\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPosted 7:05 p.m., Nov. 4<\/p>\n
Collin County has released early voting totals for an election that, if passed, would create an emergency services district<\/a> in select unincorporated parts of the county.<\/p>\n What you need to know<\/p>\n According to unofficial early voting results, 74.87% of voters are in favor of the creation of Collin County Emergency Services District No. 1<\/a>, or the ESD, with 3,399 votes cast.<\/p>\n Votes who oppose the measure total 1,141, or 25.13% of votes cast, according to the early results from the Collin County Elections Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n If approved, the ballot measure would create an emergency services district, which is a mechanism created by the Texas Legislature to provide fire protection and ambulance service in the unincorporated areas of the county, according to Collin County\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Adding to that, the created district would have an associated property tax<\/a> that would be used to fund fire protection and ambulance services to residents within the district\u2019s boundaries. The district\u2019s boundaries would include the extraterritorial jurisdiction of multiple cities, including McKinney, Prosper, Celina, Melissa and Princeton, among others. For a full map of the boundaries of the proposed district, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The context<\/p>\n Collin County\u2019s commissioners unanimously approved calling for the election at a July 28 meeting<\/a>\u2014roughly six months after the county judge received a petition calling for the creation of the ESD.<\/p>\n Currently, there are over 350 ESDs in Texas, and they provide fire protection and ambulance service in the unincorporated areas of counties, whether by contracting for services with city fire departments or by creating their own fire departments, according to the county\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Rather than operating its own fire department or ambulance service, the emergency response services funded by the proposed ESD would be provided through contracts with cities and volunteer fire departments, the county\u2019s website states.<\/p>\n If approved, the district\u2019s first budget cycle and fire service contracts would begin Oct. 1, 2026. The ESD commissioners would be appointed by the Collin County Commissioners Court, who will also set the initial tax rate for the ESD, according to the county\u2019s website. The initial tax rate cannot exceed $0.10 per $100 in assessed value, and subsequent tax rates and budgets will be set and adopted by the district\u2019s board of commissioners.<\/p>\n What else?<\/p>\n In early voting, there were 56,982 ballots cast<\/a> at polling sites countywide and another 1,516 ballots cast by mail, which represents 7.88% of Collin County’s 742,114 registered voters.<\/p>\n Totals from ballots cast Nov. 4 have yet to be released. Polls closed at 7 p.m., although voters who were in line at 7 p.m. were still able to cast ballots. In addition to the ESD No. 1 election, other ballot items included 17 proposed amendments to the state constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n Community Impact will update this article as more election day vote totals are released. All results are unofficial until canvassed.<\/p>\n