Floyd County supervisors likely to start EMS essential services declaration process again

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County supervisors are likely to begin the process at their next regular meeting of again declaring emergency medical services as an essential service in the county.

The board discussed the proposal at its meeting Monday and agreed to put the topic on the agenda for action at the meeting next Monday. That meeting will be at 9 a.m. in the EOC room in the Law Enforcement Center.

Supervisor Jim Jorgensen, who is the board’s representative on the Floyd County Ambulance Commission, reported that at the commission’s meeting last week the members had urged him to bring the essential services declaration process back to the supervisors for approval again this year.

“It would be best if we declared it an essential service, and that way we’ll have the ability to put (tax funding) on the ballot if we so choose to as time goes on, in order to possibly get some funding for the ambulance,” Jorgensen said.

But he added that the essential services declaration does not require that the county take an EMS levy question to a vote.

“Whether it goes on the ballot or not we can have it just stay there until needed,” he said.

Jorgensen had previously said that the board may not want to put an EMS question before the voters at a regular general election, and it probably doesn’t want to do it when it would compete with other bond referendums, such as from the Charles City Board of Education for a high school renovation project.

Last year’s Board of Supervisors had gone through the essential services declaration process in about the same time period, beginning in May, ending with the official declaration resolution passing for the third and final time in August.

Last year’s board decided to put the question of a tax levy to support EMS service in the county before the voters in the November election, but that vote failed, making last year’s Floyd County EMS essential services declaration null and void.

The ability to call a referendum on an EMS tax levy is the primary advantage of the essential services declaration.

AMR, the current service provider, has said it will charge more than twice as much in a new contract that could start July 1 as it is charging in the final year of a three-year contract that will end June 30.

Charles City and Floyd County are each paying $100,000 (for a total of $200,000) this fiscal year to subsidize AMR service, but the company has said a new contract will require a $415,000 subsidy in the first year with increases each year after that.

AMR has said it could defer $100,000 of the first year’s new cost and have it paid along with the regular rate in the second and third year. And the Floyd County Medical Center Board of Trustees has agreed to pay $100,000 toward the first year of a new contract.

That would reduce the first-year amount to be split between the city and county to $215,000 ($107,500 each). But that would jump to $238,725 each in the second year and to $245,137 each in the third year of a new three-year contract.

The process to pass an EMS essential services declaration takes about three months, including public notice requirements, a mandatory 60-day waiting period and passing a resolution at three separate Board of Supervisors meetings.

The potential levy that an essential services declaration would allow a vote on could be a property tax, a surcharge on existing income taxes or a combination of both and would need at least a 60% voter approval rate to take effect.

The tax money could be used to help pay the current subsidy being charged by AMR to provide ambulance services in the county, to pay some other company to provide service, or to help start a new ambulance service that could be run by a public entity such as the Charles City Fire Department. It could also be used to help support other EMS providers in the county.

Last year’s failed EMS levy referendum had sought up to $556,000 to be collected per year in a combination of property tax and income tax surcharge.

While declaring EMS an essential service does not require the county to hold a referendum on an EMS tax levy, and there is no time limit on when such a referendum could be held, if a referendum should fail again then the essential services declaration would again be rendered void.

Supervisor Mark Kuhn said at the meeting Monday morning that ambulance service “has to continue,” adding that the city and county are up against a deadline and will have to sign some sort of new contract with AMR before then.

“Right,” Jorgensen said. “It expires June 30th.”

Signing a new AMR contract and making a decision on the essential services declaration are “two separate things,” Jorgensen added.

Also at the supervisors meeting Monday, the board:

• Heard an update on the law enforcement center and courthouse update project that new sidewalks in front of the atrium and new main entrance should be poured this week, final inspections for the fire alarm and fire sprinkler systems are scheduled and the inspection for the elevators in the atrium between the law enforcement center and the courthouse should take place next week.

• Noted that Jennifer Bauer had accepted the position as auditor clerk I in the County Auditor’s Office, to start later this month.