Collin County residents who don’t live in cities will decide Nov. 4 whether their property should be taxed to pay for an emergency services district (ESD).

The Collin County Commissioners Court agreed in July to place a petition request on the general election ballot.

If approved by voters, ESD-1 would serve residents in up to 75.5 square miles of unincorporated land in the county.

Since 2013, the county has paid fire departments in 22 cities a total of $950,000 a year to provide emergency service to residents living outside the cities.

But cities said they could no longer afford to provide that service. Melissa dropped their contract last year and the cities of Princeton, McKinney, Wylie and Farmersville filed notice of termination this year. 

County commissioners will appoint the five members of the ESD board, directors who must live in the district and pay taxes in the district. The board will be responsible for setting the tax rate, overseeing the district’s annual budget and providing the fire and emergency services to residents.

Commissioner Darrell Hale said the tax rate could be no higher than $0.10 per $100 of value assessed on the property to be covered. He said the tax rate for cities to provide fire service ranges from 7.5 cents to 12.5 cents per $100 valuation out of the total amount of tax they levy on local property inside the city limits. 

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By Bob Wieland | [email protected]