116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Four Iowa counties approve EMS tax levies
Cedar, Benton, Ida and Shelby voters OK tax for improved ambulance service
Nov. 8, 2023 12:49 pm
Emergency medical services, which are inconsistent across the state, soon will be more readily available in four Iowa counties.
Voters in Cedar, Benton, Ida and Shelby counties all approved public measures in Tuesday’s elections that will levy property taxes to support ambulance services.
The proposals in all four counties would add a tax for the next 15 years. In Benton County, the amount of the tax will be 68 cents per every $1,000 of taxable property value. In the other three counties, it will be 75 cents per every $1,000.
The votes come two years after Iowa lawmakers passed a bill allowing counties to vote to declare EMS an essential service and collect taxes to support it if voters approve. Ambulance services are not considered essential in all parts of the state, meaning the Iowa Legislature does not regulate the service or provide funding for it.
In many parts of Iowa — especially in rural areas, where ambulances usually are staffed by on-call volunteers — emergency medical services can be slow to arrive when 911 is called. Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington previously told The Gazette that ambulances in Cedar County can take between 15 and 45 minutes to respond to an emergency call, depending on what other emergencies are going on at the same time and where in the county the call comes from.
By collecting taxes to support two county-run, full-time ambulances, county officials hope to add support to already existing volunteer ambulances and ensure emergency medical technicians are always readily available when needed, Wethington said
The four counties that approved EMS proposals Tuesday will join five counties that passed similar proposals last year: Jones, Kossuth, Osceola, Pocahontas and Winnebago. Three other counties — Calhoun, Floyd and Worth — rejected similar proposals in 2022.
Of the counties that passed the proposal this year, Shelby County voters gave the largest yes, with the proposal receiving 82 percent approval. In Ida County, the proposal got 78 percent approval. In Benton County it had 76 percent approval, and in Cedar County it had 70 percent approval, according to preliminary numbers from the Iowa Secretary of State.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
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