Advisory Council urges ‘vote yes for EMS’ on Nov. 8

     The Jones County EMS Advisory Council hosted a townhall conversation on Oct. 25 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa.

   The goal was to help educate the voting public on the proposed EMS property tax levy that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. Members of the Advisory Council also answered questions as well, to better explain how the levy came to be.

   Sheila Frink, Anamosa Ambulance director, led the presentation, offering the history on how EMS became known as “essential” compared to fire and law enforcement.

   It all started in July 2021 when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the EMS bill into law. This gave counties the ability to declare EMS as essential and look for ways to adequately fund the services.

   State legislators permit a county to levy up to 75 cents per $1,000 of valuation. The Advisory Council and the Jones County Board of Supervisors landed on 35 cents.

   Frink said that each ambulance service in Jones County is different; some are private, some are city-run, some are a combination of fire and EMS.

   Each service also staffs differently, whether it’s paid full-time paramedics, EMTs, or strictly volunteers.

   “We have other services that are completely volunteer and do not get any kind of stipend when they’re paged out in the middle of the night or any time of day,” Frink said.

   Per the 2020 Census, Jones County has a population of about 20,646.

   “That population is served by nine ambulance services,” said Frink. “Eight of them are transporting and there is one first responder service. Of those, six of the services are in Jones County.”

   With many of the ambulance services relying on volunteers, Frink said “volunteerism isn’t what it used to be.”

   She said it costs a lot of money to become an EMT or paramedic, including schooling, constant training, equipment, etc. The pay doesn’t always entice people to pursue this path.

   “Education costs money,” Frank said, plain and simple.

   Martelle is the only service that does not bill for calls because they are a non-transport service. All others receive funding from billing, city budgets, fundraisers, and donations. The Anamosa service is subsidized by Jones Regional Medical Center.

   The EMS levy requires a 60 percent super majority to pass on Nov. 8. It would generate roughly $430,000 to be dispersed between the nine services.

   The money would be used for a variety of needs, depending on each service: education, training, recruitment, equipment/supplies, ambulance purchases, and building upgrades.

   Britt Smith, Monticello police chief and ambulance director, said the cost of supplies are still outrageous following the pandemic. Pre- pandemic, Monticello Ambulance paid $5.85 for a box of nitron (rubber) gloves. Post- pandemic, the cost is now $28 for that same box.

   “Every supply, every disposable medical supply that we utilize has had a price increase,” shared Smith. “Rubber gloves are used on every call. There are hundreds and hundreds that you go through over the course of a year. Those expenses really add up over time when our billing expenses don’t increase by the same amount.”

   Frink said Anamosa experienced the same when ordering a new ambulance. The price went from $173,000 to $230,000 in a year.

   People assume that when they call 911, an ambulance will show up. Without EMS being essential in the eyes of the state and local government, there is no guarantee they will respond.

   “You call 911 and we come. But the law does not say that we have to,” noted Frink. “We do because that’s the right thing to do. But how long are we going to be able to maintain those deficits?”

   She continued it’s about educating the community on what it means to be “essential.”

   “Educating the community that without local funding, our local volunteer ambulance services may not be sustainable. We want to see people vote on Nov. 8.”

   If the vote does not pass, Frink said ambulance services are just going to cease to exist, but they’ll have to do more with less.

   “There could be longer response times. You might have some subpar ambulances and places to store our ambulances. We’ll all remain solely dependent on the billing and community donations and fundraisers,” Frink warned. “We’ll continue to lobby for local and statewide legislation to financially assist us.”

   While the EMS services need increased funding, Smith said it won’t completely solve their problems in today’s society.

   “We are basically trying to put a Band-Aid on a gaping wound,” he said. “You’ll start to see a change in the quality of service that you receive. The 35 cents that is being asked for is far from an excessive amount that would completely solve all of our problems. This will allow us to begin to right some wrongs that we’ve all had on the deficit side.”

   “We agree, it is just a Band-Aid, but we also want it to pass,” added Jeff Hinrichs, District 2 member on the Advisory Council. “I felt we were fiscally responsible for what was in front of us.”

   Joyce Bilow, a member of the Martelle Ambulance Service on the Advisory Council, said so many of the ambulance personnel are aging out. She’s been on the service for 30 years.

   “In terms of staffing, we don’t have people coming in and volunteering,” she said. “Once you lose people like us, we need to be able to recruit and bring people in and retain them. And we can’t do that from a volunteer standpoint. Staffing is going to be really important.”

   It was asked if the cities would be footing the bill for the ambulance services. As it stands now, in Monticello, Smith said, “Someone is ultimately paying a greater portion to keep the service in operation,” referring to city residents. “We generate half of our revenues strictly through taxation of City of Monticello residents. We haven’t had the ability to appropriately tax or obtain a tax from the rest of our townships.”

   Going forward, if the levy passes, Smith said city residents will not see an increase in their property taxes.

   “This is a step in the right direction, in my opinion,” voiced Jones County 911 Coordinator Gary Schwab.

   “Having key legislators like Lee Hein and Bobby Kaufmann really helped with this. They were two big supporters who really pushed for this,” praised Frink.