says $0.0263.^1,4
• Why the notice names $0.105200, then $0.108700, as the NNR rate when the worksheet says $0.1053.^3,7
• Why the 2025 and 2026 notices give different 2025 median values, $402,859 and $439,088.^3,14
• Why the 2027 budget pays ESD 1 $6,000,000 when the audit's schedule lists $5,500,000.^4,5
• The amount and lender of the note approved Aug. 12.¹¹ The 2027 budget lists $350,000 in payments to Huntington, a lender the 2025 audit does not list, and no record says whether that is the new note.^4,5
• Which Lago Vista homes lie inside ESD 7 and pay its tax. A district map or the appraisal district's list of taxing units for each property could show it.⁵

What you can do

• Ask the district for the approved Sept. 9 minutes, its agreement with ESD 1, and the papers for the Aug. 12 note.¹¹
• Ask the district to explain why its 2027 budget counts $6,964,339 in tax collections when $0.10 on the 2026 taxable value raises $6,666,379, and why the budget prints the debt rate as 0.063.^4,7
• Ask it to explain why its two notices give different 2025 median values.^3,14
• Ask it to explain why the budget pays ESD 1 $500,000 more than the audit's schedule.^4,5
• Attend a board meeting. The Oct. 14 agenda names Nov. 11, 2026, as the next regular meeting date, at 3:30 p.m.¹²
• Read the district's budget and tax rate notices at tcesd7.org.³
• Check your property tax bill from the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector to see whether ESD 7 is listed.⁵

If you have records on this, you can share them with us at /share-records. We protect your identity and publish the evidence when we can do so safely.