Lawsuit Filed Seeking Sales Tax-Rate Election After 7,000 Signed Petitions Submitted
More than 7,000+ Signatures Were Submitted When Only 4,400 Were Needed
Pflugerville, Texas — Three voters who signed a petition to roll back excess sales taxes have sued the Travis County Emergency Services District #2 after ESD #2 refused to call an election so voters can decide the issue. ESD #2 quit providing ambulance service to the people of Pflugerville, and the Plaintiffs, Jennifer Pakenham, David Rogers, and Kristi Powell, along with almost 7,100 other voters want the ESD#2 sales tax decreased. The Plaintiffs are represented by Former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire.
“This lawsuit is necessary to protect the right of taxpayers to petition for a tax-reduction election,” Aleshire said. “I have never seen a governmental body behave the way the appointed ESD#2 Board has, by flagrantly using its taxpayer-funded website and political mailings to discourage people from even signing the petition, and then refusing to call the election after receiving a valid petition. The ESD #2 sales tax was doubled in 2014 in an election that passed by 6 votes, a ½-percent margin with only 597 voting in favor. But, in December, Pflugerville and ESD #2 residents presented a new petition with 7,097 taxpayer signatures calling for a new election. There are many assaults on democracy these days, and I am proud to stand up in court for these voters to protect the right of all voters to decide how much taxes should be,” Aleshire said.
The filed lawsuit calls for an expedited writ of mandamus seeking a court to order the Emergency Services District ESD #2 board to call a sales tax-rate reduction election. The petition is the largest signature gathering effort in the history of the city of Pflugerville and was led by Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation (PFRRTAX).
ESD #2’s website, which is funded by taxpayers, is clearly engaging in election-related political messaging on their website. The ESD has also engaged in direct taxpayer-funded negative political advertising using attack mailing.
“This lawsuit respects the rights of taxpayers who signed our petition and rejects ESD #2’s absurd denial of the taxpayers’ legal rights. We expect to prevail and hope the legal process can be expedited to give our voters an election at the earliest date,” said PFRRTAX spokeswoman Melody Ryan. “A court will be required to call the election since ESD #2’s unelected board refused to do its duty. Since ESD #2 has been building a MASSIVE reserve and not using the sales tax to provide ambulance service to the City, this election is the first step to re-allocate a portion of the sales tax to the City, which is currently providing ambulance service,” Ryan added.
Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation (www.VoteYES4EMS.com) is a non-partisan citizen group dedicated to responsible and sustainable taxation for reasonable delivery of government services, since 2016. ###
References: Plaintiffs’ Original Petition, Petition Exhibits