The Orange County Emergency Services District 4 is having two tax options for voters in May and will have an informational meeting Saturday.
Spence Fuss, president of the district’s board of directors, said the two propositions are to implement a sales tax and increase the amount of property taxes. Voters have the option of voting for one or the other, or for both.
The meeting Saturday will be at 6:30 p.m. at Station 1 on Highway 62 in Mauriceville. The public is invited.
ESD 4, which now has a volunteer fire department covering Mauriceville and McLewis, currently has the lowest property tax rate of any of the four emergency services districts in the county. Fuss said the current rate of 3 cents per $100 valuation is the minimum the state allows.
The proposition will be to increase the rate by 3 cents to 6 cents per $100 valuation. The owner of $100,000 worth of property would pay an additional $30 a year more in taxes with the increase.
The sales tax proposition is for 1.5 cents per dollar. The district does not have a sales tax at this time. Fuss said the addition sales tax would mean people in the district would pay 8.25 cents per dollar with the state and county taxes. That amount is lower than most cities in the county.
ESD 3, which is Little Cypress, is the only emergency district in the county with a sales tax. That district has a 1.5 cent per dollar sales tax and a property tax rate of 6 cents per $100 valuation. If the voters in ESD 4 approve both tax propositions, their rates will be the same as in the Little Cypress district.
ESD 1 in Vidor has a property tax rate of 10 cents per $100 valuation. Voters there last year rejected a sales tax election. ESD 2 in Bridge City-Orangefield has a tax rate of 9.7 cents per $100 valuation.
The city of Orange has the only full-time professional fire department. The cities of West Orange and Pinehurst have volunteer departments.
Fuss said ESD 4 is asking for the extra tax money to increase protection. “We would like to have two certified firefighters for the daytime,” he said.
The ESD now relies totally on volunteers. He said emergencies during the day are covered by volunteers who are retired from jobs or those who are off from shift work. Most of the day emergencies have to be handled by other departments, he said.
ESD 4 covers the Mauriceville area westward to the Vidor school district lines and down Highway 62 through McLewis to the railroad tracks near Tulane Road. The area also includes FM 1442 southward to the railroad tracks near Jewel Cormier Park in the Orangefield area.
The tax election will be held on Saturday, May 6. Early voting will start April 24. April 6 will be the last day to register to vote for the election.
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