Tax rate cap boost on the ballot From the cover
The big picture
Spring, Klein fire departments
3 Klein Fire Department
1 Champions Fire Department
$0.049881
$0.10
Property tax rate per $100 valuation, 2024
Klein Fire Department’s annual call volume has more than doubled since 2019, and officials said a property tax rate increase could soon be needed to help support that growth and keep up with inflation. However, an internal tax rate cap could prevent this revenue-generating strategy. Harris County Emergency Services District No. 16, the government entity that funds and oversees the KFD, has a property tax rate close to its max of $0.05 per $100 valuation. Voters will decide May 3 whether the department can raise this cap to $0.10 per $100 valuation—the max allowed by state law, Commissioner Lance Wilson said. ESD 16 officials set the tax rate cap decades ago, but Wilson said it is “significantly lower” than neighboring ESDs, which have a $0.10 per $100 valuation cap. However, the proposition’s approval wouldn’t immediately trigger an increase in the actual property tax rate, he said. “Current budget projections basically will put us in a position of not being able to provide the same level of service [as we do now]. … Essentially, we will have a need to increase the rate in the near future, but right now, the focus is on getting the cap raised so we can make sure that we have that ability to protect our current level of service,” Wilson said.
Klein Fire stations
2 Cypress Creek Fire Department
4 Ponderosa Fire Department
$0.093336
$0.098097
5 Spring Fire Department
$0.095775
99
249
5
3
4
“Everybody helps everybody, which helps us actually keep some
2
45
1
of our costs down.” JASON CATRAMBONE, KLEIN FIRE CHIEF
N
SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICTS 7, 13, 16, 19 AND 28/COMMUNITY IMPACT
How we got here
Put in perspective
interview. “From the incipient stage of a fire, it basically doubles in size every 30 seconds.” Catrambone said the KFD only provides about 0.8 firefighters per 1,000 residents, while the Southern U.S. averages 1.5 firefighters per 1,000 residents, the National Fire Protection Association reports. Locally, this is possible because neigh- boring departments can help respond to calls and share specialty apparatus when needed, he said.
Klein Fire Chief Jason Catrambone joined the KFD in 2023—about a year after ESD 16 transi- tioned to mostly paid versus volunteer firefighters. This move contributed to annual budgeted expenses escalating 86% since 2020, but it has also improved the department’s service levels. “Ten years ago, it took about 12 minutes on average to get to a scene. This past month was under six minutes,” Catrambone said in a March
About half of the KFD’s revenue comes from a 1% local sales tax, Catrambone said. The rest of the funding comes from local property taxes. On top of the ESD’s internal rate cap, state law limits annual property tax revenue growth without voter approval, preventing most local taxing entities from drastic rate hikes year over year. If voters approve the May 3 proposition, any increases to the actual tax rate would be incremental over time.
Klein Fire Department revenue and expenses Property tax revenue Sales tax revenue
Budgeted expenses
Property tax rate
$0.049881
$5M $10M $15M $20M $25M $30M 0
Current tax bill
$0.045097
$0.05
$0.05
($0.049881 per $100 valuation) x $350,000 home value = $174.58 annually
$0.047107
$0.0495
Maximum tax bill if new cap is approved ($0.10 per $100 valuation) x $350,000 home value = $350 annually
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
SOURCE: KLEIN FIRE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: KLEIN FIRE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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