Bertram ponders future of emergency medical services
City of Bertram sign. Staff photo by Caden Senn
The city of Bertram recently began discussing the future of its emergency medical services during a May 26 council meeting, shortly after approving a $70,000 EMS contract with the city of Burnet.
The contract, which will provide medical services throughout 2027 and station an ambulance within Bertram city limits, has increased by 700 percent over the past two years.
According to Burnet city officials, Bertram had contracted emergency medical services from the city for a significantly discounted rate of $10,000 a year for roughly two decades.
In 2025, Burnet proposed a $30,000 increase for services throughout 2026, amounting to $40,000 total, citing that the services provided were worth far beyond what Bertram had been paying. The 2027 contract will add another $30,000, for a total of $70,000.
“We proposed to (Bertram) $70,000 for next year,“ Burnet City Manager David Vaughn said during a May 18 special meeting of the Burnet City Council. “But, their number at a minimum should be in the upper 200 to 300 (thousand dollar) range for the quality of service.”
Bertram’s plan
Bertram Mayor John Baladez acknowledged during the City Council’s May 26 meeting that the contract had long been discounted, but told his fellow council members that the city would need to be conscious of further price increases going forward.
“We’ve had a really good deal for a long time,” Baladez said. “We were paying $10,000 a year to have an ambulance sitting here. But in the future, where are we going to come up with $1 million or half a million or whatever it’s going to take? I want y’all to start thinking about that.”
If Bertram couldn’t shore up that money in the future, Baladez said that Burnet could potentially pull its ambulance from the city, creating strained response times during critical emergencies.
Mayor Baladez told council that he had begun talks with one of the county’s several emergency services districts about potentially expanding medical service to the city in the future as a more long-term solution.
While he noted an ESD partnership would be far in the future, would need voter approval, and be funded by taxpayer dollars, Baladez said he wanted those conversations to be known by the public to keep them informed on their emergency services going forward.
“ESD 10 just formed in Briggs… and they were talking about us joining them,” Baladez said. “I want it in your head and out in the public. It’s a decision we as citizens all have to make. We all pay taxes, and nobody likes paying more taxes. But if it means somebody here in town is gonna have a response time from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, that can be life and death.”
What is an ESD?
An ESD provides emergency services to a defined district by collecting a small tax from residents within its boundaries, up to 10 cents per $100 property valuation, to be used exclusively for fire protection, emergency medical services, or both.
An ESD is put on a ballot for residents to approve when a petition containing at least 100 signatures from voters who own property in the district is filed with the county. Read more about ESDs under Sec. 775.012 of the Texas Health and Safety Code.