Split Floyd County Board of Supervisors picks general election for EMS tax levy vote

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A divided Floyd County Board of Supervisors has decided that a vote on an emergency medical services tax levy will be held during the general election in November, rather than at a special election in September.

The Floyd County EMS Advisory Council has twice voted unanimously to recommend the vote be held at a special election Sept. 10. Members expressed concern that many voters who go to the general election mainly to vote for their choice of president will be unfamiliar with the EMS levy question and will reflexively vote against anything mentioning a tax.

Advisory Council members felt that could be especially true this year in the “chaos” of the Biden-Trump rivalry.

Supervisor Jim Jorgensen, the supervisor’s representative on the EMS Advisory Board, cast the lone “no” vote against the motion to hold the EMS levy vote in November, which passed 2-1.

Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn repeated his objections to a special election that he had raised when the topic was discussed at a previous board meeting.

Kuhn said the question was too important and would have potentially too large of an economic impact on property owners in the county for the issue to be decided by the considerably fewer voters who would likely show up for a special election.

The question should be decided by the largest number of voters possible, he said, adding that he had faith Floyd County voters would be educated about issues on the ballot.

Kuhn also noted that both he and Jorgensen were not running in the November election, and said a Sept. 10 vote would not give candidates for the two seats – who might not even be known until the filing deadline of Aug. 28 – time to express their views on the topic to potential voters.

He also said he was against spending the money that a special election would cost, estimated by County Auditor Gloria Carr at about $11,000.

Supervisor Dennis Keifer agreed that he thought the issue should be decided by the largest number of voters possible.

Jorgensen said the county was asking a group of volunteers – the members of the EMS Advisory Council – to spend perhaps hundreds of hours researching and debating the question, making a recommendation, then educating potential voters about the issue, and he felt their recommendation on a choice of election date should be given weight.

Despite the decision on election timing made at the supervisors meeting Wednesday morning, the board has not officially decided if the question will even be asked, although it appears almost certain it will be.

At a meeting Tuesday evening, the EMS Advisory Council voted to recommend that county voters be asked to decide on an EMS tax levy consisting of up to 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable value property tax, to last 15 years, and to collect up to a maximum of $776,000 per year.

Once that recommendation is made officially, the supervisors will decide whether to go along with that ballot question or make other changes.

An EMS tax levy would be used primarily to support ambulance services in the county, either by creating a new public ambulance service or by continuing to subsidize American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance services, and also to support other county EMS services.

If passed by at least the required 60% of voters, the amount of money collected each year – up to the maximum allowed – would be decided annually by the Board of Supervisors, who would also control how it is used, although Iowa Code specifies an EMS levy can only be used for certain EMS services and support.

Also at the meeting Wednesday, the supervisors approved amending a 28E intergovernmental agreement with the city of Charles City and the Floyd County Medical Center, saying that the medical center will contribute toward the cost of AMR service subsidy in the county in the second year and third year of the current three-year AMR contract.

The AMR subsidy in the current first year of the contract is $415,000, split between the city and county, with the medical center voluntarily contributing $100,000.

When the medical center Board of Trustees agreed to the $100,000 contribution last year, they agreed to the contribution for only one year. At a recent meeting of the hospital board the trustees agreed to contribute to the second and third year of the current contract.

Cost for the AMR subsidy this first year, from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, is $157,500 each for the city and county, and $100,000 for the medical center, for a total $415,000

The second year, from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, it will be $162,225 each for the city and county and $103,000 for the medical center, for a total of $427,450 (a 3% increase).

In the third year, from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, the subsidy will be $167,091.75 each for the city and county and $106,090 for the Floyd County Medical Center, for a total of $440,273.50 (another 3% increase).