As DailyTrib reported, in mid-July, when floodwater tore through parts of Central Texas, a three-person swiftwater team from the Horseshoe Bay Fire Department loaded up and drove out. They joined Llano Volunteer Fire Department crews first, then got reassigned to Willow City, then to Fredericksburg, moving displaced residents out of homes cut off by rising water. Two more Horseshoe Bay firefighters rode along with Marble Falls Fire Rescue personnel under the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System, first sent to Boerne, then Uvalde. Fire Chief Doug Fowler later said the department has answered nine such call-outs this year alone.
Here's what that trip didn't include: a boat that lives on Lake LBJ, ready to launch the moment Horseshoe Bay itself needs it. As DailyTrib reported, the department's current vessel is a swiftwater rig that has to be trailered, hauled to a ramp, and put in the water before it does anyone any good. That works fine when the mission is thirty miles away and there's time to load up. It's a different problem when the emergency is on your own lake and every minute the boat spends on a trailer is a minute someone in the water doesn't have.
The department's boat campaign has involved council votes and community fundraising.
A Line Item the Property Tax Doesn't Cover
According to a DailyTrib report, then-Mayor Elsie Thurman explained the city's rationale when the fundraiser launched in September 2025: Horseshoe Bay's primary funding source is property taxes, and she said purchases made with that money are supposed to serve the whole city, not a subset of it. In her framing, a dedicated fire rescue boat would primarily benefit waterfront properties and people who use Lake LBJ recreationally. She described that as a narrower beneficiary group than all Horseshoe Bay taxpayers.
The same period saw tax dollars go toward rebuilding Fire Station 2 and buying new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus units for the department, both categorized as broadly beneficial safety infrastructure. The boat campaign has relied on donor funding. Thurman said the arrangement gives residents a direct way to thank the department for its service. Fundraising has included a golf tournament, grant applications, and individual donations.
What Fifty Thousand Dollars on a Saturday Looks Like
By September 2025, the department had raised roughly 10 percent of its $300,000 target. Then, on September 11, the Ladies 9-Hole Golf Association and the Men's 9-Hole Club ran a fundraiser tournament that pulled in $50,000 in a single day, more than doubling the fund in one afternoon. That's the kind of jump that happens when a fundraiser is powered by people who already know each other on a first-name basis at the clubhouse, not by a generic donation drive.
As DailyTrib reported, Fowler had said from the start that building the boat would take about two years and require a $25,000 down payment just to begin. His stated goal was to have around $125,000, about 42 percent of the $300,000 target, banked before making that payment, with an expected timeline of twelve to eighteen months to get there. The golf tournament alone accounted for about 40 percent of that interim target.
The Vote That Effectively Cut the Price by $42,000
As DailyTrib reported, by February 2026, the math changed again, this time from the vendor side. At the February 17 city council meeting, members approved a bid from Stanley Aluminum Boats, a Canada-based builder, for about $258,000. That's roughly $42,000 under the original $300,000 estimate the department had been fundraising against for five months.
In a DailyTrib report, Fowler explained why other quotes hadn't held up:
"We had some verbal quotes for a boat we liked but it seemed every time we called to ask questions the price went up."
At the time of the vote, the fund stood at about $90,000, or 30 percent of the original goal. Because the total project cost dropped without a single new dollar being raised, that same $90,000 now covers a larger share of what the department actually needs to spend. It's a rare case where a fundraising campaign gets closer to its finish line through a procurement decision rather than a new round of donations.
What the New Boat Actually Changes
The difference between the current swiftwater vessel and the boat the department is trying to buy isn't cosmetic. It comes down to where the boat sits and what it can do the moment it's needed:
- The current vessel must be trailered, transported, and launched before it's operational, adding time to every response.
- The new boat, built to the specifications the department set out when it launched the fundraiser, would be stationed on Lake LBJ around the clock, cutting out the launch step entirely.
- It can pump water directly from the lake, which matters most during waterfront structure fires where a hydrant isn't the fastest option.
- Fowler has estimated the boat could cut emergency response times by 20 minutes or more compared to the current setup.
- Several Horseshoe Bay firefighters are already certified boat operators, and the department wants to expand that roster to keep the boat staffed around the clock once it's in service.
None of that shows up in a budget line the average resident would ever read. It shows up in how fast help arrives the next time a dock catches fire or a boater needs pulling out of the water at 2 a.m., a scenario the trailered vessel simply isn't built to answer quickly.
Why This Past Summer Made the Case Louder
The July mutual aid deployment didn't happen because Horseshoe Bay's own lake was in crisis. It happened because neighboring departments needed help, and Horseshoe Bay had trained people who could give it. That's worth noticing on its own: the same firefighters asking neighbors for golf tournament donations are also the ones driving to Fredericksburg and Uvalde to help move people out of floodwater when Llano and Marble Falls call for backup.
In a DailyTrib report, Fowler described the mission simply:
"Their mission is to conduct rescue and to move displaced people due to the flood."
According to the DailyTrib report, the department's swiftwater boat team didn't end up performing rescues that week. It was positioned in an area cut off from other resources, ready if needed. That's precisely the posture a dedicated Lake LBJ boat would take on at home, staged and ready rather than staged and waiting on a trailer.
The Practical Read
None of this changes how anyone buys or sells property in Horseshoe Bay. What it does is explain a piece of civic life that plenty of residents have seen mentioned on the city's website or heard about at a council meeting without ever connecting the dots between the golf tournament flyer, the February vendor vote, and the trucks that rolled out during July's floods. The fund reflects the city's decision to pursue donations for the boat, and it has moved closer to its goal through community fundraising and a builder's bid that came in under estimate.
For residents who want to see where the fund stands or add to it, the city maintains a donor page and a fire department information page directly on its site. For anyone tracking how Horseshoe Bay's community life fits together beyond the resort calendar, the city's own council updates and the Horseshoe Bay neighborhood guide are good places to keep watching.
If you're weighing a move to Lake LBJ and want the kind of on-the-ground read that goes beyond golf events and marina hours, that's exactly the terrain Lake LBJ Partners works in every day. Reach out when you're ready to talk specifics about waterfront ownership here.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
