Linn supervisors, rural residents talk rescue, radios, taxes

The fate of Linn County's rural emergency medical service drew the sharpest comment from a group of rural residents meeting with county supervisors tonight.

“Maybe we got to get our priorities straightened out a little bit here, because this is going to cost people's lives,” Curtis Schantz told supervisors at their annual joint meeting with the Linn County Farm Bureau.

Schantz was talking about Rescue 57, the sheriff's office's rescue division that fell victim to the supervisors' new budget-writing process. But Schantz, an Alburnett resident and longtime member of that town's fire department, said he holds out some hope.

“I have confidence there's going to be an agreement made” to keep the service, Schantz said. “I think they'll work something out.”

Supervisors said they're investigating potential revenue sources for the service, which costs the sheriff's office $300,000 a year. But there's no plan yet to fund it past July 1, when the new budget takes effect. The budget will become official after a hearing March 14.

“This is a discussion that is not done yet,” said District 2 Supervisor Linda Langston of Cedar Rapids. “It is one thing I've heard from a lot of people in the community about, so I've got that message.”

Supervisors also reviewed their spending of the current local-option sales tax, and what they'd do with the proceeds if rural residents approve its proposed 20-year extension in a May referendum. Their plan calls for half the approximately $5 million a year to go to secondary road maintenance, with the balance split between conservation projects and property tax relief.

Sheriff Brian Gardner said staff from his agency and the Cedar Rapids and Marion police departments are close to delivering a proposal for a new public safety radio system. The upgrade, required by the federal government by 2013, would also serve local fire departments and ambulance units across the county.

Gardner said the three departments, which dispatch calls for all the county's agencies, will recommend Cedar Rapids cover 50 percent of the new system's infrastructure, Linn County 30 percent, and Marion 20 percent. Gardner said that's based roughly on each agency's call volume.

Voters rejected a proposal in November to raise the county's surcharge on land-line phones from 25 cents to $1 to pay for the upgrade, which early estimates put at $12 million to $15 million. The county could hold another tax referendum on the issue, or bond for the project without a public vote.

Gardner said he hopes to have a project proposal before the public within weeks.