Jones Co. voters asked to approve Nov. 8 EMS levy

     While the Nov. 8 mid-term election ballot will contain several candidates on the ballot for county, state, and federal offices, Jones County residents will also be asked to pay special, close attention to their ballots.

   The ballot will also contain a public measure asking county residents to support a levy rate of 35-cent per $1,000 of taxable valuation of property to support additional funding for all nine ambulance services in Jones County. (The state sets the maximum levy rate at 75 cents.)

   In July 2021, Governor Kim Reynolds visited Monticello and signed into the law the “EMS Bill.” This allowed each of Iowa’s 99 counties to declare their ambulance services as “essential,” much like fire and law enforcement (police).

   “I want to give a shout-out to Lee Hein,” noted Britt Smith, Monticello chief of police and ambulance administrator.

   Hein served on the EMS Bill committee as a state representative, serving Jones County.

   “He pushed for this bill,” added Smith. “He was instrumental in endorsing it. He got it passed at the state level and worked hard with state representatives.”

   While the state stood behind EMS, the bill did not come with a funding stream.

   “It was an unfunded state mandate,” commented Smith.

   In January 2022, the Jones County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution, declaring Jones County EMS services essential. This designation allowed services and counties to add a tax levy to help adequately fund EMS.

   From there, the EMS Advisory Board was established. The supervisors named 21 people to his committee, both voting and non-voting members. It became their job to educate the public and make a levy rate recommendation to the board of supervisors.

   Smith explained that there were three options when it came to establishing a funding stream for EMS: income tax, LOT (local option sales tax), and property taxes. Placing the levy on the property tax, Smith said this allows rural and city residents to equally contribute.

   This public measure requires a 60-percent super majority to pass.

   “We wanted it on the ballot during a key political election to ensure high enough numbers,” Smith said. “This is a very common-sense, logical levy. We want people to recognize the true value of the levy.”

   That “true value” would be roughly $430,000 a year for nine EMS services.

   If it passes, it would take effect July 1, 2023. It will impact property taxes during the September 2023 payment period.

   “That’ll be the first disbursement and the soonest it’ll generate money,” Smith said.

   So why do ambulance services throughout Jones County need this additional revenue source?

   As Smith explained it, EMS services rely on two sources for income: billing and taxes.

   “For Monticello (ambulance), billing covers half of our actual expenses,” he said. “The other half is taxes. Our revenue is less and less. We need a more secure funding course that’s equally distributed through the service area. This will help.”

   Smith was named ambulance administrator in 2020. It fell on him to pursue more funding for EMS in Monticello. With the city council’s blessing, Smith started attending area township trustee meetings and began to educate them on the costs to operate an ambulance service and their needs.

   While the townships have contributed toward EMS for many years, Smith said it took some outreach to increase that contribution.

   “We saw a fairly significant increase over the last two years,” he said of the townships. “That greatly helped us.”

   That money was put in a set-aside fund to help Monticello purchase a new ambulance.

   If the levy passes on Nov. 8, that township assistance will stop.

   “But we’ll still be ahead because it’s an extra source of revenue we didn’t have before,” noted Smith.

   Overall, Smith and the Advisory Board want all Jones County voters to know that this property tax levy will not cause property owners to pay more in property taxes to help support EMS.

   “It’ll offset what city residents already pay (in city taxes),” Smith added. “It’ll reduce the city’s burden on funding through city taxes for ambulance services.

   “Monticello residents paid the lion’s share of the service,” continued Smith. “This levy will offset what we need to take from city taxes.”

   This levy rate is locked in for 15 years, unless the state legislature should amend the law.

   With nine EMS services to fund, Smith said the revenue from this levy will not be an even split.

   “Certain services have more financial needs than others.”

   While the law does not offer a black and white description of what the money can be spent on, Smith said it does mention equipment and non-disposable medical supplies, or “legit EMS expenses.”

   “Personnel is our biggest need and expense,” Smith said. “It’s the one thing we struggle to get the most of.”

   Monticello Ambulance could expect to see about 22 percent of the levy revenue, or $94,600 a year.

   “We have enough expenses that we can find a use for the money.”

   Disbursement will require each service to submit their budget and expenses to the Advisory Board. That budget will include the population of their service coverage, the taxable valuation in their area, and the average number of calls.

   While every sector of society suffers from staffing shortages, emergency services is no different.

   “We provide ALS (advanced life support) service 24/7,” Smith said of Monticello. “It costs to have personnel.”

   The Monticello Ambulance Service staffs both paramedics and volunteer EMTs.

   “Paramedic-level service is a career field. These are not people with full-time jobs. It demands continuing education, training, etc. It’s a career-oriented field. It costs more to ensure this level of care.”

   “People just can’t walk away from their jobs to respond,” added Jeff Hinrichs, former volunteer firefighter and member of the EMS Advisory Board.

   Overall, Smith and Hinrichs said every resident of Jones County should be a champion for the EMS levy.

   “Everybody is impacted,” said Hinrichs.

   “It’s not only about making the services more equitable,” Smith shared. “We need to generate revenue to make each service better and for their longevity. It won’t solve every service’s woes, but this will help.”

   “We can’t take EMS for granted,” Hinrichs commented.