Floyd County EMS Advisory Council gets ready for emergency services tax levy town meetings

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Members of the Floyd County EMS Advisory Council are getting ready to take their show on the road, spreading information about the county essential services tax levy that will be on the ballot in the November general election.

Members are also hoping to give presentations at least once in every city in the county over the next seven weeks before the election, and will also be visiting community groups, clubs, firehouses and other organizations.

Members of the advisory council held a meeting Tuesday evening this week and spent much of the time going over the finer points of a quick slide presentation that they will be able to show at the gatherings, and discussing information that will be on one-page fliers to be handed out.

The education and awareness campaign is in preparation for the decision Nov. 8 where Floyd County voters will decide whether to allow the county to collect an essential services tax to support emergency medical services (EMS) throughout the county.

On the ballot will be a proposal to collect up to 57 cents per $1,000 of assessed taxable valuation on property in the county, or up to a 1% surcharge on the Iowa income tax that people pay, or a combination of the two, with a maximum amount allowed to be collected of $556,000 per year for 10 years.

The money would go to support ambulance and first responder services throughout the county, initially most likely with American Medical Response (AMR) based in Charles City, the Nora Springs Volunteer Ambulance, the Green Volunteer ​​Ambulance and Marble Rock Fire/Rescue, as well as some additional money for training, education and other uses to help support the county EMS services.

Roy Schwickerath, a Floyd County Supervisor and non-voting member of the advisory council, has emphasized that voters are not approving money to go to specific services, but rather funding to support EMS services to best serve the county. That could continue to be current providers, or could change over the years.

Future boards of supervisors will decide exactly how much money up to the maximum limit to collect each year, and how it will be spent. According to Iowa Code, the supervisors will be advised in those decisions by the EMS Advisory Council, which will prepare annual reports on how the money was used the previous year and how much money is needed for the coming year.

Patrick Lumley, a member of the Charles City Council and the chair of the EMS Advisory Council, told members to be ready for “a whirlwind of town meetings” in September and October, with the first one scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Marble Rock Community Center.

The group spent a considerable time going through the PowerPoint presentation, whittling it down to nine slides with bullet points and highlights on each screen rather than complex explanations or knotty collections of statistics.

The goal, the group members agreed, was to quickly make the most important points, then provide more detail as they talked with the groups and responded to their questions. A FAQ – frequently asked questions – list is also being prepared in anticipation of many of the likely questions.

The group put together a tentative list of public meetings. All the meetings are at 7 p.m.:

• Charles City – Thursday, Oct. 6, and Thursday, Oct. 20, at the NIACC Center.
• Floyd – Monday, Oct. 17, at the fire station.
• Greene – Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the EMS building.
• Marble Rock – Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the community center.
• Nashua – Monday, Oct. 12; Sunday Oct. 25; and Monday, Oct. 26; at the fire station.
• Nora Springs – Tuesday, Sept. 27, and Tuesday, Oct. 18, at City Hall.
• Rockford – Monday, Oct. 3, at the fire station

Members of the council will also make presentations for groups such as the Charles City fire and EMS personnel, Rotary Club, Elks Club and Lions Club.

If the ballot measure passes, any money collected can only be used to support EMS, but the list of things that Iowa law allows under that definition is fairly broad. The measure will need to pass by a 60% majority to take effect.

The county Board of Supervisors agreed to put the question to the voters at a meeting last month, after going through a lengthy process to declare EMS an essential service in the county, similar to what fire and law enforcement protection are now, with the ability to provide service through taxation.

Without the essentials services declaration there is no legal requirement that ambulance service be provided, and without the vote passing, the essential services declaration will become invalid.

Initial proposals that were used to come up with the $556,000 annual figure are for 10-year averages for supporting the following services that currently provide EMS services in Floyd County:

• $424,000 – countywide ambulance service (could be the current provider, AMR, or something else including a new locally operated public ambulance service).
• $22,000 – Marble Rock Fire/Rescue first responders.
• $40,000 – Nora Springs Ambulance.
• $50,000 – Greene Ambulance Service.
• $20,000 – Floyd County EMS Association (training and education).

None of those figures is promised to the individual services even if the essential services levy vote passes.