SEALY — The Sealy City Council held a special meeting Sept. 16 focused solely on the ongoing sales-tax dispute with Austin County Emergency Services District No. 2 (ESD2), which runs the Sealy Fire Department.
Council members spent nearly two hours reviewing the issue with the public. At the end of the meeting, they voted unanimously to begin billing ESD2 for utilities at the fire station on city-owned land, as required by a 2011 lease agreement.
The dispute centers on salestax revenue in areas the city may annex as it grows. In 2020, voters approved giving ESD2 authority to collect local sales tax outside city limits. City officials say that decision now prevents Sealy from receiving its normal 1.5 percent share of sales tax after annexation, even though the city must still provide police, roads, drainage and other services.
